Pro Football Hall of Famer Ted Hendricks, who played in four Super Bowls, now lives in the northwest suburbs.
He sat down with the Tribune’s Steve Rosenbloom to discuss his career, his nickname, some of the great games he played in and the great teammates he played with.
University of Miami, All America, Baltimore Colts, Green Bay Packers, Oakland Raiders. L.A. Raiders, All-Pro, four Super Bowls, Pro Football Hall of Fame — and what is Ted Hendricks, one of the players I loved on the Raiders teams I loved as a kid, doing in Arlington Heights?
"Unfortunately, I moved in with the girl I’m living with.”
Unfortunately?
"Yeah, because she was gonna retire and she kept on extending her retirement and I’m still here.”
So, let’s start with the nickname: "Mad Stork." Where did that come from?
"College. Everybody on our defensive unit was given a nickname with, "Mad," in front of it by our defensive lineman, who was a middle guard, Nelson Salemi. He was, ‘The Mad Dog.’ And since the ibis is the mascot for the Miami Hurricanes.”
The ibis?
"Yeah, that’s the last bird to leave before a hurricane hits, and that’s in the stork family, so, I had the nickname ‘Mad Stork’ cause I had real skinny legs.”
And the hair! The big wavy, curly hair. Did you have the hair then, too?
"No, no, not then. That was in the ’70s with Oakland.”
You’re football royalty, and you played for and with football royalty. Let me run some names down. Give me a story, give me a thought. Don Shula?
"A disciplinarian. A great mind for football. Very dedicated to, uh, making everything work properly.”
He had that jut-jawed look. Did it scare you? Intimidating? What?
"I was the only rookie he had on the team, so he was always picking on me because he couldn’t talk to any of the All-Pros or anything else.”
John Madden?
"A great personality. Let all of his emotions out on the field. He never contained them at all.”
Do you have a favorite Madden story?
"His halftime speeches were something. He hit the blackboard, and he’s sprain his wrist and he was hurting himself. Everybody felt sorry for him and went out and played him. Then, one time he got so mad and there was a talcum box on the ground there that you’d put on your ankles in before you’d get taped and he kicked that, but it was attached to the floor, so he’s hurt his ankle. He was hopping around, and then we felt sorry for him again and went out and played for him!”
Photos of Ted Hendricks, who appeared in four Super Bowls.
Tom Flores. Largely underrated, I think.
"Yeah. An offensive guru. A very soft-spoken guy, but got his message across to us.”
Now, let’s talk about the genius. Al Davis, he owned the team, he ran the team. What was he like? What did was your relationship like?
"He knew the game, and he knew players. He was always out there for offensive and defensive days of practice. He’d quiz players as they were leaving. Like he stopped me one time to ask me about a possibility of getting John Matuszak on our team, and he asked me what I thought. And I looked over my shoulder, and two of our defensive backs were flipping towels at each other, buck-naked, and, uh, I looked back at him and I said, ‘One more isn’t gonna hurt this group.”’
That leads me to guys you played with. Let’s talk about the "Tooz.” Give me a picture.
"A gigantic human being, and what a charmer he was. He used to be Santa Claus for the kids at Christmastime. He was always helping out kids and everything else like that ’cause he had cystic fibrosis in his family. I think two of his sisters passed away from that disease, and he was worried about that he would have the same thing.”
So, when you came in, playing linebacker, the rookie, there was Mike Curtis, a Hall of Famer.
"I emulated everything he was doing out there. We were playing the Green Bay Packers, and, he was a very intense guy, and he clotheslined (Jim) Grabowski, peeled his helmet off. And Grabowski was going over to our side of the field ’cause he was stunned. I had his helmet ’cause I picked it up off the ground and I tapped him on the shoulder and pulled him and said, ‘Oh, you’re gonna go the other way. Here, and take this with you.’ And, uh, I’d go, I thought Mike broke his arm. And then I went back to the huddle and I said, ‘Mike, are you OK?’ And he says, ‘Yeah, you know, nothing wrong.’ And he had the forearm pads on. I was wearing the forearm pads the next game, too.”
So you could clothesline somebody?
"Sure.”
It was at the end of his career, but, still, Johnny Unitas is Johnny Unitas. You play, talk about playing with one of the all-time greats.
"Know what he used to do to me at practice? He used to look over this way and throw that way. And I said, ‘You’re messing with me.’ He says, ‘That’s the point, Ted.”’ He was a great friend and a real charmer guy, and what a quarterback he was. He would even block on the reverses for the guy coming around the other way.
