Bumper Year For A Robust Crop

It may come as a surprise to Pittsburgh Steeler fans to learn that Mean Joe Greene, the awesome tackle, is displeased with his performance this season and wishes he could play again with the reckless enthusiasm of his rookie year.

"I've been paralyzed with analysis," he says. "I got so many things in my mind, it's like carrying your briefcase to work. I wish I could go back to the way it was my first year. When you're a rookie, it's beautiful. Just hit somebody or get hit and not worry about the consequences. The Man has a way of taking care of fools and rookies."

The Man must be mighty busy these days. Fools are as numerous as ever, and this season the number of rookies in the National Football League is the largest in its history. The principal reason for this influx is last summer's player strike, which left a vacuum on training-camp rosters that was quickly filled with new players. By the time the veterans reported, the youngsters had established themselves. Now there are enough of them in the league to stock five full teams, and some are making Joe Greene and the other veterans sit up and take notice.

Don Woods of San Diego, for instance, is the Chargers' most exciting player since Lance Alworth. A 6'2", 210-pound running back from the University of New Mexico, he is slashing through tacklers with power as deceptive as his gait. He has stung defenses for 673 yards on 111 carries and has scored six touchdowns. His 6.1-yard average is the NFL's best, and he has a strong chance to become the AFC Rookie of the Year. The gnashing you hear in the background emanates from Green Bay, whose Packers drafted Woods sixth, glanced at him in training camp, and then waived him to San Diego for $100. "We goofed," says Packer Coach Dan Devine.

After Woods rushed for 154 yards against Kansas City three weeks ago, Hank Strain of the Chiefs said, "He's terrific. He's so smooth he doesn't look as fast as he is. He does everything in an effortless way." Woods also racked Miami, Philadelphia and Oakland for 100-yard games, but against the Dolphins he also looked like the rookie he is when he drew a penalty on a man-in-motion play. "I was thinking about going in motion," he says, "and while I was thinking I was walking in motion."

Stram's praise of Woods is significant considering the performance of his own Woody Green (see cover) from Arizona State, who would be challenging for Woods' rookie laurels if he had not been hampered by injury the first five weeks. Against San Diego, Green rushed for 146 yards and caught passes for 98 more, including a 69-yard lob from Len Dawson for a touchdown (Green's second) that helped the Chiefs to a 24-14 victory.

Unlike the powerful Woods, Green breaks few tackles but his speed makes defensing him a sometime thing. "The NFL has been an experience," he says. "The atmosphere isn't the same. Where I went to school we didn't have guys laughing and singing in the locker room the day before a game." He is a serious athlete, and his standards are demanding. "When you score no touchdowns and don't go over 100 yards," he says, "you're just running around."

San Francisco's Wilbur Jackson is another running back who has rebounded from an injury to perform impressively. Hurt in the Coaches All-America game, the ex-Alabama star has gained 513 yards rushing and 165 more on 17 pass receptions, no mean feat on a team that has suffered quarterbacking woes since Steve Spurrier was injured in September. Jackson has an explosive starting charge and he takes tackles well. Says 49er Coach Dick Nolan, "He works like the devil. When he picks up five yards he wonders why he didn't get 10."

Doug Kotar of the New York Giants is a sleeper. From the University of Kentucky, he signed on with the Steelers as a free agent, spent four idle days in the Pittsburgh camp, and then was traded to the Giants for a fourth-string quarterback whom the Steelers needed because Terry Bradshaw, Joe Gilliam and Terry Hanratty were all out on strike. In the Giants' camp Kotar showed good speed, won a starting spot and has rushed for 370 yards in regular-season play. One of his three touchdowns came on a 53-yard run against Atlanta, which didn't seem to impress the phlegmatic Kotar one way or the other. He says he was not surprised that he was not drafted, nor does he seem at all moved by his considerable success.

Part of that success derives from the accomplishments of another rookie, the Giants' No. 1 draft choice, John Hicks from Ohio State. Hicks seems a fixture in the Giant offensive line, just as Henry Lawrence, an offensive lineman from Florida A&M, appears to have established himself firmly in the Raiders' future. To John Madden, the Oakland head coach, this is especially surprising. Talking about rookies and their chances for immediate success, Madden says, "It depends on the position a guy plays. Rookies can often help you right away at the instinctive positions, like running back, wide receiver, the defensive line, maybe linebacker. And on special teams, too, where the assignment calls for instinctive reaction. That's why so many rookies make it there. Or as kickers. A guy who has been punting all his life is doing the same thing as a pro that he has always done. But a position that requires a lot of technique—quarterback is the most obvious, or offensive lineman—that's something else. The things they have to do are so different, and they have so many things to learn that you don't often see a rookie excel there."