Forrest Blue, and Giving Offensive Linemen Their Due

A few thoughts about Forrest Blue, one of the N.F.L.’s best centers of the early 1970s. Blue was residing at an assisted-living facility in Carmichael, Calif., when he died last week at age 65 or 66 (There is some discrepancy as to whether he was born in 1944 or in 1945.) According to his daughter, Blue began exhibiting symptoms of dementia about 15 years ago. His brain will be sent to Boston University for further study. Andy Barall writes about pro football history for The Fifth Down.

By the 1960s, the 4-3 was well established as pro football’s dominant defense. With the two defensive tackles usually lined up directly over the guards, the offensive coaches generally used their smallest, quickest lineman at center. At the end of the decade, however, the 49ers put their biggest man in the middle. They had Forrest Blue and he was a little different.

After an excellent college career as a multisport star at Auburn, Blue was San Francisco’s first round pick in the 1968 draft (15th over all). In his second year he replaced Bruce Bosley and remained the Niners’ starting center for the next six seasons. Blue played in 96 regular-season and 5 postseason games for San Francisco, including 2 N.F.C. championship games. He was named first-team All-Pro in 1971 and 1972 and was elected to four consecutive Pro-Bowls, from 1971 to 1974. Blue retired in 1978 after spending the final four years of his career as Ken Mendenhall’s backup in Baltimore.

In 1970, Blue, tackles Len Rohde and Cas Banaszek, and guards Randy Beisler and Woody Peoples came together to form one of the N.F.L.’s best offensive lines. That year, the 49ers led the league in scoring with 352 points, and their quarterback, John Brodie, was sacked only 8 times in 14 games. San Francisco finished 10-3-1, winning its first of three straight N.F.C. Western Division titles.

Playing center in the 1960s and early 70s required more agility and body control than size and raw power. Almost all of the centers, including Jim Ringo of the Packers, Jim Otto of the Raiders, Jim Langer of the Dolphins, Mick Tingelhoff of the Vikings, John Morrow of the Browns and Bob DeMarco of the Cardinals, were in the 6-1 to 6-3 range and about 230 to 245 pounds. They were measured by their ability to execute the cutoff block on the middle linebacker or on the defensive tackle when the guard pulled to lead on the power sweep.

When the defense shifted to an over or an under front, a big defensive tackle lined up over the center would sometimes create problems for the offense. In Super Bowl 4, Tingelhoff had all kinds of trouble with the power and quickness of Kansas City’s two defensive tackles, 260-pound Curley Culp, and 275-pound Buck Buchanan. In fairness, those two were a tough assignment for anybody. Buchanan was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1990 and Culp was elected to six Pro Bowls in his 14 year career.

Blue, at 6-6 and about 260 pounds, was an unusual combination of size and mobility. He was strong enough to usually handle the nose tackle without help, quick enough in a confined area to get to the middle linebacker, and fast enough to get to the flat and lead the running backs downfield on screen passes. Blue was intelligent, competitive, and, like every successful offensive lineman, he was unselfish.

Like most of the centers of that era, Blue was also the 49ers’ long snapper on punts, field goals and points-after-touchdown. In 1971, late in the fourth quarter against New England, he returned a fumbled punt 25 yards for the touchdown that sealed a 27-10 victory.

Throughout N.F.L. history, offensive linemen, with a few exceptions, have tended to remain anonymous. As Packers guard Jerry Kramer wrote in “Instant Replay,” his diary of the 1967 season, “One of the Cleveland Browns once told me that if he ever had to go on the lam from the law he’d become an offensive linemen.”

Or this from the Hall of Fame Raiders guard, Gene Upshaw:

I’ve compared offensive linemen to the story of Paul Revere. After Paul Revere rode through town, everybody said what a great job
he did. But no one ever talked about the horse. I know how Paul Revere’s horse felt. (Paul Zimmerman, “The New Thinking Man’s Guide
to Pro Football”, Simon and Schuster, 1984)

I recall, in 2003, hearing on one of the local sports-talk radio stations that Joe DeLamielleure, the trap-blocking guard of the Bills and Browns in the 1970s and early ’80s, had been elected to the Hall of Fame. When the update person attempted to say “DeLamielleure,” it was obvious that he had never heard of him. As members of the heartbeat of the team, offensive linemen deserve better than that. That’s why Forrest Blue, and many others like him, shouldn’t be forgotten.