On Pace: From the outset, former Rams left tackle Orlando Pace had Hall of Fame potential/PD

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On Pace: From the outset, former Rams left tackle Orlando Pace had Hall of Fame potential

• By Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_189f8e54-d3b1-591b-a5e5-797b33f7186f.html

PHOENIX • Very early in Orlando Pace’s NFL career, Rams offensive line coach Jim Hanifan called Pace into his office.

“I’m gonna tell you something,” Hanifan recalls telling Pace. “This is something I never told anybody else. Fifteen, 20 years from now, you should be going into the NFL Hall of Fame. If you’re not, it’s your fault — not mine. I want you to know that right now.”

That was 1998, Pace’s second season in the league after being drafted No. 1 overall in ’97. Hanifan could tell right away that Pace had everything you were looking for in a left tackle. Great size, great athletic ability. Tremendous footwork and balance.

“It was just a combination of all those things — and he was very coachable,” Hanifan said. “There are a lot of guys that think they know it all, and they don’t.”

Pace wasn’t one of those guys. But part of Hanifan’s message to him in ’98 was that to be truly great in the NFL it took more than physical or athletic skill. It took technique, preparation, a dedication to the game.

And it’s not that Pace was missing any of that. Hanifan wanted to be sure the big fellow left no stone unturned on the quest to reach Canton.

“It was a lot of fun to see him develop into what he became,” Hanifan said.

And now, 18 seasons after entering the league, Pace is on the doorstep of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In his first year of eligibility, he’s one of the 15 finalists in the Class of 2015. A maximum of five modern-era inductees will get in.

The 2015 inductees will be

announced Saturday night on the NFL Honors television show on NBC. The voters will meet early that day — in the morning and afternoon — to select the class.

“My body of work is out there now,” Pace said in a phone interview from St. Louis. “So it is what it is. It’s really up to the voters. It’s such a tough process because everybody’s so deserving. I try not to think about it obviously. I’ve had a really good playing career, and I’m really just excited to be part of it.”

Finalists are flown in for Super Bowl weekend these days, and Pace and his wife Carla are scheduled to arrive here on Thursday. The kids are staying at home. That means Pace is abandoning his post as little league basketball assistant coach for the weekend.

Obviously the squad members, and their parents, understand. In fact, Pace says he has gotten encouragement and well-wishes from all over St. Louis as he goes about his business in his adopted hometown.

“Around town, everybody’s wishing you the best,” he said. “You can’t help but to think about it because everybody else is talking about it.”

The worst part, Pace concedes, will be sitting in his hotel room Saturday in Phoenix, waiting for the phone call.

“I’m sure that time will be a little tough,” Pace said. “A little nerve-wracking just trying to figure out if they’re calling, or they’re not calling.”

On Monday night, Pace was in the “trophy” room at his St. Louis home with his wife looking at all the awards he has won over his storied college and NFL careers.

“I told her this could be my last football award,” Pace said. “But it’ll be the sweetest one. It would put a cap on a pretty good career.”

There’s no doubt that the Ohio State product belongs in the Hall of Fame; it’s just a matter of whether he’ll be a first ballot inductee this year.

As a seven-time Pro Bowler, Pace anchored an offensive line that finished among the NFL’s top five in passing yards for eight consecutive seasons — from 1999-2006. The Rams finished in the NFL’s top 10 in total offense seven times during Pace’s career.

And from 1999-01 — the height of the Greatest Show on Turf teams — the Rams led the league in overall yards, passing yards, and points all three years. On a team full of offensive stars, it’s easy enough to overlook Pace’s contributions. But his teammates don’t.

“I always say about Big O, he’s the one guy that we couldn’t replace on this team,” said wide receiver Isaac Bruce. “You could probably replace T-Holt (Torry Holt) for a couple of games, myself, Kurt (Warner) for a couple games. Marshall (Faulk) for a couple. But if Big O goes down it’s hard. How do you do what you do?”

Bruce answered his own question. “You don’t,” he said. “He’d X guys out.”

Faulk jokingly referred to Pace’s job as boring because he did it so well.

“With Orlando, any time you’re a left tackle and your job is boring, you’re having an awesome career,” Faulk said with a chuckle. “He was just dependable. Never required a chip. Never required help.”

Things weren’t always boring for Pace, who by nature was low-key but had a nasty streak to him as well on the field.

The architect of the Greatest Show offenses, Mike Martz, recalls a home game against Cleveland in 1999 when that side of Pace came to the forefront.

“A guy from the Browns, I don’t remember who it was, made him mad,” Martz recalled. “Orlando picked him up and kicked him all the way across the field. Lifted him out of his shoes, threw him down on his back.

“He chased him all over the field the rest of the game. The guy ran from him. It was the worst beat-down by anybody I’ve ever seen in the league.”

Then there was the 2001 preseason game — that’s right, preseason game — at San Diego. The late Junior Seau, who’s also up for Hall of Fame induction this year, was roughing up Faulk along the sidelines at the end of a play.

Suddenly, there was Pace, throwing bodies out of the way and getting after Seau.

“Him and Marshall had something personal going on or something,” Pace recalled. “He kinda hit Marshall out of bounds and I had to come and protect my running back.”

Simple as that.

Pace, who spent 12 of his 13 NFL seasons with the Rams, played during a golden age of left tackles. Contemporaries Willie Roaf, Jonathan Ogden, and Walter Jones are all in the Hall of Fame. Saturday could be Pace’s turn.

“Oh yeah, he belongs in that group,” Hanifan said. “No question about it.”

“In my mind there’s no question that he’s the best athlete of all of ’em,” Martz said.