I had the displeasure of meeting John Offerdahl one Saturday afternoon in Kalamazoo in the fall of 1983. I was playing right offensive tackle for Toledo. The play call in the huddle was 15 Counter. Great! I loved that play. It was run out of “I” formation with the FB and TB running to the right side of the line with FB kicking out the DE and the TB would cut left. By this time the pulling left guard would kick out the other DE and I would turn up the hole and seal the LB to the inside. The TB would then cut off my block and scamper into the secondary for an easy 7-8 yd run. That’s how it was supposed to work. Offerdahl had another idea. He completely ran through me to tackle the ball carrier. In film the next day it looked like a three car pile up with bodies flying everywhere. At halftime we went into the locker and my gut was killing me. I lifted up my jersey to reveal a huge imprint of John’s cleats. Based on the forensic evidence I would have to say he wore a size 12/13 Addidas Top Ten turf cleat. Anyway, he was probably the best linebacker I faced throughout college, and a class act to boot. Hope he is doing well.

I remember when he held out for a while when the Dolphins drafted him....he got to camp late and there was conjecture how long it would take him to learn the playbook and make any contribution. After the first weekend of practice Shula had him penciled in as the starter! He was the best tackler I had ever seen and to this day still holds that distinction for me. I saw him on the sideline of a Phins game a couple years ago...he still looks like he could play....one of my all time Dolphins fave players.

Offerdahl was awesome. He totally shut down MSU in 1985 in a game Western should have won if it weren't for a shady pass interference call by a Big Ten official. He rocked!