MIKE STRANGE
Mike Strange: Chuck Webb asked UT, ex-players for help; 'they didn't give it to me'
the Knoxville News Sentinel
Chuck Webb called Tuesday.
Perhaps the last former Tennessee athlete I expected to hear from was on the phone from his hometown, Toledo, Ohio.
If you're a younger Tennessee football fan not familiar with Chuck Webb, do your homework. Get on YouTube. Talk to your dad.
With Jalen Hurd in range of becoming UT's all-time rushing leader, there will be talk in 2016 as to who is the best Vol running back of all-time. Since he walked away — on crutches — in 1990, my answer has always been Webb.
Webb played only 12 games. In the second game of 1990, he tore his ACL. In those 12 games he rushed for 1,642 yards, an average of 6.1 per try.
In 1989 as a redshirt freshman, Webb ran for a school-record 294 yards against Ole Miss. Then in a Cotton Bowl win over Arkansas he cut loose for 250. To this day, those rank 1-2 as the best rushing games in UT history.
Webb was, as they say, the total package. He could have been a Heisman contender had fate not broken his stride.
After his knee injury, Webb left for the NFL. He played briefly for the Green Bay Packers, tweaked the knee and went home to Toledo.
Then he called.
"I just felt it was time,'' Webb said. "I'm almost 50 years old.''
Webb's relationship with his past as a Vol star is complicated. He's returned to Neyland Stadium only once, introduced in 2013 as the "Legend of the Game.''
"I felt I owed the fans an explanation, to say thank you,'' Webb said. "My son got to see that. He was proud of me. The fans still remember everything, every detail.''
The media remember every detail of Webb's slashing runs. But there wasn't much to remember after the final horn. He marched to his own drumbeat, had no interest in interviews.
"I wanted to practice, go play in the games and then leave,'' Webb said.
He left the NFL because, he said, he knew he would never be the same player after the knee injury. To be some guy clinging to a roster wasn't enough.
Back in Toledo, he coached some football and carved out a living. About five years ago, Webb injured his back in a car wreck. Since then, times have been hard. That's where it gets complicated.
Webb said he deeply appreciates the chance Tennessee gave him to realize his dream. He heaps praise on his teammates. He details how fellow backs Reggie Cobb and Tony Thompson helped him improve his craft.
"Andy Kelly was a general,'' he said. "(Alvin) Harper, (Carl) Pickens, all those guys, had a confidence in themselves. Tennessee fans showed up and believed they would win. Not hoped, but believed.
"Our offensive line, I knew the blocks were going to be there and I ran like I knew they were going to be there.''
But, still, there's a disconnect. Webb feels that when he, a VFL, is down on his luck, the university and his teammates should be there for him.
"I truly asked for their help and they didn't give it to me,'' he said. "That's players included.''
There are two sides to every story. The degrees of offering help can be debated. Some say assistance was offered.
As for institutional help from UT, Webb had no specifics. But he said he notices money is being made using the likeness of college athletes, even former ones like himself.
"Like the players at Northwestern who started a union, believing they should be compensated,'' he said. "I would vote on that if I had a vote.''
So there it is. One of UT's great players with a bittersweet link to his past. Maybe there's a resolution, maybe not. Returning to that past, I'll leave it with a good story Webb told.
After the Cotton Bowl game in which he was named offensive MVP, Webb was the interview everyone wanted. Except that he vanished. Vintage Webb, we thought.
"The truth is,'' he explained, "I had a flight to make and I left in my sweaty jersey.
"Whoever the lady sitting next to me was, she smelled Cotton Bowl all the way back to Toledo.''