Steussie Fits the Minnesota Mold : Pro football: Bunyanesque No. 1 draft choice from Agoura High and Cal has the look of a Viking.

Todd Steussie was dazed when he returned to his Berkeley apartment Tuesday night. He had just returned from a whirlwind two days in Minneapolis, where he faced instant fame and impending wealth after being selected in the first round of the NFL draft by the Minnesota Vikings.

The 6-foot-6, 305-pound All-American tackle felt just like all those Pacific 10 Conference pass rushers he had stonewalled for 47 Saturdays: wobbly.

“My head’s spinning,” he said. “It’s still kind of a shock to me.”

Several NFL teams on Sunday jockeyed for position to draft Steussie, once a virtually overlooked defensive lineman at Agoura High, before the Vikings grabbed him with the 19th pick. His agent, Leigh Steinberg, tells him that he will be wealthy. Steinberg also mentioned that quarterback Warren Moon, who came to the Vikings in a trade from Houston two weeks ago, is excited to be his teammate.

But this is what really flattens Steussie like a pancake block: Checking in for his flight home Tuesday, an airline attendant asked him for his autograph.

“Before I had a chance to hand my ticket to the lady at the counter, she asked me for it,” he said. “As an offensive lineman, you don’t get much face recognition. But the people in the Twin Cities already know who I am.

“I mean, this is something I’ve never experienced before.”

And it’s all happening fast. He already has seen the Viking playbook. Mini-camp starts next week. He’s been fitted for his uniform and has a new number: 73. He wore 75 at California, where he started a school-record 47 consecutive games after redshirting as a freshman.

“It’s a good number, a big number,” Steussie said. “The ones and twos make you look skinnier. The threes and fives make you look bigger.”

Steussie would look big in any jersey. He bench-presses 500 pounds and squats 665. His weight-lifting display at the NFL Combine in March brought a broad smile to the face of Minnesota Coach Dennis Green. Now Steussie is the hulking giant who could anchor the right side of the Viking offensive line as early as next season.

“Todd Steussie is a great, big, strong, right offensive tackle,” Green said. “He fits our idea of a physical player, comes off the ball hard, very physical run blocker, loves the weight room, and one we think will play for us for a long period of time.”

Steinberg, agent to famous quarterbacks (Joe Montana, Troy Aikman, Moon), represents Steussie and said, “Even with the salary cap, Todd will be a wealthy young man.”

Steussie, having digested all this, arrived home, plopped in a chair and glanced at his telephone answering machine. The little red light was blinking nonstop.

“I’ve got about 20 messages here,” he said. “I haven’t been able to return many phone calls. I haven’t got the chance to talk to my parents since I got drafted.”

Steussie is a man in demand. Green Bay wanted him. So did Detroit, San Francisco and Miami. “Nineteenth is exactly the place we had him projected,” Steinberg said. “Green Bay told him if he was available on the 20th pick, they would take him. Detroit called during the draft and said, ‘If he gets to 21, get ready. We’re taking him.’

“We found out later that San Francisco was trying to trade up to get him. (49er General Manager) Carmen Policy told me they were aggressively trying to move up. They really, really loved Todd.

“But I was certain he was going somewhere in the Black and Blue division. I told Todd before the draft to get his long johns ready.”

But the 49ers, who fared best among the 28 teams according to many draft experts, could have taken Steussie with the seventh pick, which they used to get Notre Dame defensive tackle Bryant Young. The Rams could have claimed Steussie with the 15th choice but wanted Auburn tackle Wayne Gandy instead.

Steussie was interested in the 49ers and the Rams--his friends and family would have been season-ticket holders at Anaheim.

“I want to go to a team that’s winning,” he said. “The 49ers have two All-Pro tackles. . . . The position is open at Minnesota.

Green has known Steussie since his days as coach at Stanford. But the wheels really began to turn one week before the draft when he met Steinberg and Moon, who signed a as a free agent with the Vikings.

“(Green) told me during lunch how much he liked Todd,” Steinberg said. “Warren was sitting there at the table and he was excited. Warren’s going to call Todd and they’re going to get to know each other. He’s excited about the concept of Steussie.”

That concept overwhelms Steussie. “He’s been a pro for 17 years, I think,” Steussie said. “And for him to say that he wants me to block for him . . . that’s an honor.

“Five years ago, getting drafted wasn’t close to being in my imagination. I was just really happy for the chance to play college football.”

Frank Greminger, Steussie’s coach at Agoura, also had doubts.

“I didn’t know he had the temperament to go that far,” Greminger said. “But after his sophomore year I saw he had a chance because of his size, his agility and the fact he was stopping guys from teams like Miami.”

Steussie went to Cal at 6-5, 245 pounds and began his transformation when he made the Bear weight room his home away from home. He gravitated to the senior linemen on the 1989 team, absorbing their work ethic.

The Bears were 30-17-1 and played in three bowl games during Steussie’s four seasons. He was named first-team Kodak All-American and was on the Associated Press’ second team last fall.

While Steussie was changing, so was the tackle position in the NFL. Steinberg said tackles as well as quarterbacks, pass rushers and defensive backs have become key positions in the modern passing game. That and the advent of free agency are making tackles rich.

Steussie is more concerned with making a sudden impact for a team that finished 9-7 and qualified for the playoffs last season.