Went to University of Arkansas with Steve Atwater, and sat next to him in “Intro to Mechanical Engineering” circa 1986. Incredible athlete and very gifted student as well. Congrats on your HOF induction, Steve!
Steve Atwater's hit to Christian Okoye is like Buster Douglas Knocking out Mike Tyson. It was sudden, intense, unexpected; and it didnt end their career, but it shattered their aura of invincibility.
you're underselling the FUCK out of Atwater. No less than Jerry Rice was afraif of that dude. Atwater was more Sugar Ray Leonard than Buster Douglas, and Okoye, frankly, was more Floyd "Dodge Good Opponents" Mayweather than Mike Tyson. That analogy was ASININE.
@@threadbarephoenix9904 Im not comparing Steve Atwater to Buster Douglas from a career perspective or comparable performances whatsoever. Im comparing Steve Atwater's *HIT* on Christian and how *Unexpected it was that Okoye was stopped* to how *Unexpected it was* that Buster Douglas knocked out Mike Tyson. Clearly anyone can tell Christian is not comparable to Mike Tyson whatsoever in any facet. Also, It seems your understanding of boxing is fairly limited; Floyd is unlikeable, annoying and boring to watch from a casual perspective. As someone who trains in boxing, his defense is downright unbelievable. He has also beaten a total of 23 Fighters who either were champions, or became champions later in their career. Nearly half his record is people up to champion caliber. So him ducking people i dont fully understand like you claim. You can dislike his fighting style but you're trying to claim Mayweather only fought nobodies, which means you're calling Manny Pacquiao, Oscar De la hoya, Ricky Hatton, Canelo Alvarez, Migel Cotto, Marcos Maidana, Andre Berto Victor Ortiz, Juan Manuel Marquez, Shane Moseley and Robert Guerrero "Nobodies" along with a few others that i cant think of off the top of my head at this moment. Those people arent Nobodies and if you look at those boxers records, all of them have substantially fewer losses to wins, most having single digit losses, which is good for any professional fighter. It seems you've missed the ball with both parts of your comment mate. You can dislike whoever you want i dont care but as someone with a love of boxing, you're entirely wrong lol.
@@threadbarephoenix9904 Steve Atwater layed the hammer down on more players than Carter had little liver pills you dead on Steve Atwater was known as that dude that would lay you the fuk out he was one my daddy's favorite players
I GET WHAT YOUR SAYING.....but I think a better boxing analogy would be Hagler v Hearns (because people are gonna be upset you compared Atwater to Douglas and NO MATTER how many times you explain they'll never listen) but anyway, Hearns wasn't invinciple, Sugar ray had proved he could be outboxed and stopped late.....but NOBODY was just gonna whoop his ass in a slugfest. UNTIL he met Marvin Hagler. Same with Okoye...he had been tackled before....BUT nobody was ever going to go head up with him and knock him on his ass.....UNTIL Steve Atwater. Again, I got the first analogy just fine
You can tell from 00:57 that Atwater didn't even get a great running start. Had to change direction a bit, just a few steps, then BOOM. On a bigger, power back. Incredible, perfect hit.
My favorite thing about this hit is you can enjoy it without worrying about how dangerous it was or anything. He took a forearm and just slammed it into the guy's upper body. Such a clean and beautiful hit.
I saw that hit on TV and I said to some of my family members that's going to end in Nigeria's nightmare career he was never the same after that all do goes out ATWATER!!👊🏾
I was at that game in the north stands. Upper deck. You could hear that pop clear as day all the way up there!! Mile High Stadium lifted off its foundation when when Atwater put him down!! A moment I will never forget!!!🤯💪
I was in this game and standing on the sideline when this hit took place. I remember hearing the pop and saying, dang, we've never seen Christian get hit like that.
Oh wow, Mr. JJ Birden in the comments! I remember a lot of great highlights from YOU back in those days, too! One that stands out in my mind was one that I think was like a 90+ yard catch back in 1990 or 1991. Against San Diego, maybe? You sure were fun to watch!
I played high school football in Arkansas in the 90s. From the first day of practice, all I wanted to do was play safety, and wear 27 - and this man is why.
@@4xxx451 Wow. I didn't know that. I can imagine that really affected his game. Either way, it's impressive Atwater could stop him like that, but there is prolly a reason it didn't happen twice.
Okoye was a beast until that hit. Didn’t hear much out of the commentators after that hit, but the legend of Atwater only grew, right into the HOF! Atwater was a bad boy, and every offense had to account for him first!
Chiefs lifer here, absolutely loathe and detest the Broncos. The last 8 yrs. have been glorious! Nothing but respect and admiration, though, for Atwater and Terrell Davis. And I'm a Jayhawk so much love to Aqib Talib and Chris Harris, wish they played for the good guys in KC. Got my broom ready for week 8 🧹 "Let Russ (throw to FS) Cook" Nice clip, thanks for posting. I remember that watching that hit as a kid, the feeling of utter disbelief when Okoye's knees buckled 💥 It was like watching Superman jump a building like you've seen happen 100x and get pasted on the 2nd floor wall... My young brain couldn't process what my eyes had just seen. I can't help but appreciate Atwater's swagger "IDGAF if he lines up at WR." 😂
Look at the runners feet. They are parallel making it a lot easier to tackle and stop him to the ground. Not saying it’s not a good play but him being so small it def helped. What a perfect tackle
So 6’3” at 220-230lbs is small? He was giving up 40-50lbs but was taller than Okoye by 2in or more. Mr Atwater bludgeoned that big bastard, and stunned everyone watching at the same time.
Lol...as a Bronco fan back then, it was about time, thats what Atwater was brought in to do, stop the nightmare...hell he outweighed alot of our defensive line at that time.
About time Steve Atwater got into the HOF. Should have been in YEARS AGO. Four others still missing from the NFL HOF - L.C Greenwood (Pittsburgh Steelers - only member of the fearsome Steel Curtain not in the Hall where he belongs), Joe Klecko (NYJ - NFL All-Pro @3 different positions & member of the feared New York Sack Exchange), Mark Gastineau (NYJ - NFL career Sacks leader at the time of his retirement, 22 Sacks in a single season & member of the feared New York Sack Exchange), & Joe Jacoby (Washington Football Team - 4x Pro Bowl selection, 3x All-Pro & prolific member of the legendary Hogs offensive line that lead Washington to 3x Super Bowl wins).
I was watching that game on tv just up the road in Lakewood and I heard it from the direction of Mile High. I had to watch the replay to make sure I really saw what my brain told me I saw.
Real football right here. I'm 37 this is what I'm used to and how we played in high school and college. Nowadays if you look at someone too hard it's a penalty for unnecessary roughness or targeting lol smh
That was a clean hit and not helmet to helmet. I am not sure how he won that battle unless Okoye wasn't expecting it, but he should have seen him coming.
