University of Washington Outland and Lombardi Candidate

DEFENSIVE TACKLE .

Steve Emtman Power Cleans 347 Pounds With Split Style Technique It's hard to believe but only the Northwest Division I schoo ls recruited Steve Emtman. He was a First Team AllStat e Nose Guard and Offensive Tackle under Coach Tom Oswald a t Doubl e A Ch en ey High School in Cheney, Washington . It wasn't like he w as easy to overlook. Steve was 6-4 and 275 pounds. Maybe he was weak? Wrong! Stev e Benched 335, Squ att ed 525 and Power Cleaned 315 pounds . H e had lift ed reli giously since the 9th grade. Steve lived on a farm and had weights at home besides the schoo l's equip me nt. Well then, mayb e Steve wa s slow? Wrong! He ran a 5.0 fort y.

Finally, yo u mi ght sur m ise that maybe he just wasn't a very goo d athlete? Wron g again gurus of college recru itin g. Steve w on the Sta te Dis cus title two years in a row with a 183 foot throw. In addition, he played center on the basketball team and was a First Team All-League pla yer w ith 15 points and 10 rebounds per game. ] don't kno w abo ut yo u folk s but that so u nds like a real blue chi p recruit to me. It probabl y would not ha ve made any difference if a lot of prest ig ious football sc hools had recruited Ste ve. "The Un iversit y of Washington has put a lot of Defensiv e Lin emen in the pros," reasoned Steve, "

Bes id es wi th Coac h Jam es w e alw ay s ha ve a chance at the Nation al Cha m pionship." Steve d id sus tain a serious injury in his junior yea r of h igh sc hoo l. "I missed more than half the seas o n. My sh oulder wa s a lmos t paralyzed," remembered Steve, "I didn't stre tch enoug h in high school. If] had it to do ove r aga in, I'd Stretch, Sprint, and do Plyometri cs m ore besid es my lifting. I should have done more of a tot al program." Steve also believes every a thlete shou ld lift in-season. "De finitely" s tated Steve, "Las t foo tba ll season my Ben ch wen t up 10 pounds. Tha t's a wh ole lot bett er than getting wea ker as the season goes along."

Stev e now Benches 445, Sq ua ts 660, Power Cleans 347 and do es 360 for four reps o n the Ha ng Cl ean . He' s improved his forty to 4.8 seco nd s . How ever, the mo st significant cha nge is Steve's percentage of body fat. It's now under 10 percent! During Steve's freshma n yea r, he had his only injury. He had a bon e spur removed from his ankle. It's OK now. Being injury free take s a littl e lu ck, of course, but it still is a tribute to Ste ve' s s u p er b conditioning. The pros will also look ver y fav or ably on his injury free record. Spea ki ng of th e pros, Ste ve is slated to be drafted very ea rly a fter the season an d may forgo his last year with th e Hu ski es .

"Th at' s not e v e n on my mind," m aint ain ed Ste ve, "1 ju st wa n t to concentrate on the " Abili tyand desire to be a great player, toughness, reliability, a 'grea t attitude and a tremendous work ethic ar e all part of Stev e Emtrnan's character. Heha s a "C orne-Ear ly-Stay-Late" ethic in hi s prepara tion and ' provides excellent leadership ,and , exam ple toall his teammates. , Needless to say, it is my pleasure and good fortune 'to coach. cin'athiete like Steve Emtman." ' , .Steve Huegli, Strength Coach University of Washington.

Emtman Squats 660 Pounds! Notice Great Back and Head Position remainder of th is seas on." Stev e is stud yin g bu siness and so ciolog y wi th a genera l study major. H e's a fourth year junior now and will g ra d ua te in on e y e a r and one qu a rt e r. Ste ve maintains a so lid 2.65 CPA. He would like to u se hi s business background after whatever happens in th e pros and op en up a rest aurant and/or a gym. If Steve approaches business the same w ay he does football, he should be very successful. Steve ge ts ver y intense as he mentall y prepares for a game. "The closer ga me da y b ec om es, th e more intense thin g s ge t,"

revealed Steve, "I talk to no one when Thursd ay comes around ; not eve n fam ily. Then I just turn it loose o n Saturday." As far as t ra in in g go es, Steve o ffe rs thi s a dvice, "Speed is th e b ig g est th in g and that g oes b ack to flexibility. You mu st st ick to all facets of th e progr am . It's not the Bench. If yo u w ant to be an athlete, ge t yo u r fanny over to th e Squa t Rack and Clean. I'd much rather get a 700 Squ at th en a 500 Pound Bench." One thing that really bothers Steve is when people assume he' s on steroids jus t because of being a big, stro ng football playe r. "I weig he d 265 pounds when I w as 16 yea rs old and have lifted hard all m y athletic life,"

says St eve. "An d I' ve be en cle an m y whole life . I' ve been making gains by w orking hard and staying consistent. I'm thankful th at the Uni versity of Washington runs such a clean program. A nyway, I think drug testing is th e greatest thing to ever happen." Steve conclud ed by saying, "The most important aspect of life is your friends and family. As far as bein g successful. you've go t to stay focused and know where you' re going. That requi res more th an living da y by d ay." That philosoph y has p ropell ed Stev e to last ye ar's Pac-l0 Co-Defen sive Player-of-the-Year as a so pho mo re.

He was al s o th e fi rs t ever s o p ho mo r e to w in th e prestigious Morris Trophy w hich honors the Pac -IO's top d efen sive lineman . As th is se ason has progressed, Steve is again a dominating for ce and is a top Outland a nd Lombardi Candid ate. We th ank Steve for sharing hi s Upper Limit thoughts and for being a great example. We also wish to thank Coach Rick H u egli for making thi s article possible. Over his 11 years with the Huski es, Coach Huegli ha s d evel oped o n of the finest college programs in the co u ntry w hic h also features a modern 13,000 square foot streng th and condi tioning facilit y.

From BFS Magazine — Winter 1991. Part of the BFS Magazine Archive (1980–2014).