One day during the early 1960s, the University of Florida football team was in a practice session. They were running wind sprints for conditioning. One of the large linemen, Jack Katz, had proven himself to be the fastest lineman on the team.

Katz went to Coach Ray Graves and asked if he might be allowed to run sprints with the faster and smaller backfield players. Permission was granted.

For the next several days. Katz managed to finish last in every race with the backfield runners. Nobody was surprised. The coach went to Katz to ask if he wouldn’t rather go back to winning against the other linemen, rather than lose every race against the backs.

Katz responded. “I’m not out here to outrun the linemen. I already know I can do that. I’m here to learn how to run faster. and if you’ve noticed. I’m losing by a little less every day.’

Indeed, a lineman’s job is not only to break through and scatter the line on the other team, but also to tackle its backfield players. Katz was preparing himself for his ultimate goal: real‑game tackles,