Perhaps the only time Steve Atwater showed any sign of hesitation on a football field happened nearly five decades ago, on a sideline right here in St. Louis.
The now soon-to-be Pro Football Hall of Famer who spent 11 NFL seasons using his 6-foot-3, 218-pound frame as a punishing tool for tackling was just 8 years old when he watched the Royal Knights youth football team practice at Penrose Park.
Think of all the men — receivers who ran in fear of hearing Atwater’s footsteps, running backs who felt the lightning strike of his face mask to their sternums, coaches who tried and failed so many times to game plan around a heat-seeking missile — who would love to go back in time and encourage Atwater to do something else.