THEY CALL HIM ROBOCOP : Irvine Linebacker Dave Webb Makes Name for Himself Knocking Other People Down

The first time you meet Irvine High School’s Dave Webb, you’re impressed.

If, by chance, that meeting comes on a football field, then you’re impressed and probably in pain.

Webb, a 6-foot 4-inch, 220-pound senior, is well-spoken and polite. Not exactly the characteristics associated with a linebacker.

That’s off the field. On it, he’s every bit a linebacker.

“When David makes contact, running backs go backward,” Irvine Coach Terry Henigan said. “He’s caused a lot of great collisions this year.”

Said Webb, who didn’t begin playing organized football until he was a freshman: “That’s what being a linebacker is all about. The whole idea is to knock someone down. You have to get him before he gets you.”

Irvine coaches, teammates and even opposing players refer to him as “Robocop,” after the half-human, half-machine police officer in the hit movie. He is called that in part for his seek-and-destroy style, but mainly for his elaborate protective gear.

Webb has added a few extras to the standard equipment: knee braces, ankle supports and arm pads that extend from elbows to finger tips.

But his most noticeable addition is a purple visor, designed to protect the eyes. It gives Webb a science-fiction appearance and a mystique that can be unnerving, even to his coach.

“He doesn’t look human when he gets all that gear on,” Henigan said.

Mission Viejo Coach Bill Crow said: “He looks a little different with that windshield on. It’s kind of awesome. But, with his abilities, he can dress any way he wants and back it up.”

Still, opponents have tried to distract Webb, making references at first to Darth Vader and then to Robocop. The verbal assault has failed.

“The Tustin players were calling me Darth Vader, but that made me angry,” Webb said. “Darth Vader dies in the end.”

Robocop is different.

“It sounds invincible,” he said.

Webb’s abilities have only enhanced that image. In almost every game, he is involved in a collision that drops a ballcarrier in his tracks and brings a hush to the crowd.

The most memorable of which, to all concerned, was in the second game of the season against Westminster, when Webb fought off two blockers to tackle the ballcarrier.

Yet, tackle is an inadequate description, according to Henigan.

“When he hit that running back, everyone in the stands went ‘WHOA!’ ” Henigan said.

Said Webb: “Two guys came at me. I nailed the first blocker, then threw the other guy off and laid the runner out. I could hear the crowd gasp, and that really pumped me up.”

Stan Clark, co-head coach at Westminster, remembers the play but says it resulted from a mistake on the part of the Lions.

“Not to take anything away from the kid, it was a good hit, but we missed a blocking assignment,” he said. “Perhaps if we would have at least attempted to block him, it would not have been as good.”

Yet, getting Webb away from the double- and triple-team blocking schemes was the reason Henigan moved him from middle guard to linebacker this season.

It was a gamble; Webb was first-team All-South Coast League as a down lineman. But Henigan felt that Webb had the ability and personality to play linebacker.

“Dave is strong and he likes to hit. That’s two things in your favor if you want to be a linebacker,” Henigan said. “We needed to give him more opportunities to get to the football. We thought about defensive end or outside linebacker, but then teams could run away from him. Inside was the place to put him.”

The move was welcomed by Webb.

“You may not live as long, but in our defense, it’s the best place to be,” Webb said. “You get free shots at ballcarriers and don’t have to worry about someone blocking you. Our linemen are supposed to create a pile, and the linebackers go for the running back.”

Said Tustin Coach Marion Ancich, whose team has faced Webb as a middle guard and a linebacker: “Webb must have had 11 or 12 solo tackles as a middle guard. As a linebacker, he chased people all over the field. It caused us nothing but grief. That’s a major college prospect.”

Which is quite an accolade for a guy who was a soccer player when he entered high school.

However, even as soccer player, Webb showed linebacker instincts.

“Slide tackling guys was the most enjoyable part of the game,” Webb said. “Some forward would come down the field and I’d take his legs, knock the ball away and he would fall on his face. They usually didn’t come back my way, unless they were stupid.”

Webb might have stayed a soccer player if it hadn’t been for the constant teasing from his younger brother, Greg.

While Dave was playing in youth soccer leagues, Greg, now a freshman at Irvine, was playing football.

“Greg used to make fun of me for being a soccer player,” Webb said. “He kept saying I should try football, that it was a real sport. I tried it and fell in love with the game.”

Said Henigan: “Dave was tall and lanky, but we could see he was going to fill out to be a pretty big kid. We knew by the end of his freshman year that he was going to be a pretty good player.”

How good?

“He liked to hit, we knew that, too. There are still times in practice when he gets going and we have to calm him down. People aren’t usually in love with with hitting. It’s not natural.”

Neither is Robocop.