Over the past couple weeks, we have been asking current and former NFL players to explain why the position they play was the toughest on the field—mentally, physically, or just all-around. We've surveyed All-Pros and Super Bowl winners as varied as legendary kicker Adam Vinatieri, retired quarterback Phil Simms, revered coach Bill Cowher, and reigning badass free safety Eric Weddle. Today we look at nose tackle, one of the least understood jobs on the field.
The best nose tackle won't win much recognition in the media. That's because he's the behemoth who consumes as many blockers as possible, handling constant double-teams so that ends can rush the quarterback, while linebackers and safeties stuff the run. At six-foot-four, 350 pounds, Damon Harrison takes up plenty of space. After going undrafted in 2012, he has started every game for the New York Jets the last two seasons, and will anchor their vaunted defensive line once again in 2015.
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Everybody thinks nose tackles are just two-gappers, which for the most part is true. But you have different types of roles in different types of schemes. This year in our 3-4 [defense], I'm attacking a little more than I was in the past when I was two-gapping. I'll still be a two-gapper though, too. To me, that's one of the hardest jobs. You're responsible for almost three guys on the offensive line. On any given play, you could be double-teamed or triple-teamed. You're rarely single-blocked, and if you are, you're expected to dominate and make the play. Mostly, your job is to take up blockers so other guys on the defense can make the tackle.
If you look at the numbers, the nose tackle position is probably the only position on the field where you get some type of contact with somebody on every single play. There are some offensive tackles who are dropping and don't get a chance to block somebody, or a defensive lineman who stunts out and doesn't touch anybody. But at the nose tackle position, you're getting some sort of contact on every play. Throughout the course of the year, it takes a toll on your body. As a professional, you're expected to take care of your body, but physically it's tough.
When you're playing a team like the Pittsburgh Steelers or the San Francisco 49ers, you expect a physical game, as opposed to some teams that are more finessed or are more about throwing the ball than running it. In those games, you feel it in the fourth quarter. Usually, you're running off of adrenaline. It's still pumping, and you don't really feel the effects of the game until about three or four hours after it's done. That's when it all hits you.
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It's a long season. Seventeen weeks, 16 games. You get just one bye week. My first four years in the NFL, I was lucky enough to get a bye week in midseason, always around week eight, nine, or 10. But this year, it's early in the year, so you don't know how your body is going to react.
The Thursday games are really tough. More so than any other game, they weigh heavily on your body. On a normal week, you typically have a couple days to get your feet back under you and get your body rested, but on those Thursday games, it's a quick turnaround. If you play on Sunday and then you have a Thursday game, you only have Monday and Tuesday to prepare. Wednesday is the night before the game. If you're not fully recovered from the week before, it's all about toughness going into that Thursday game.
*This article is part of The Code, an editorial partnership between Esquire and Ford F-150.
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