Friday, Aug. 3, 2001 | 10:37 a.m.
Offensive linemen are usually the forgotten soldiers on the football field. The only time they get noticed is when they get penalized for holding or jumping offsides.
That was especially true in the 1980s, when quarterbacks Joe Montana, John Elway and Dan Marino and running backs Eric Dickerson and Marcus Allen dominated the headlines. Which made the move by then-Los Angeles Rams head coach John Robinson to pick a talented but unheralded offensive tackle named Jackie Slater as one of his team captains even more surprising.
"I like to think that we were the envy across the country," said Slater, who will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday in Canton, Ohio. "The thing I will always remember about John Robinson is the importance he placed on his offensive linemen. I think we had three offensive linemen in eight years who were captains. No one else in the country did that."
Slater, who had never made a Pro Bowl in seven previous seasons, went to seven under Robinson's tenure. He was named offensive lineman of the year on four occasions by his NFL peers.
So Slater decided to give his old coach the ultimate honor at Saturday's Hall of Fame ceremonies by asking him to make his three-minute induction speech. The UNLV head coach left Thursday morning along with wife Linda for Canton and will return to his Green Valley home on Sunday, just in time for the start of fall practice.
It's the first time that Robinson has made an induction speech.
"It was very, very emotional when Jackie asked him," Linda Robinson said. "He's just been beaming about it. John is such a natural when it comes to giving speeches. This is the first time I've ever really seen him work on one, though."
Robinson has attended the Hall of Fame ceremonies just once in his life. That was last year to sit in the stands and see his old USC safety Ronnie Lott get inducted.
"To introduce (Slater) is just huge for me," Robinson said. "I just feel very good about it. It's going to be a thrill just being a football coach or a football person. It's not about me or anything. It's just being there and seeing the look in Jackie's eyes when he gets in. Those are the precious moments that are really important in life."
Slater said it was a tough decision to decide between Robinson and his old offensive line coach, Hudson Houck, now an assistant with the Dallas Cowboys and widely regarded as the NFL's top offensive line coach.
"The deciding factor was that John was the head guy in charge," Slater said. "He was the man who put the offensive line out in the forefront. He created an environment that made it special to be an offensive lineman. In the fourth quarter of our games, we knew we would just go out and wear the other team down."
A number of other Rams from Robinson's coaching days, including inductee Jack Youngblood and offensive linemen Dennis Harrah and Doug Smith, will also be in Canton for the ceremony.
"I think the Hall of Fame is a shrine for anybody who has been in football," Robinson said. "You kind of look at that as just the standard for what greatness is. To have a player of yours go in is great. Jackie's selection is a particularly great addition because he was an offensive lineman and they don't have stats. Eric Dickerson goes in and he has great stats. But in Jackie's case, someone has to recognize him for his daily efforts. All of us with the Rams thought that he was not only a super player but also a super guy."
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