If you should know one thing about Olin Kreutz, it’s this: every chance he was given was a chance he attacked. And I mean attacked.
He threw blocks with every fiber of his muscle. He fought giants with every bit of his heart. He studied and trained with every second of his day.
And in the course of being himself, Kreutz gave his teams an identity. His Bears were all about the team. They were smart. They were purposeful. And above all else, they were not to be messed with.
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I have been thinking about Kreutz because his contemporary Kevin Mawae was rightfully voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame last month. Mawae and Kreutz were the two centers on the all-decade team of the 2000s. Kreutz has been eligible for the Hall of Fame for three years, but never has been one of 15 finalists, so the people who comprise the board of selectors — I am one of 48 — never have discussed his case. Like fellow Bears offensive linemen Jim Covert and Jay Hilgenberg, his candidacy merits a closer look.
In the modern era of pro football, eight centers have been voted all-decade representatives by the Hall of Fame’s board of selectors. They are Chuck Bednarik from the 1950s (he’s mostly remembered as a linebacker, but he played two ways), Jim Ringo from the 1960s, Mike Webster from the 1970s and ’80s, Dwight Stephenson from the 1980s, Dermontti Dawson and Mark Stepnoski from the 1990s and Mawae and Kreutz from the 2000s. Other than Kreutz, Stepnoski is the only all-decade center from the modern era who has not been inducted into the Hall of Fame.
In 13 seasons in Chicago, the six-time Pro Bowler played on four playoff teams with three different starting quarterbacks and three different offensive coordinators. He was the only constant on offense on all of those teams.
Kreutz endured six different offensive systems with his Bears. He made snaps in games to 19 Bears quarterbacks. And he blocked for four different running backs who had 1,000-yard rushing seasons.
All of which underscores his remarkable quality of being able to fit in no matter the circumstances.
“He wasn’t just a zone blocker or a gap blocker,” said Bears offensive line coach Harry Hiestand, who coached Kreutz for five years. “He fit in every system. When I got there we were a heavy power team, which made him back block one-on-one on 350-pound nose guards like Shaun Rogers and Big Daddy (Dan) Wilkinson and Grady Jackson. But here wasn’t anything he couldn’t do on the field — pass block, run block, one-on-one blocks, double team, pull on running team, lead screens 30 yards downfield, stop a giant nose guard. That’s a fact. Whatever the offensive coordinator called for, he executed on a high level.”
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Former Vikings and Bucs defensive tackle Chris Hovan had many battles against Kreutz. He said Kreutz’s height and weight weren’t indicative of the player he was, or the explosive strength he had.
“He was (6-2, 292) but he played like a 350-pounder,” Hovan said. “He really was a bulldog. He was somebody you dreaded playing against. I knew I’d be in for a 12-round fight against Olin. He played the last snap as hard as the first.”
Whatever Kreutz lacked in bulk, he made up for by doing everything correctly. Former NFL nose tackle Ted Washington played with and against Kreutz in a 17-year career and considers him one of the best centers of his time in part because Kreutz was so fundamentally sound. Now that Washington coaches young linemen, he said he “teaches them the way Olin played.”
Eight years after Kreutz’s retirement, Hiestand still uses tape of Kreutz in meetings.
“I don’t see anybody else doing what he did,” Hiestand says.
Former Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said Kreutz was as prepared as any player he had been around. Kreutz had a “rare combination of tangibles and intangibles,” Angelo said.
“I don’t know that before him I ever met a player as dedicated to being great with the passion he had in everything he did — physically and mentally and using the right technique,” said 14-year NFL veteran Roberto Garza, who played next to Kreutz for six seasons. “The commitment level in what he was able to do week in and week out was something I had never been a part of before.”
In part because of that commitment level, Kreutz was the most powerful leader I’ve ever seen.
Mike Tice was a part of the NFL for 35 seasons as a player, assistant coach and head coach. He was with Kreutz for one year — Kreutz’s last as a Bear.
“I’ve probably never been around a better leader than Olin,” Tice said. “He could take the cake as the best leader I’ve been around. He was a man’s man. It was how he led by how he prepared, how he practiced, how he studied.”
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But there was more to his leadership than example. If anyone didn’t want to do things the right way, as Kreutz did them, he would hear about it. Initially, it might be subtly, through humor. And if that didn’t work, it might be seriously, with an appeal to logic. If none of that went anywhere, it might be angrily, with intimidation.
Kreutz wasn’t just concerned with what happened on the field. He took an interest in everything that impacted the team, and nothing escaped him. When a wide receiver complained to the media about not getting the ball enough, he was going to be told to stand down by Kreutz. When a rookie was too full of himself, he would be deflated by Kreutz. When a defensive player was taking shortcuts in preparation, he would be called out by Kreutz.
“Guys didn’t always like the way he did it, but it was always about what was best for the team,” Hiestand said. “If a player was doing something not best for Bears, he wasn’t going to get away with it. If we weren’t all pulling in the same direction as hard as possible, that was unacceptable to him. I’ve never seen anyone as good at bringing out the best in people around him.”
Kreutz gave his coaches respect and the benefit of the doubt as long as they deserved it — which forced others to do the same. But he would not hesitate to challenge anyone or anything that stood in the way of his Bears having success.
All of it came from a good place.
“Everything you should do for the betterment of the team,” Garza said. “If anybody asked him how to get better, he was happy to help. He always said, ‘I’ll teach you everything I know.’”
Kreutz helped offensive linemen. He helped defensive linemen, alerting them if they were tipping off blockers or making themselves vulnerable with a move. He helped wide receivers, showing them how to use their hands to get away from press coverage. He helped quarterbacks, making them understand protection issues.
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He certainly helped middle linebacker Brian Urlacher in their battles on the fields in Bourbonnais and in back of Halas Hall.
“Practicing against Olin made playing on Sundays easy,” Urlacher said.
Urlacher thinks Kreutz was a very similar player to Mawae. Kreutz was stronger, but Mawae was faster. Urlacher also said Kreutz was the best center he ever competed against.
Angelo also considered Kreutz the best center he’s been around.
“This is what a Pro Bowl player looks like,” he said. “He played like a Hall of Famer. He had it all. There was nothing he couldn’t do.”
Since he started coaching college football 30 years ago, Hiestand has seen it all. Kreutz stands out.
“Olin is the best center I ever saw,” Hiestand said. “He’s a Hall of Fame player. It’s partly because he was always on the attack and always bringing it. You never knew if he had a cold, or if his elbow hurt, or if his ankle hurt. There were times he was beat to hell, but you never knew it. All he did was bring everything he had every day. What he accomplished over a long period of time also adds to it. He played at a high level for a long time. Every play had a chance because of him. That’s what Hall of Fame players do.”
(Top photo: Tom Dahlin/Getty Images)