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***Jack Youngblood joined arenafootball.com users April 24 for a live chat. The 14-year veteran made seven straight Pro Bowls (1973-79), played in five NFC Championship games and made one Super Bowl appearance during his distinguished career. This past January, Jack was elected to join the Pro Football Hall of Fame and will be inducted on August 4. Here is the official transcript of what he had to say. Jack_Youngblood: Hi there everyone. Thanks for joining MODERATOR: Welcome to the chat, Jack! MODERATOR: How are you doing this morning? Jack_Youngblood: We're excellent down here in Florida. It's an absolutely beautiful spring day! Freddy: What is your current role with the AFL and do you enjoy it? Jack_Youngblood: I am a consultant to the Commissioner of the AFL, David Baker. I assist him in the relationship with the National Football League. Yes, we do enjoy it very much. Tommy21: How would you compare the AFL game to the NFL? Jack_Youngblood: They are two different games. One is played outdoors with 11 guys. Arena Football is indoors with 8 people on the field at one time. The fundamentals of the game are the same. You have to run, block, tackle, throw it, catch it. From that point, it's the same. You play Arena Football with 8 guys, on a shorter field, so it makes that a different game appearance-wise Ray: Who looks like the strongest AFL team after two weeks? Jack_Youngblood: I think, if I were a bettin' man, and I'm not, you'd have to look at San Jose, just from the roster. Of course, you can't leave Danny White in Arizona out of there. Although Jay Gruden is 0-2, the defending champ is exactly that. sisukid: How long have you been involved with the AFL? Jack_Youngblood: I arrived in the AFL in 1995 through the advice of a friend of mine who owned the Predators who asked me to run his team. I did so, we won a title after a few years, then I moved to the league office. AFLking: How do you think you would've fared in the AFL back in your glory days? Jack_Youngblood: Oh, I'd have to be the QB back in my day. I would have wanted to be a QB and a linebacker. I love the aspect of playing both ways, of playing all the downs. That's what we prided ourselves on when I played. That's a wonderful aspect of Arena Football. sisukid: Are there any more Kurt Warners in the AFL waiting to be discovered? Jack_Youngblood: Absolutely. To be able to name them right now, you can't point a finger at just one. But that's the whole idea. You take players, give them opportunities to excel and compete and rise to that next level. cnorwood: What player did you hate to play against the most? Jack_Youngblood: I loved playing against the best. That was exhilarating for me. The guy, as I look back on it, most challenging was Russ Washington. I didn't get to play against him many times, but Russ reminds of many of the players today, 6'6, 300 plus pounds and can dance. He was a monster. Creeddd: What was it like backing up the great Deacon Jones when you entered the league? Jack_Youngblood: I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to come into an organization like the Rams with great defensive lineman. There was no greater mentor in the game than that. Newman: You missed one game in 14 NFL seasons. What happened? Jack_Youngblood: The game I missed was the final regular season game of my 14th season. I had ruptured a disk in my lower back. That finally did me in. I was physically incapable of playing. My left leg didn't work. I took my doctor, even my voodoo doctor, with me to help me play that day. My right leg worked fine, but nothing else I tried with my left leg worked. But trust me, I tried to play. Aaron212: Is there an NFL team today that you could compare you most successful Rams teams to? Jack_Youngblood: Our success was certainly different than the success of the current St. Louis Rams. We never had the key ingredient, which in my opinion, was the quarterback. That's not a knock on the QB's we did have though when I played. We were probably more like the Tennessee Titans than anyone else. We had the dominate defense, and an adequate offense. Seri: Can you believe there are no football teams in Los Angeles? What are your feelings about this? Jack_Youngblood: It is hard to fathome that the NFL has departed from Los Angeles. Wonderful fans. But you have to win. They expect greatenss from their teams. They expect it from the Dodgers, from the Kings, from the Lakers. When you give LA a team like that, they are more than supportive. Casey Wasserman (owner of the LA Avengers) has a team in the best market in the country. AFPete: There are a lot of quality football players graduating college every year, and simply not enough room on the rosters of the NFL, AFL and CFL. Are there plans to expand the AFL further to accomodate the growing pool of talent? Jack_Youngblood: Absolutely. We have a vision of being 28-30 strong in the AFL. That would open up about 100 more positions. Part of the big picture with the NFL is exactly that. Xavier: Tell us about your Hall of Fame induction. Are you ready? Jack_Youngblood: The induction is in August. The election, as everyone knows, was during Super Bowl weekend. I still walk around in somewhat of an…awe that I have been elected. We're preparing right now for the induction. It's a wonderful experience. cnorwood: Who is inducting you to the Hall and why? Jack_Youngblood: The decision of who is going to introduce you is, in my opinion, someone who has been significant in your career and life. That person for me is Merlin Olsen. Teammate, friend, mentor. MODERATOR: Thanks so much for coming Jack, and congratulations on the Hall of Fame! Jack_Youngblood: Thank you very much, I had a great time.*** |
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