True Middle Linebacker Is an Endangered Species

One of the great things about the NFL in the ‘60s was that Ray Nitschke wasn’t one of a kind.

It seems as if every team had a nasty, toothless middle linebacker who wore a “Mother” tattoo and would run over her to make a tackle.

Television gave us a glimpse into the species with a documentary called “The Violent World of Sam Huff,” a game day in the life of the New York Giant middle linebacker.

But he was far from the most imposing. The guys I remember most were from the black and blue division, which is probably why it was called the black and blue division. Guys like Green Bay’s Nitschke, Chicago’s Dick Butkus, Detroit’s Joe Schmidt.

Nitschke’s death from a heart attack this week at age 61 reminded me how much the NFL has changed.

In many ways, it has changed for the better. I like the more wide-open passing game. But, in reaction to it, defenses are now constructed around stopping the pass with hard-charging defensive linemen, blitzing linebackers and athletic cornerbacks.

As often as not, true middle linebackers aren’t even on the field in passing situations because of platoon systems.

I can recall only two middle linebackers in the last couple of decades who defined their defenses the way Nitschke did his. One is Pittsburgh’s Jack Lambert, the other is Chicago’s Mike Singletary.

You think Singletary isn’t tough? When Bear defensive end Alonzo Spellman went on a rampage Monday, police sent Singletary in to get him.

Twenty years from now, when people think back to the ‘90s NFL, the player they’re most likely to associate with defense is Deion Sanders. There’s nothing wrong with that. He’s a beautiful athlete.

Nitschke would have eaten him alive, not even slowing down to spit out the do-rag.

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When I departed Page Two for three weeks in Japan and two weeks of vacation, I left behind two instructions that would greatly enhance sports in Los Angeles. . . .

One was to break ground for the new downtown arena. . . .

The other was to sign Mike Piazza. . . .

I returned this week to find neither had been done. . . .

It’s impossible to find good help these days. . . .

I’ve learned that Roski, Anschutz & Co. have at least made tentative plans for the arena’s ground-breaking ceremony sometime within the next couple of weeks. . . .

The only cause for optimism regarding

Piazza, however, is that it appears baseball owners will accept Rupert Murdoch as a member of their club next week. . . .

Murdoch shouldn’t even stop to accept the key to the executive washroom. . . .

His first order of business as Dodger owner should be to re-sign Piazza. . . .

The Dodgers could have locked him up before last season. He offered to start negotiations at six years for $60 million. The Dodgers balked, signing him for two years at $15 million. . . .

Piazza’s figure would be a bargain today. . . .

Inglewood fancies itself as the City of Champions. . . .

But the title might have to be ceded to Long Beach. . . .

The Ice Dogs went to the IHL finals last season, Long Beach Poly won the Southern Section Division I football championship and the StingRays are one game away from winning the ABL title. . . .

I usually applaud NHL ref Kerry Fraser because he doesn’t shy away from calling penalties at critical times. . . .

But I don’t know what it was he thinks he saw when he called the Mighty Ducks’ Jason Marshall for high sticking in overtime Monday night, resulting in a game-winning power play for the Kings. . . .

Although NFL scouts are concerned about Skip Hicks’ durability, they were so impressed with his speed during a recent workout that he probably has worked his way up to the draft’s first round. . . .

Safety Shaun Williams is projected to go before Hicks, giving UCLA two first-round picks for the first time since Freeman McNeil went to the Jets and Kenny Easley to the Seahawks in 1981. . . .

USC cornerback Brian Kelly is expected to go in the second round. . . .

Scouts are accustomed to John Robinson’s custom of exaggerating his players’ sizes. . . .

So they weren’t surprised to find while measuring the Trojans’ prospective draft choices that the “6-foot-1” Kelly is really 5-11 and that the “5-11” Delon Washington is really 5-8. . . .

Maybe Paul Hackett can find a way to turn 5-6 into 8-3.

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While wondering if Nykesha Sales could play in the NCAA tournament if she used a cart, I was thinking: I don’t know whom to pull for in Bob Knight vs. the Big Ten, I figured Tom Clancy to buy the New England football team, the StingRays are ending their season just when they’re getting interesting.