That’s old school.
"He was an all-around football player. Period. And he used to call his own plays, too.”
Ed Wagner Jr. / Chicago Tribune
The Packers’ Ted Hendricks blocks punt by the Bears’ Bob Parsons on the 36-yard line during a game on Oct. 22, 1974.
The Packers’ Ted Hendricks blocks punt by the Bears’ Bob Parsons on the 36-yard line during a game on Oct. 22, 1974.
(Ed Wagner Jr. / Chicago Tribune)
Kenny Stabler.
"A real gentleman. A southern gentleman. Classy guy. And what a perfect artist he was as far as putting the ball where the receiver could catch it. He should’ve been in the Hall of Fame long before he got in. Everybody on offense was real respectful of him and they’d rally around him.”
Fred Biletnikoff?
"Anything around him, he caught. And very meticulous in his route running. He would really work on that — his cuts and everything else — to be in the proper place at the right time to receive the ball."
And between that and stickum, he was a Hall of Famer.
"Everybody had stickum on. So did I.”
Marcus Allen.
"My secret weapon. I was at a practice with him and then that’s when I said, ‘We got a secret weapon here” because he could catch the ball, he could run the ball, and he could even block.”
Jim Plunkett.
"I played against him when he was with New England and he got beat up so much ’cause he didn’t have an offensive line at all. Then we played against him in San Francisco in an exhibition game and he threw a pass in my direction ’cause the receiver was behind me, and it bounced and hit me in the chest. And I said, ‘This guy can’t hit the broad side of a barn.’ And we picked him up next week. And he won two Super Bowls for us.”
George Blanda. I loved George Blanda.
"My Cribbage-playing buddy! We used to play Cribbage all the time. We played … the Raiders in a playoff game when I was with the Colts and we knocked Daryle Lamonica out of the game. And Blanda came in, and had almost pulled it out for them. And our coach said, ‘Don’t ever get rid of the quarterback that’s in there!" ‘Cause he almost won the game for them!”
Howie Long. He’s a Hall of Famer, too. Did you see it coming in?
"Oh, yeah. Definitely, yeah. He, he was just so quick off the line for his size and everything else. Really a great pass rusher, and not only that, but he played the run real well. He and Lyle Alzado were together in there and they really did an outstanding job for, as far as the defensive linemen were concerned.”
That was the next name I was gonna get to. Give me your best Lyle Alzado story.
"Lyle was kind of a crazy guy. We’re playing the Jets in a playoff game, and Lyle takes the opposing tackle’s helmet off him and throws it at him, and the referee, Ben Dreith, throws the flag on him. I went up to Ben and I said, ‘Hey, why’d you call that penalty?’ He says, ‘Didn’t you see your player? He took the opposing player’s helmet off!’ I said, ‘There’s no rule you can’t do that.’ He says, ‘Yeah, but he threw it at him.’ I said, ‘No rule you can’t do that, either.’ He says, "Damn it, Hendricks! I called a personal foul!’ And I said, ‘Now you explained it to me,’ and I walked away. And the next year, the rule was in.”
Four Super Bowl wins, only one player has more. That’s an amazing thing. That’s part of what makes you football royalty. So, I want to go through them. The first one, Super Bowl V. Of all the Super Bowls, 16-13 final, that was the closest one you played in, as it turns out. Jim O’Brien’s field goal at the end. What’s the memory from that?
"It seemed like every play depended on who’s gonna win. A lot of … mental and physical pressure on everybody to not make a mistake. You’re not overly confident about anything. You’re just trying to do your job, and hopefully, something will fall good in your favor.”
Super Bowl 11. Raiders-Minnesota. That was a rout.
"That game was over with in the third quarter. We had to chase Fran Tarkenton all over the field. Willie Brown intercepted a pass and ran that back for us and Fred Biletnikoff had a great game."
Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune
Football on display at the home of Ted Hendricks.
Football on display at the home of Ted Hendricks.
(Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Super Bowl 15 against Philadelphia. What’s the snapshot?
"John Matuszak was out past curfew, and he was saying he was patrolling the streets to make sure none of us were out on the streets at all. Dick Vermeil had said if he did that on his team, he would’ve sent him back. One of our players said, ‘Well, if he did that, the coach would be the only one standing out there.’ "
Super Bowl 18 against Washington. That was your last Super Bowl win. Your last game. You retired on top. What was that game like for you?
