Remembering the great guard: Hall of Fame Viking Randall McDaniel

Through 12 seasons and 190 games, former Minnesota Viking Hall of Fame guard Randall McDaniel was the rarest of athletes. Blessed with superlative size and talent, McDaniel devoted his career to being a unique role player.

No little boy dreams about growing up to be an NFL guard. Maybe a tight end or a linebacker, but not an offensive lineman. What players on the football field does such a boy look up to? What poster can he find that would grace the back of his bedroom door?

Randall McDaniel should fit that bill, along with a long line of others that came before him, but they don’t really get the chance. The National Football League doesn’t spend much time or money highlighting the men who don’t touch the football, and that’s not going to change anytime soon.

But that doesn’t mean that the fans of a team–or of the league–should not appreciate and admire the job they do, especially when they are offensive linemen. With them, professional football evolves from a game of checkers to a game of chess, and without them, all stratagems are lost.

Young Randall McDaniel, living in Phoenix, Arizona, was so big as a kid he was told he had to lose weight to play football in the local league. Randall decided to compete in track instead. In high school, he did indeed play football, as a tight end and linebacker (the positions that boys admire), but also threw shot and ran the 400 meters.

Recruited to Arizona State University, McDaniel, as a tight end, was asked to help out an interior offensive line that had been ravaged by injuries, and moved to the guard position. In a short time, he became the most dominating player at that position in the country.

In 1986, McDaniels’ senior year, Arizona State won their first Pac-10 Championship in school history, and upset the Michigan Wolverines in the Rose Bowl.

Not many people gave that offensive line a lot of credit, as the Sun Devil QB won the Rose Bowl MVP and head coach John Cooper got himself a fat contract to coach Ohio State, but in the history of Rose Bowls, that sounds about right.

Becoming A Pro

At the NFL combine, at six-foot-four and 287 lbs., McDaniel ran the fastest 40-yard dash time in the history of the rookie camp at 4.6, while registering a 37” vertical leap.

The Vikings drafted Randall with the 19th pick in the 1988 draft without a plethora of press–or fan–enthusiasm.

What they got in the guard from Arizona State is now recognized by his peers, his coaches, and the legacy press as the most versatile and dominating offensive lineman to ever play the game.

From 1989 to 2000, McDaniel was elected to 12 straight Pro Bowls and was named All-Pro first team seven times. He was elected to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the Nineties, the Vikings ‘Ring of Honor’ and of course, the NFL Hall of Fame.

During the immortal Vikings 15-1 ‘98 season when the Minnesota offense scored a then-record 556 points, McDaniel allowed only 1.5 sacks all season while creating countless holes in opposing defenses for Viking running backs to average 5.4 yards per carry.

In his final two seasons, McDaniel joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and joined an offensive line that produced 2066 rushing yards in 2000.

Leading Blocker

Yes, he played blocking tailback, carried the football at the goal line, and even caught a touchdown pass, but most importantly, he played the NFL guard position to perfection. As such a domineering athlete in his line, he made his unit better, his teammates better, his team better.

Mike Zimmer always talks about linemen “bullying” the trenches of the game, and “imposing their will” on opponents. Randall McDaniel is what a coach like Zimmer wants–an unlikely wish, but a standard to demand from his position.

McDaniel had extraordinary ability, but also an unyielding competitive spirit to dominate. By pure strength and speed, he plowed and pulled, and with varying tactics, he protected his quarterback. He played his role to perfection by winning each battle and never quitting.

Then he retired and devoted his life to public education.

And we thought Alan Page was so great? At least he gets a gavel!

I, like most Minnesota Viking fans, I basically took McDaniel for granted during his years in the purple-and-gold. What can I say? I was young and he was a guard, a lineman, a guy who merely blocked. Sprung Robert Smith off a screen to run the naked field, held the line on third down for Chris Carter to get open, for Randy Moss to get deep.

Well, I’ve learned my lesson–and I hope you’ve learned yours.

I’m getting mine, and I expect to see plenty of number 64 jerseys in Minnesota in 2019. At the games, at the office, and around the house.

Let us all remember great guards, and great guard play. And, wide awake in the off-season, dream it may someday come again.