Gator Greats: Jack Youngblood
Friday, August 18, 2006 | Football
As part of the celebration of the 100th season of Florida football, gatorzone.com will run a series of historical features throughout the preseason and the 2006 campaign. The series will give Gator fans an appreciation and understanding of the past teams and players that helped build the Gator football program.
During preseason practice, readers can learn about ground-breaking Florida teams of the past on Tuesdays and Thursdays with the “Great Teams and Eras” series. In addition to those stories, each Friday from the beginning of preseason practice until the season's first game will feature a look at one of Florida's legendary players as part of the “Gator Greats” series.
Once the season is underway, the look back in time will continue on Tuesdays and Thursdays with “Rivalries and Series” and “Great Games” entries relevant to the week's opponent. Occasionally, additional stories will be unveiled on Wednesday of game weeks when the opportunity arises.
As the 2006 football season approaches, take some time to sit back and reflect on the teams, players and moments that all lead up to this, the 100th season of Florida Gator football.
A Glad Gator
By Norm Carlson
Here is a fact that should encourage all young football players, especially those who are about 6-4 and rawboned: When Jack Youngblood arrived at the University of Florida in 1967, recruited out of Jefferson County High in Monticello by assistant coach Dave Fuller, many UF coaches thought he would never play a meaningful down of college football.
"Shoot, the University of Florida was the only school that would give me a chance," Youngblood recalls. "I lived about a stone's throw away from FSU and they did not recruit me. We had a state championship team and some colleges were interested in other players we had, but not interested in me. Bill Parcells was an assistant coach at FSU and he said I couldn't play at the college level. I thought I'd wind up going to a junior college up in Georgia."
Coach Fuller had a different opinion, and he sold Gator head coach Ray Graves on it. Graves then approved the offer of a scholarship.
"Jack was young. I think he was only 16 his senior season. He didn't turn 17 until the next January," said Fuller. "He was obviously a good athlete who could run, was quick and extremely agile. In addition, he was 6-4 and skinny. There was a lot of room to put weight on as he got older."
Gators are thankful Fuller's opinion won out and Youngblood got a scholarship. Four years after the 17-year old, 6-4, 185-pound linebacker arrived at Florida, he left as a 6-5, 248-pound first team All-America defensive end. Six weeks after his college career ended, he was named Most Outstanding Player in the 1971 Senior Bowl. That spring, the Los Angeles Rams made him the 20th player selected in the first round of the 1971 NFL draft.
Youngblood played 14 seasons at defensive end for the Rams, a total of 202 games. He missed only one game in his career, and played the entire game on defense in Super Bowl XIV on a broken left leg, an injury incurred in a playoff game. He also played with that injury in the NFL title game two weeks prior to the Super Bowl. He was fitted with a plastic brace and played every down of both contests.
He finished his career with 151 sacks, the second-highest figure in NFL history. The NFL considers sacks from that era "unofficial" because the league did not keep them on a consistent basis. However, as Gator head coach Steve Spurrier will attest, Youngblood did plant many an NFL quarterback on his backside.
"He was just a fierce competitor who came after you every play," said Spurrier. "He leveled me one time when and Rams and 49ers played, and he got up grinning. Jack loved playing the game of football.
Youngblood agrees with Spurrier's assessment.
"I had fun going out and playing the game," he said. "Having the talent to play is a special gift you are given, and I cannot imagine not taking advantage by failing to play as hard as you can possibly play, and not enjoying the competition. Competition is addictive. I loved the game in high school, college, and at the professional level. I especially loved the opportunity and time spent at the University of Florida.
"They made me a Gator not just for four years, but for life."
With the Rams, Youngblood was named to the All-NFC team six times and was the twice-named NFC Defensive Player of the Year. He was the most dominant lineman in the NFL for years, but it took 12 years on the ballot to be voted into the National Football Hall of Fame.
As unheralded as he was coming out of high school, Youngblood became the symbol of defensive excellence during his career at Florida. He started out his freshman season as an offensive lineman, but by his senior year in 1970, he was the dominant defensive lineman in the SEC. He was named the SEC Most Outstanding Defensive player in 1970. His play against Georgia that year was an example.
The Gators were 11-point underdogs and trailed 17-10 in the fourth quarter. Georgia had first-and-goal at the UF one-yard line. On the first down, he hit the runner, forced a fumble, and dug it out from under a pile of players for the recovery.
Florida's offense came to life after that recovery, scoring on a 32-yard pass from John Reaves to Carlos Alvarez to tie the game with 5:13 to play. Then the Youngblood-led defense stopped the Dawgs at the Gator 38-yard line, and the inspired offense drove 62 yards in the closing moments, scoring on a 48-yard pass from Reaves to Alvarez with 1:39 to play for a 24-17 victory.
Youngblood told the press after the game that he just stole the ball from Georgia for the game-turning recovery.
"I don't know who it was," he said, "but they had it in their hands and I just snatched it away from him. Heck, they do it all the time in the pros."
Georgia head coach Vince Dooley said Youngblood was the difference in the game.
"We couldn't block him," Dooley said. "The fumble was the turning point. I really don't know how he came up with the football. If we could have scored there I really believe we would have won the game."
Youngblood is still regarded as one of the premier defensive linemen in UF history, and was selected on the conference's all-quarter century team for the period of 1950-74. In 1992, he joined Dale Van Sickle (1928) and Steve Spurrier (1966) as former Gator players to be named to the College Football Hall of Fame.
A fact, which might not be remembered by Gator fans, is that Youngblood was also an outstanding place kicker. He reached second in scoring behind All-America tailback Larry Smith in 1968 with 35 points, and was the team's kickoff man. Youngblood kicked six consecutive field goals that season and finished the year making 7 of 9, along with 14 of 16 extra-point attempts.
Graves, the Gator head coach during Youngblood's first two years of 1968-69, followed his career from the days at Jefferson High School through the All-Pro days in Los Angeles. He has perhaps the best summation of how it all happened.
"He put his heart and soul into what he did. He appreciated the game and loved to play it. He was a team player. He was tough as nails, and he was a very talented player who continually worked to get better. As a result, he continued to get better and better from high school right on through the NFL."
