Editor's note: This article originally appeared on the pages of CF.C in 2003
IT WASN’T LIKE it is now. Husky Stadium was a living thing that day, packed to the rafters. The Huskies, the crowd, hell, even the waterboys were determined to keep the Cougs from reaching their first Rose Bowl in 67 years. Midway through the second quarter, it happened. It wasn’t a long TD run, not a game-altering interception. It was a collision that altered the very fabric of the game. And Steve Gleason was at the point of impact.
While being recruited out of high school in
Spokane, Steve Gleason was told he "wasn't intense enough" by then
Stanford
coach, Ty Willingham.
But the linebackers coach and defensive
coordinator at WSU at the time, Bill Doba, knew better. “He was the reason I went to Washington State,” the New Orleans Saints special teams standout and backup safety
told CF.C.
“It would have been fine if (Willingham)
would have looked at film and told me I was too slow or whatever, but I didn’t
agree with his assessment,” said Gleason.
The undersized linebacker, a sophomore at the time, led the team in
tackles in 1997, finishing with an even 100. Gleason was listed at 215-pounds that season, light
for a linebacker, even back in those days.
And 215? Even that was a
stretch.
“I was actually a bit lighter than that,”
laughed Gleason
Over at Montlake, TE Cameron Cleeland
was having one heck of a year. The
massive 275-pounder was a fine blocker, had soft hands - and for a big man, he
could flat out run after the catch.
Indeed, he would be named First Team All Pac-10 that '97 season.
With Washington State leading 14-7 in the
second quarter, the Huskies ran a misdirection screen back to the tight
end. It was perfectly set
up.
Cleeland caught the ball and accelerated
upfield; a huge swath of turf and blockers lay in front of
him.
“I was covering a running back way down
field. Deep in the down, I knew he wasn’t getting the pass. I turned around and saw Cam with the
ball. We were about 15-20 yards
apart,” said Gleason.
The Spokane product closed the gap at full
speed, all the while Cleeland accelerating towards him. The collision was enormous. Gleason decided to hit him high. The Huskies tight end was lifted about a
foot and a half off the ground.
“I’m not going to go low, he doesn’t look
like he’s going to juke, guess we’re going to hammer each other. Alright!” recalled
Gleason.
Still, early indications were Cleeland and
his extra 60-pounds won the battle.
He absorbed the hit, coming back down to earth with his feet still
beneath him. He reset, and then
plowed forward one more second, picking up extra yardage. And Gleason remained on the turf
a moment, clearly hurt.
“I
had gotten a little stinger from the hit.
I’d been getting them all year, ever since the UCLA game..” Gleason said.
But Gleason was soon over on the sideline
talking to teammates - while Cleeland remained on the field, face up on the
turf, surrounded by trainers.
“I
was on the sidelines and (didn’t know if I was ok or not), and one of my
teammates came running up to me saying, ‘He’s not getting up!’ which as a player
kinda re-energizes you. So all of a sudden I’m telling everyone,
‘Oh, I’m fine!’
“I didn’t miss a play. He was out for a series or two, I think.”
said Gleason.
The announcing team on the telecast said it
looked to them that Cleeland fell on the ball and got the wind knocked out of
him.
That very well might be
true.
But it also could have been something else
-- more like one of those ‘delayed reaction hits’ you sometimes see.. where a
second after a huge hit, the hit-ee suddenly feels the full effect. And Gleason hit him high, right where
Cleeland motioned to while on the ground as trainers attended to him.
Gleason isn’t so
sure.
“I don’t know. Cam and I talked about that hit, when we
were teammates later, (on the Saints), and we didn’t really talk about how he
got hurt,” he said.
Gleason’s conversation with Cam was more along
the lines of teammates having pride in their play, smiling, and saying, ‘Hey do
you remember that hit? That was
big-time.’
“And it was a much better hit in my
minds-eye. I’ve seen the replay
too, and I use the metaphor of the bug hitting a windshield. But I was a big enough bug that I
cracked the windshield.. and it had to be taken to a service station for
repairs,” Gleason said with a laugh.
WHEN I RELIVE the 97 Apple Cup in my mind's eye, I
remember wide receiver Chris Jackson. He of the eight receptions for 185 yards
and two touchdowns - one of which was the amazing catch and run, ripping his leg
away from S Tony Parrish's death grip on his way
to the house.
And I remember running back Michael
Black, shredding a Washington defense for 170 yards on 37
carries.
I also remember QB Ryan Leaf. He and the offense
converted an impressive 13 of 18 third downs as Leaf went up-top
for 358-yards. Washington State
rolled up 500-plus total yards on the UW defense that day; one that entered the game having
given up the fewest yards in the Pac-10.
And I remember the defense with all those
damn off-sides penalties -- Although they were ultimately rendered far less
painful by the 5 picks they turned in against QB Brock Huard. The Cougs harassed
the senior into doubling the total number of INTs he had on the entire
season.
But I also remember the hit by Steve
Gleason. Giving away 60 pounds, he
absolutely hurled himself into his opponent with, (listen up, Ty), intense
abandon, allowing the Cougar D to recover downfield and stop the great Huskies
tight end one second and a few yards later.
Otherwise, Cleeland may have taken it all
the way. He had picked up blockers,
and a path had emerged.
Gleason’s stick doesn’t appear in most game
accounts, nor will it be found in the stats page. The ledger reveals he had 6 tackles that
day. But it is this moment in
time that I remember. It altered
the landscape of the game.
Cleeland had but 32-yards receiving the rest
of the afternoon. But more
important perhaps was the pressure the Cougs applied to Huard, in part leading
to the five interceptions, one coming in the very same
drive after Gleason’s hit.
The UW had methodically driven to the
Washington State 23-yard line.
Cleeland had just returned to the field, and SE Shane Doyle was
matched on the tight end, who stayed in to protect the quarterback. Doyle blew right through him.
The defensive end hit Huard just as he
threw, with the Husky tight end trailing in his wake; desperately clutching
after Doyle.
The football moon-shot up into the air,
eventually coming down in the firm grasp of larcenous freshman Lamont Thompson. The safety still holds the Cougar record for career interceptions
with 24.
The Huskies scoring threat was
extinguished. Leaf promptly drove
the Cougs down for a field goal, converting a third-and-27 along the
way just before halftime for a 17-7 lead.
Much later that afternoon when the skies had
turned a darker shade of gray, the Huskies completed the scoring on a
meaningless Hail Mary touchdown with eight seconds remaining. The final tally that day: Washington State 41, Washington 35.
And on that day, a bug took on the
windshield. And won.