UCLA’s Nece Hall Fired Up by This Trip

The father’s son celebrated the past and became better for the present.

He found inspiration in the Ohio summer.

He found Broadway Joe.

The father’s son lived a proud moment, sitting in the front row during the ceremonies, his nervous grandfather making the presentation of a superstar of the 1980s and ‘90s.

Ronnie Lott was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on July 29, and his son was there. The son still is.

“It’s going to be an inspiration for me,” Ryan Nece says.

It already has been. Nece, who uses his mother’s maiden name, has spent extra time after UCLA football practice, working on strength or technique because he was one of 20 or so family members who was in Canton for Lott’s enshrinement.

He has spent extra time watching film because of who he saw on that trip.

He tied for the team lead in tackles last week against Alabama, contributing to the Bruins’ upset victory, partly because of an Alabama product, Joe Namath. Without even knowing it, Namath has made the speedy three-year starter at linebacker better.

“He’s always been a highly motivated kid--he’s always practiced hard, worked extremely hard,” said Marc Dove, UCLA’s linebacker coach. “But I think it’s juiced him a little extra.”

Nece is the first to acknowledge that. He went to Canton to share his father’s big moment. And found his own.

“Just being around those types of athletes and having the chance to speak with those guys and talk about what they did and what made them successful,” Nece said. “Everybody said it was hard work. It kind of makes you think about your career. How much work am I really putting in to being a successful football player? It really put things in perspective on how hard I need to push and how hard I need to work on the field and off the field to be a success, not only on the field but in life in general. I thought it was a really neat experience.

“There were some great linebackers, Willie Lanier, Jack Lambert. There were some big-time players back there I had the opportunity to meet. Some great running backs, like Gale Sayers.

“Or a guy I never had the opportunity to meet but was just in awe of because of who he was and what he’s accomplished, Joe Namath. The perfect word is cool. He was just a really cool guy. He went out of his way to say hi to people; people didn’t have to go out of their way to say hi to him.

“Talking to Mean Joe Greene was an honor. I knew the type of intimidator he was on the field. Just the way he spoke and his actions and his mannerisms, you could tell he was a very strong, intimidating person. I respected that. I respected that a lot. I was like, ‘Man, this guy can be so cordial yet intimidating at the same time. That’s the type of player he was on the field. He busted his butt on the field, he never left anything on the field. He gave it his all.’ I respected that about him, so speaking to him was an honor.”

Only occasionally did it come up that Nece was an accomplished football player himself, a freshman All-American and honorable mention all-conference choice in 1997 and a preseason candidate for the 2000 Butkus Award, given to the nation’s top linebacker. Those who played with or knew his father--Joe Montana, Howie Long--already knew. Others learned if the conversations lasted long enough.

That didn’t matter much to Nece, for he gained something beyond recognition. Lott, a great safety at USC who went on to stardom with the San Francisco 49ers, New York Jets, L.A. Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs, was inducted. His son was inspired.

The carryover has been obvious.

“I think there was a time during two-a-days,” Nece said. “After the second practice, everybody would be running off the field. In my mind, I was, ‘I bet you those guys in the Hall of Fame, they probably stayed out here a little bit longer than everybody.’ So I would go over there and hit bags or just do something I felt would help me get better for 30, 45 minutes.

“That’s probably what those guys did to get better. They probably did the little things that no one else really wanted to do. You knew you had to do it, but you really didn’t want to do it, but they went out there and they did it. It made them the Hall of Famers that they are.”

Said Dove: “His preparation for the game. The intensity of his preparation, whether it be in the film studies or on the practice field doing the little extra things. I see him going a little bit further than what he did.”

Because of how far everyone else went.

“I think,” Nece said, “it’s going to definitely be a difference maker.”

*

The attendance of 76,640 for the Alabama game marked the largest for a Bruin home season opener in their 18 years in Pasadena and their largest crowd there for a non-USC or non-Rose Bowl game in nearly three years, since 85,967 saw No. 9 UCLA beat No. 13 Washington.

In fact, only eight home games have had bigger crowds back to 1989. Five of those have been for USC, ranging from 80,568 in ’92 to 98,088 in ‘90, and two others have been for Jan. 1 games against Wisconsin, 93,872 in the 1998 season and 101,237 in the ’93 season.

“I thought they were fantastic,” Coach Bob Toledo said of the fans. “It was almost a bowl atmosphere for our players. I couldn’t ask for anything better.”

*

The Bruins contend the near-sack by Alabama’s Jarret Johnson that resulted in Cory Paus suffering a separated shoulder, likely sidelining the starting quarterback three to four weeks, was a late hit. They noted it for the record in the evaluation of the officials sent to the Pacific 10 Conference office, the same review process all the schools have. Asked why there was no flag thrown, Toledo said, “I’d like to know why too.” . . . Cornerback Ricky Manning, who is from Fresno, and backup tailback Jermaine Lewis have been named captains for the week. They join the season-long selections, Kenyon Coleman and Oscar Cabrera.

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