Emtman paid highest compliment
Steve Emtman couldn’t have been more excited about his selection Tuesday to the College Football Hall of Fame – until one particular call of congratulations came in.
It was from University of Washington assistant coach Randy Hart, who coached Emtman on the defensive line and has survived five different Husky coaching regimes.
“He’s the ‘true Dawg,’ and the hardest coach I’ve ever had to satisfy,” said Emtman. “He was always that guy who said, ‘You could have done a little better,’ who expected the most out of you. I love the guy and when he called and said, ‘Great job,’ I think it’s the first time in my life he’s ever complimented me.
“I thought, ‘I’ve finally done it – I can be through with football now.’ “
The dominant defensive player of his generation, Emtman probably could have gone straight from his last Rose Bowl to the hall, but the Cheney High School graduate will enter the South Bend, Ind., shrine with 12 other players as the Class of 2006 along with two coaches – Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno.
“Hall of Fame players come off successful teams,” said Emtman, now a Spokane developer. “It doesn’t matter how good of an athlete you are, if you’re not surrounded by the right players and the right coaches, you’re not going to achieve all that you can.
“All those guys have done it for me again.”
Still, there’s little doubt that Emtman was the motor that drove the Huskies to their 1991 national championship.
A unanimous first-team All-American, he earned virtually every distinction short of the Heisman Trophy. He became only the ninth player in collegiate history to win both the Lombardi and Outland trophies as the nation’s best lineman in the same season. He was fourth in the Heisman balloting and co-most valuable player in a 34-14 Rose Bowl victory over Michigan.
A defensive tackle of uncommon strength and ferocity, he was the anchor of a defense that allowed opponents just 67 yards and nine points a game during UW’s 12-0 season.
He passed up his senior season to enter the National Football League draft and was the first overall selection of the Indianapolis Colts, but his pro career was cut short after six years by a series of knee injuries.
“The NFL clearly wasn’t the same for me,” he said, “but I never had more fun than I did playing college football.
“I was proud of the fact that we were national champions and 12-0, and now this team can say we produced a Hall of Fame player.”
Joining him in the 2006 class are Colorado running back Bobby Anderson (1967-69), Miami defensive back Bennie Blades (1985-87), Minnesota defensive tackle Carl Eller (1961-63), Baylor safety Thomas Everett (1983-86), Air Force defensive tackle Chad Hennings (1984-87), Tennessee guard Chip Kell (1968-70), Purdue quarterback Mike Phipps (1967-69), Nebraska running back Mike Rozier (1981-83), Stanford linebacker Jeff Siemon (1968-71), Virginia Tech defensive tackle Bruce Smith (1981-84), Florida running back Emmitt Smith (1987-89) and Florida State quarterback Charlie Ward (1989-93).
The induction will take place on Dec. 5 in New York City.