Glory, Achievement All in Line of Duty for Titans’ Redding

Reggie Redding is barely 21, but he already has made peace with his lot in life, or at least in football, which is pretty much his life right now.

Behind every great running back, there are the guys in front of him. Redding is one of the offensive linemen toiling for the glory of Mike Pringle, the Cal State Fullerton running back who tied the national single-game rushing record Saturday but didn’t find out about it until Monday, when a five-yard statistical error was discovered.

Offensive linemen are players with no statistics of their own, so they must take pride in the accomplishments of others. “It’s all right,” says Redding, a smile breaking across his face. “We’re unselfish people.”

As Gene Upshaw, executive director of the National Football League Players Assn., once said, everyone remembers what a nice job Paul Revere did, but nobody ever mentions the horse. Offensive linemen know how the horse feels.

“What (Pringle) is accomplishing, it’s our accomplishment, too,” said Redding, the Titans’ 6-foot-4, 270-pound left tackle. “He told us that after the game. He gave us all a big hug Saturday. Mike’s a great back and a good person. Just to do that for him makes us feel good.”

Fullerton’s offensive line is not the secret in front of Pringle’s success, though. Pringle has proven capable of succeeding not only because of his line but, at times, in spite of it.

In the first game this season, Fullerton started only two players on the offensive line who had played in a Division I game--Redding and center Marc Hauser. Pringle rushed 10 times, and he was stuffed on play after play.

Fullerton was so taken aback by the lack of success that it used only 15 running plays, passing 50 times. Pringle finished with 14 yards.

Eyes turned to the offensive line. “We weren’t ready,” said Redding, a senior who is a pro prospect. “It took us two or three games to get the offense clicking.”

In the meantime, the line was one focal point for blame.

“If the running game isn’t going or if (quarterback Dan) Speltz is getting sacked, people look at the offensive line,” Redding said. “But if the guys are catching the ball or running the ball, they don’t look at us.”

In recent games, the line has been playing its best of the season, Redding said.

Titan assistant coach Don Morel agrees, especially about Redding’s performance. “He’s always been our best offensive lineman,” Morel said. “He was always playing well. Now he’s dominating.”

Fullerton’s line has had more to struggle with than inexperience. It is also dangerously thin on backups. Redding had missed only one snap all season before Saturday, when he, like Pringle, sat out the final five plays of a 45-10 victory over New Mexico State. Tom Gang, the right tackle, hasn’t missed a play yet. Laita Leatutufu, a 6-2, 300-pound right guard, and Hauser, the center, have missed fewer than a dozen plays. The only players to get any substantial amount of rest are Mike Rogan and Shannon Illingworth, who have been battling for the left guard spot.

To Redding, this is just another reason for the line to take pride in the accomplishments of Pringle, who is leading the nation in all-purpose running and whose 148.9-yard rushing average is second only to that of Florida’s Emmitt Smith (151.8).

“That’s one thing I love about Mike making all that yardage,” Redding said. “Emmitt Smith, he has 10 or 15 linemen. (Indiana’s) Anthony Thompson, (Air Force’s) Dee Dowis, they have all these linemen and most of them have been there five years. We’ve got five guys getting Mike that type of yardage. This 1,300 yards is our reward.”

A more personal reward for Redding could come in the next National Football League draft. His speed, along with his size and strength, has drawn NFL scouts for a closer look.

His running ability was in evidence even before the game began at Fresno State last month. During individual pregame introductions, most of the offensive linemen plodded to midfield, or finished the jog winded. Redding sprinted the 50 yards.

In games, his speed is most apparent when he finishes his assignment and then, amazingly, runs downfield with Pringle.

“I love that,” Redding said. “It’s a mismatch, me and those (defensive backs).”

Last season in a victory over San Jose State, Pringle caught a swing pass around midfield and headed for the sideline, Redding alongside him, his personal blocker. It turned into a 40-yard gain before Pringle was tackled at the 10-yard line. Pictures of that run, with Redding in front of Pringle with the San Jose State secondary in pursuit, keep turning up in Fullerton publications.

Apart from his ability on the field, what endears Redding most to his coaches is his demeanor.

When he arrived at Fullerton in 1988 after transferring from Laney College in Oakland, Redding weighed 320 pounds. Fullerton coaches told him he had to get down to 300. It meant passing up his beloved red meat in favor of fish and chicken and lots of fruit, but Redding did it.

“That shows his dedication,” Morel said.

Fullerton had intended to redshirt Redding last season, but with injuries and lack of depth, he was forced to play. And he started every game.

This year, they asked him to come to camp at 290. He arrived weighing 289.

“He’s this happy-go-lucky guy, but he can turn on the intensity,” Morel said. “When he’s intense, he’s intense as anyone you’ve ever seen. But you’d never know that if you run into him in the library or a restaurant.”