Legendary Bears center Jay Hilgenberg made no secret of how much he liked going head-up, particularly against defensive tackles who had been No. 1 draft choices coming into the NFL. Hilgenberg was undrafted, took a special relish in whipping the biggest names, and was rewarded with seven Pro Bowl selections.
Hall of Fame defensive tackle John Randle, also undrafted out of Texas A&M University-Kingsville (which also produced Hall of Fame’rs Gene Upshaw and Darrell Green), used draft others’ draft status for himself and as psychological warfare against the supposed elite offensive linemen even on his own team.
“I remember training camp and these big guys would come in from Michigan, Alabama, Notre Dame, and I would go all Andy Griffith on them: ‘Boy, that’s sure a nice school,’” Randle told CSNChicago.