Rusty Trucks: Part I – Sports
“The day you chose to play on the offensive line is the day you chose to live in the shadows.”
- Unknown
The other day I was in a conversation with a guy who was a big football fan. When he found out I had been in the sport and who I had coached with he could name off all of the top end players. As he rattled off their names, I interrupted him and asked if he remembered “Spencer Riley” or “Ryan Kalil” or “Heath Farwell”? He stared blankly at me.
He then started talking about the stars of those great teams I was with. I stopped him again and said, “You’re missing the point, if you don’t know who these guys are then you don’t understand why we won.”
The guys I named were the “Rusty Truck” guys. These are the players that newspapers don’t write about. They don’t look the part. They don’t have a tailored suit when they get on the bus for away trips. They are wearing blue jeans and an off-the-rack blazer. They don’t drive up in a Bentley. They drive up in a 10-year-old Ford F-150.
The “Rusty Trucks” show up early. They show up prepared. They don’t complain. They come to work. They’re not high maintenance.
They don’t play for the money; they play for the love of the game. You never see a “Rusty Truck” holding out. They get what they have “earned”. They don’t talk about what they “deserve”.
They are the easiest guys to get along with. They always have a smile. They love their teammates and are loved by the entire team. They need no excuses. They are students of the game. They go out of their way to share their wisdom with whomever is wise enough to ask for their help.
When the media is crowded around a star’s locker they get to shower, get dressed and get to the post game buffet while it is still hot and not picked over.
What do they bring to the team?
Stability. Focus. Loyalty. Fellowship. Laughter. They do the dirty work.
By dirty work I mean that they make the blocks that spring a big run. They give the quarterback time to go through their progressions. They eat up two offensive linemen which allows the all-world pass rusher to make the plays they make. They make a pile that allows the linebacker the opportunity to jump over the pile and make the “big stop”. They are the ones who run down on special teams that make the plays that put the opponent in bad field position. They’re the ones who snap a cold, frozen football back to the holder … threads up … so all the holder has to do is set the ball down and not spin the ball before the kicker strikes the ball.
The “Rusty Trucks” don’t say a lot, but when they do, the whole team leans in to listen because they speak the truth, not hyperbole. Each word is a lesson that they lived and a scar was earned.
I have been on teams loaded with great players that couldn’t win the big games. On the other hand, I’ve been on teams that were not as talented, yet won it all.
How?
Because the teams who had “less talent” had more “Rusty Trucks”. The team who had all the high-profile players didn’t recruit or sign enough “Rusty Trucks”.
Watch the college teams with all of the high dollar NIL players on them. Watch them get beat.
Why?
They don’t have enough “Rusty Trucks”. They have mercenaries who are trying to protect themselves for their future earning value. The “Rusty Trucks” play for that play. Yet, in the back of their head that little voice says, “This is going to hurt.” But they don’t hesitate. They sacrifice themselves for the moment. For a “Rusty Truck”, tomorrow isn’t a given. The team may sign a younger player with more “ability”. The “Rusty Truck” plays for NOW.
In my 35-years of coaching I was glad when the high-maintenance guys moved on. The ones who I hated to lose were the “Rusty Trucks”. When they left, either through retirement or “an upgrade” was brought in, there was always a drop off at that position.
Why?
The “Rusty Truck” does things out of instinct.
They weren’t always coached to do what they do. They just do what is needed to be done to get the job done. When the new guy comes in, who is bigger, faster and better looking, they can’t fill the shoes of the “Rusty Truck” they replaced. There was always a gap. And in that gap … poured the opponent. When you lose the “Rusty Trucks” the great ones aren’t as great and the team isn’t as good.
When you look at any championship team there are always the “Rusty Trucks”. The guys who are willing to get a little dirty. They aren’t standing on the podium. They stand back. They don’t NEED the acclaim – the validation. They didn’t play for that, so they don’t need it to feel good about themselves. They accomplished their goals. They don’t keep reaching back to that “moment”, because it didn’t define them.
Their success came from doing their best every day. “Rusty Trucks” have been told from the beginning of time that they aren’t “good enough”. And this is why they do it. Because they use the doubt of others as fuel as they live their passion.
When you build your teams, make sure you have enough “Rusty Trucks” around to make sure the dirty jobs get done!
Have an amazing day.
