Saturday, January 27, 2001

Hall of Fame T Jackie Slater:

On making Pro Football Hall of Fame: This is exciting. I was laying over there in the room, and I am going to forgive you for dropping that envelope, but you scared the heck out of me. This is really nice. I just have to say, this has been a really tough week for me, because the Hall of Fame thing is something that everyone wanted to talk about and I want you guys out there to know that I consider myself one of your peers now. And, I come in here and try to work and talk about football and now try to divert the attention from this, but this is really exciting. I played with some great football players, some great offensive linemen. This man right here (Jack Youngblood) worked my butt every day for three straight years, and I thank him in a large part for my success, because I had to learn how to be a pro, from Jack Youngblood and Merlin Olsen, I can honestly say that. I just wanted to let you guys know that I am happy to be here and I am awfully thankful for this honor and I am just going to shut up right now.

More on making Hall of Fame: I worked against Jack Youngblood every day in practice, trying to get better, trying to represent the club, trying to represent myself and the family and I just wanted to do the best. I wanted to be remembered as one of the best that has every played and after being around these guys…I mean, right now it is just overwhelming.

On days leading up to Hall of Fame selection: I kept telling myself not to get too excited, because I saw Tom Mack get in, a 13-year Pro Bowler, and Jack Youngblood here, waiting this long, I love going in with Jack. And I said, these guys are some of the great ones and it must be something with linemen, and maybe even L.A., but I didn’t get my hopes up too high. But I tell you this past couple of weeks, the work I have been doing over there at FOX has been magnifying it because it has been constantly coming up. Then coming here to this venue (Tampa Bay), I always go to radio row and I am always over there and talking football and the game and trying to be a regular representative with these press guys, because these are my peers now and I learn from them. But, I tell you, it has been tough this year, because we didn’t get to talk about the game too much over there, it was all about the Hall of Fame and good luck and all of that. The last couple of nights have been pretty rough.

Did you watch the announcement here?: Yes I did. I was laying there and I looked and I saw when Marv Levy came up I said, "Yes!," because I have been encouraging Marv and we have had a lot of conversations about this thing. And when it got down to the end and John announced that was your class, I said to myself, "We will get them next year," and then somebody yelled that is not everybody, you missed one, that is six, then I thought I heard somebody yell from the floor, "Jackie Slater," I thought I heard somebody yell my name, and then sure enough John picks up the envelope and there my name is and I am going, "All right!." It was a beautiful thing, I just loved it.

How did playing in front of Jack Youngblood in practice make you better?: I will tell you, when I came to the Rams I thought I was a pretty bad guy. I blocked for Walter Payton in college and I had played against a lot of great athletes, I can name a bunch of them, from Grambling and Southern and Texas Southern and then I came and I looked at Jack Youngblood and he wasn’t all that big, and I figured I was as tough as him. But, on a daily basis, in systematic drills that they would have for us, nine on seven, one on one’s and everything, it wasn’t all about being physical and trying to knock the guy back. Once I figured out that Jack wasn’t being physical, but he was being physical when he wanted to, that is when my mind started to work and say, "I don’t know how to deal with this guy, I don’t know how to work with this guy and how to block him." And, before you know it and I was all mixed up and it went on and on and I tried to beat him and as soon as I tried to figure him out he would do something else and I just got better. I had to learn how to think on my feet. I had to learn how to react and how to anticipate, and guess, and be on the edge in practice, and it made it easier for me to do it in the games. ---