1984 flashback: Rivera, Ditka a tough combo

Editor's note: This is a reprint of a column that appeared in the Daily Herald on May 17, 1984.

When the Bears made Ron Rivera their second pick in this year's draft, Mike Ditka quoted a scouting report as saying the Cal linebacker was "the toughest football player in the country."

Now, the first thing that crossed my mind was that on draft day, coaches say a lot of things about a lot of the players. Every pick is all-this or all-that, the best this or the best that. There are no bad choices on draft day.

So with Bears veterans and rookies assembling this week for a mini-camp in Lake Forest, I thought it would be a good time to ask the author of the scouting report to expand on what he thinks of Rivera.

"He's an old-fashioned football player," gushed Don Joyce of the BLESTO scouting combine. "He's a Joe Schmidt type, a Bill George. He'll stay in there, doesn't care if he's hurt. Like a Sam Huff. Those guys take pride in not being knocked out of a ballgame."

We're talking about the major leagues of tough in guys like Schmidt, George and Huff. Don Joyce himself was tough when he played defensive end in the NFL. Joe Kapp, Rivera's coach at Cal, was one tough quarterback for the Vikings. And, of course, there weren't any tougher tight ends than Ditka.

"I was out there (at Cal) the week they played UCLA and was looking at film," Joyce said. "I hadn't heard of Ron but I noticed the way he lines up, hits guys with his forearm, makes a good charge, holds his ground. He held the point of attack like as tough a guy as I've ever seen. He doesn't even shed blockers, he just runs all over them.

"On Friday, they were getting ready to go to Los Angeles for the game and Joe Kapp stuck his head in the door. I said, 'Joe, I really enjoy watching your films. This Rivera is really aggressive. The way he wades through people, it's like he's selfish to make tackles. There's a meanness in him.' And Joe just said, 'That's how he is.'"

Joyce has vivid memories of the Cal-UCLA game. On one play, Rivera was blitzing when the Bruins ran a double-reverse. He couldn't get a clean shot at the ballcarrier so instead threw himself head-first into the fray, and somehow wound up making the tackle and getting his bell dinged all at the same time.

"I was having back spasms way before that," recalled Rivera, a 6-foot-3, 235-punder. "And I was at a bad angle where if I squared up, I'd lose him. So I threw my body at him hoping I could slow him down for somebody else, and I wound up bringing him down."

That was third down and Rivera sat out fourth down, but he returned on the next series. Later, a guard whom he'd been frustrating all day turned around and cracked him in the chin. Rivera left after that but again returned. Back spasms, knocks in the head, blows to the chin … Joyce relished seeing a guy keep coming back from all that.

"I look at him as a throwback, the scout said, "as a guy who plays because he loves it rather than for the money. You know, these days it's tough for a guy making $140,000 to go out there and lay it on the line for 10 years. I've been a scout for 17 years and you don't see it every day, but that's how this guy plays.

"Mike Ditka was that kind of 100 percent guy. I played against Mike. I knew that coming off the line he'd be throwing foreams. When we played the Bears, our coach, Weeb Ewbank, was more scared than we were. They were the Monsters of the Midway, the Chicago goons, and they'd beat you physically even if you won."

Of course, that is the same type of team Ditka is attempting to build now that he's the Bears' head coach. So he looks beyond Rivera's 4.8 speed and sees the instincts, desire and toughness that scouts saw in Mike Ditka years ago. To him too, Rivera is a throwback and you just don't throw away throwbacks.

"I've heard that Mike Ditka was a very tough, scrappy football player," said Rivera, who is surprisingly mild-mannered off the field. "A lot of the reporters in the Bay Area liken him to Joe Kapp. One said to me, 'You have to get used to another Coach Kapp because Ditka is just like him.' That's all right with me. I liked playing for (Kapp).

"I love the game, the competition more than anything else. I play with injuries and contusions and things like that because there's no enjoyment watching from the sidelines. You have to have pride in what you're doing … you gotta wanta be there. I want to be here and playing, whether it be linebacker or special teams or whatever."

Which is why Ron Rivera plays in pain, plays to the whistle, plays with pride and plays with zeal. Which is why Don Joyce recommended him so enthusiastically despite his mediocre footspeed. And which is why Ditka is eager to play him at outside linebacker.

"Take all this, put a date on it and next year this time look at it," Joyce said enthusiastically. "I'll bet you a six-pack we're right about this guy."

No bet.