GAINESVILLE, Fla. – There is hardly an empty box on Jack Youngblood's lengthy checklist of football achievements.
Hall of Fame inductee? College and professional.
All-Pro First Team selection? Five times in 14 seasons, all of which he spent with the Los Angeles Rams. Jack Youngblood
Number retired? The Rams hung Youngblood's No. 85 alongside the likes of Isaac Bruce, Eric Dickerson, Marshall Faulk, Deacon Jones, and Merlin Olsen. It was a no-brainer given the fact his unofficial sack count (1982 was the first year the NFL counted them) was 151.5, a number only eclipsed by Jones when Youngblood retired prior to the 1985 campaign.
Florida Football's Ring of Honor? Youngblood and his No. 74 jersey -- which fans can purchase a replica of -- were enshrined with Emmitt Smith, Steve Spurrier, and Danny Wuerffel when the Gators unveiled it in 2006.
Undefeated against Florida State? You bet.
A turn as "Mr. Two Bits"? One of Youngblood's rare blank boxes. Well, it'll be blank until Saturday night, when one of the greatest athletes ever to don the Orange and Blue takes Gator Nation through George Edmondson's fabled pregame cheer.
"Bless his heart, he was a genuine part of our Saturday afternoons," Youngblood said. "I really enjoyed watching him come out in front of the team, stand there, and get people standing up and showing how much they loved our football team. That was a unique moment in your collegiate career."
One Hall of Famer, Rams defensive end Jack Youngblood (85), bears down on another, Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw (12), during Super Bowl XIV.
Full of laughs and bearing a humble spirit, Youngblood calls it a blessing to be chosen as the latest ceremonial "Mr. Two Bits" by what he refers to as "the organization."
"I just appreciate the organization remembers who I was, and what we did when we were there," Youngblood said. "It shows you what our football team, our organization thought of me, and my career with the Gators."
Forget Jack Youngblood? How could any member of Gator Nation manage that?
Youngblood's genuine modesty as it relates to his football career goes back to his senior year at Jefferson County High School, a Class B program in Monticello, Fla. The Tigers won the state title in 1966, and amidst the celebration, a man grabbed Youngblood's arm. The man was longtime assistant coach Dave Fuller, more widely recognized for his 28-season tenure as head coach of Florida's baseball team. Gators football head coach Ray Graves sent Fuller to the panhandle with a single scholarship offer. Right then and there, Fuller offered it to Youngblood, who accepted after all of two seconds.
"I didn't get any letters," said Youngblood, who was told by Bill Parcells, then a linebackers coach at Florida State, he couldn't play at the college level. "I didn't know whether I was going to get to go to college. My time in Gainesville with the Gators was a blessing from God."
Youngblood joined the Gators as a linebacker who weighed less than 200 pounds. By the end of his senior year in 1970, the overlooked high school prospect was a 246-pound monster of a pass rusher and a unanimous first-team All-American.
The iconic play of Youngblood's collegiate career came in the 1970 Florida-Georgia game.
The Gators trailed, 17-10, and the Bulldogs were headed for another touchdown. Instead, Youngblood stuffed Georgia's Ricky Lake at the goal line, forced a fumble, and took the ball away from a Bulldogs player at the bottom of the pile. Behind the momentum from Youngblood's takeaway, Florida scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns and won the game, 24-17.
When the 1971 NFL Draft arrived, the Rams selected Youngblood with the 20th overall pick. His flight to the team's rookie meetings marked the first time he ever crossed the Mississippi River. Youngblood laughed as he recalled how he knew next to nothing about the Rams, saying their games were "not on our television on Sundays."
Jones and Olsen, both future Hall of Famers, knew right away Youngblood could play. Once they showed Youngblood how to maximize his talent – another blessing in his eyes – he blossomed into a dominant defensive lineman widely regarded as one of the fiercest players in history. He was the most difficult assignment of Dan Dierdorf's career. Hall of Fame tackle Art Shell called him a terror. John Madden wrote in his book, One Knee Equals Two Feet, "If a Martian landed in my backyard, knocked on my door and asked me, 'What's a football player?' I'd go get Jack Youngblood."
Remembered for his toughness practically above all else, Youngblood broke his leg in the first half of the Rams' 1979 playoff run. Not only did Youngblood play and record a sack in the second half, he famously played every defensive down of the 1979 NFC Championship Game and Super Bowl XIV. Prior to the 1981 season, according to a Sports Illustrated profile, doctors removed a "blood clot the size of a hot dog" and told Youngblood "there was a chance he would not play again." He played all 16 games that year.
In fact, Youngblood missed one game in his entire career. At one point, he appeared in 201 consecutive games and made 184 consecutive starts. Thus, he became known as the John Wayne of football.
Jack Youngblood steps to the podium during his Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement at Canton, Ohio, in 2001.
Even with his tough guy reputation, Youngblood is taking no chances with COVID-19.
Between turning 70 this past January and a nearly two-year-old granddaughter he calls the center of his life, Youngblood is being cautious about what he does and where he goes.
"I've been kind of cut off from my regular lifestyle," Youngblood said. "I've got the farm up in Jefferson County, but I can't go. They came down with the virus. I can't afford to go up there, come down with the virus, and then come back home and spread it down here.
"We are hung up here with nothing to do. And it's boring. Absolutely boring. I've got to be entertained somehow, or have a definite job to get done."
Youngblood's wife, Barbara, is helping with the last bit.
She's putting him to work, so much so Youngblood now refers to himself as the "Yard Man." He's spreading mulch. He's planting flowers, or moving them around if they don't take right. He's touching up some fading paint around the house. He's even doing some minor electrical work.
"She's commanding," Youngblood said with a laugh. "She's the coach, and I'm a rookie."
As for the upcoming virtual "Mr. Two Bits" appearance, Youngblood has some notable experience with this kind of production. Shortly after he retired from football, Youngblood starred in a pair of television movies titled "C.A.T. Squad." Both were directed by William Friedkin. Yes, the same William Friedkin who directed Gene Hackman in "The French Connection," Max von Sydow in "The Exorcist" and Willem Dafoe in "To Live and Die in L.A."
Seeing as Friedkin's made one movie in the last eight years, Youngblood is calling on another director for this particular project.
"Barbara is the director," Youngblood said. "We may have to do it two or three times, but it will be so much fun."
Once Youngblood gives his rendition of Edmondson's galvanizing routine, one of the greatest Gators of all time finally will put a check through practically the only empty box on his list of career achievements. And in all likelihood, it will be as unforgettable as the rest of his career.
Come Sunday morning, though, Barbara will have another list for him to start working on.
