Dana LeDuc’s Mean and Tough list from the Aker’s era.
2022- Coach Vermeil with Dana at the NFL Hall of Fame ceremony. I recognize Dana’s sandals as a reproduction of one made in the late 1960s. 😊 I think my mother has mine in the attic in Odessa.
Billy,
Going back in time, these are the guys that, if I were walking through a dark alley in a bad part of town, I would want with me.
Steve McMichael-tougher and meaner "than a junkyard dog" rattlesnake
Robin Sendlein-anybody who eats glass on their recruiting trip makes my team. Tall, lean & wirery but could pack a hell of a punch. His dad ate glass also.
Mike Ruether a large, powerful, defensive end with whom nobody on the team would mess with.
Kenneth Sims-a gentle giant with tremendous power and, if pushed to a point, it would not have been pretty for the opposition.
Dewey Turner ('82)- Dana says he was a large, powerful, defensive end with whom nobody on the team would challenge.
Larry Carlson says “
Ultimately, Dewey succeeded at Texas as a defensive lineman who could rush the passer. Turner was a physical specimen and a physical player.
Comments by Professor Larry Carlson. “ John Hagy was kicking ass in no time, despite almost zero weight training before college. Hagy could just play... fast, savvy, and a hitting machine. Man, I loved watching John Hagy compete.”
Professor Carlson says about Ricky Churchman, “ he sure was a ferocious hitter as a safety. I think he would've had an All-Pro career with the 49ers if he hadn't been badly injured early on. He was a starter and a standout as a rookie, in the same defensive backfield with Ronnie Lott. And they won the Super Bowl the next year.”
Jeff Leiding absolutely annihilated a Razorback on the opening kickoff his first year. Completely blew him up. I would list that shot as one of the all-time snot-bubblers in Longhorn history. Everybody remembers that he was the bellcow of that '83 defense, probably the best one ever at Texas.
The Texas defense emulated Leiding’s personality - cocky to the point of arrogance but backing it up with a physical style of play that simply wore opponents into submission.