"I was happy that it was over with in the third quarter when Marcus Allen made that run ’cause I had two pulled stomach muscles and two pulled groin muscles, and they were starting to tighten up and I wouldn’t have been able to come in. Matt Millen ran into me in, in that game and told me to get out of his way, and I told him, ‘I can’t.’ He called me up the next year ’cause he had the same thing and he was out for a month and a half. He said he didn’t know how I did it.”
The "Holy Roller” play against the Chargers.
"That was the greatest play I’ve ever seen in my life! First of all, Kenny Stabler is almost gonna get sacked and throws the ball underhanded and Pete Banaszak rolls it forward and (Dave) Casper jumps on it in the end zone. I thought it was the greatest play I’d ever seen in my life.”
That was the last play of the opening game against the evil, dreaded rival Chargers.
"And the next year there was a rule put in against it.”
When someone says, "Pro Football Hall of Fame," what’s the picture that jumps into your mind, and why?
"All the players that are in the Hall. And the coaches and everything. They’re the epitome of the position that they played, either the best or one of the closest to the best. It’s quite an honor.
So, I don’t know what was more surprising: Finding out Ted Hendricks lives in Arlington Heights or finding out there’s probably more paintings by Ted Hendricks than trophies and memorabilia for Ted Hendricks. So, tell me the story of the painting.
"It started with my buddy that played golf with us in Maine and Albuquerque. We were at the golf tournaments all the time and everything else and he was a painter, and I just thought that was great. He gave me the landscapes and everything else, and we used to play our own game and then go back to his house and started painting over there. He showed me where the light was coming in, how to get the best light for your paintings, and we just transposed what we saw out on the golf course and put it on a painting.”
Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune
Ted Hendricks, who appeared in four Super Bowls, poses with paintings at his home in Arlington Heights on Jan. 27, 2017. Hendricks is now into painting landscapes.
Ted Hendricks, who appeared in four Super Bowls, poses with paintings at his home in Arlington Heights on Jan. 27, 2017. Hendricks is now into painting landscapes.
(Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Tell me about the Ted Hendricks Foundation.
It started out as a means for charity. We sponsored a Pop Warner football team down in Miami. I was at a couple games with them they were at one of the Orange Bowl games and they were soliciting money. And they happened to be the Raiders, too. They’re the Palmetto Raiders. The city’s name is Palmetto; it’s down south, in between Miami and Homestead. I bought them tickets to get them into the game, and they said, afterwards they really didn’t need that. They were raising money for their team because they’re always in the playoff games. They have to pay for their transportation up to Orlando, where the championships are decided. So, I finally just wrote them out a check every year. And the cheerleaders go up there with them and everything else. Out in Oakland, we had the Boys and Girls Clubs, and we throw a bowling tournament out there to raise money because they, they don’t have any Phys Ed. anymore in school. So, they’ve got a place to go where the kids can go play games and learn how to, how to be on team sports and stuff like that. I’m with the Taste of the NFL, and we do the food bank for Oakland. That’s part of the reason I’m going to the Super Bowl this. They have the dinner the night before the game, and we raise money for feeding in Alameda County.”
One last question. What was your best moment on the field?
"My best moment? Hmmm. … There’s a lot of them. Probably being able to be on the same team as Johnny Unitas. Because that’s the only game we got down in Miami when I was with the Baltimore Colts. I said, ‘I don’t know why in the heck they’re drafting me’ because they had All-Pros. (Don) Shinnick was the other All-Pro with Mike Curtis at my position, and I said, ‘I’ll never be able to play.’ I was waiting to be drafted by the Miami Dolphins — a local town kid and everything else like that. I learned that George Young was threatened that he would be fired if he drafted me. And he went ahead and drafted me.”
Why would George have been fired, or why was he threatened with being fired, if he drafted you?
"Because I was so skinny and didn’t weigh but 215 pounds. George drafted me, anyway. When I went to the Baltimore Colts, I was coming out of the college all-star game and I joined them in San Diego ’cause they were playing an exhibition game down there. When I arrived, all the players were going to their pre-game meal and came up and shook my hand and told me they were glad to have me on the team and everything else. And Unitas came up to me. And I said, ‘I used to watch you when I was a kid!’ So, my nickname from him was ‘The Kid.’ ‘Hey, Kid. How’s it going?”’
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