Jonathan Ogden Will Retire Tomorrow

by Achilles on Jun 11, 2008 1:57 PM PDT in Football Comment 18 comments

Jonathan Ogden, the greatest offensive lineman ever produced by the UCLA football program, will announce his retirement from professional football tomorrow.

J.O. spent his entire career with the Baltimore Ravens. He played on one Super Bowl championship team and earned 11 Pro Bowl spots in 12 years.

ESPN has the story.

And so does the Baltimore Sun.

"A player like J.O. is a franchise player," said Jason Brown, who played alongside Ogden for the past two seasons. "You can't put a value or a price tag on him or what he means to our program. He's a great standup guy and also [had] invaluable leadership."

Although Ogden could have played for several more years, the imposing 6-foot-9, 345-pound lineman leaves the game with little else to prove.

He won a Super Bowl with the Ravens in January 2001. He helped pave the way for Lewis' 2,066-yard season in 2003 -- the second-highest rushing season in NFL history. And he was voted to 11 straight Pro Bowls, three shy of the league record.

In 2003, Ogden was named the No. 1 player in the NFL by USA Today Sports Weekly. In a poll of players before the 2007 season, he was voted the most intimidating offensive tackle.

"He's a true freak of nature," former coach Brian Billick said of Ogden in 2003. "The biggest indicator of J.O.'s ability is every week you look at film and at no point do you see anything that a defense can do to negate J.O. That's an incredible luxury."

It became routine to watch Ogden take down defensive ends with one arm, sprint to the outside on a sweep play to be the lead blocker 10 yards downfield or plow down two defenders on a goal-line play.

At UCLA, Ogden opened holes for Sharmon Shah (aka Karim Abdul-Jabbar). Shah confirmed once that the reason he left for the pros a year early was because "Big John wasn't going to be around to block for me anymore."

Ogden was also an All-American shot putter at UCLA. His #79 is retired by the Bruins and he is a member of the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame.

My take on Ogden is that he may have had the greatest NFL career of any Bruin ever, with the possible exception of Troy Aikman.

Go Bruins, J.O., go Bruins.

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Next job?

Think CRN can talk him into spending some time as an Asst O-Line coach out west?

greg in denver

by gbruin on Jun 11, 2008 2:13 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I was just thinking the same thing

by bruinbabe2000 on Jun 11, 2008 2:13 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

As was I

Go Bruins!!!

by JKNaka on Jun 11, 2008 6:22 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ogden is the greatest NFL Bruin ever

Ogden is arguably the best OT in NFL history and certainly in the top 3. While Aikman is a hall of famer, he’s not one of the guys in discussion for the best QB ever or top 3 ever.

by Ryan Rosenblatt on Jun 11, 2008 2:15 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

What Troy has going for him ...

are the three Super Bowl rings.

That’s why I qualified it.

Quarterbacking three Super Bowl winners puts Aikman in rare air. But I wouldn’t argue with anyone who insists J.O. was the greatest Bruin ever in the NFL. I might even believe that myself if I thought about it long enough.

I just wanted you to know what I was thinking when I mentioned Aikman.

Go Bruins

by Achilles on Jun 11, 2008 2:26 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Aikman is great

and one of the all-time bests. As a Hall of Famer, i think that’s implied, but he’s not in Ogden’s category. You can’t really compare positions so I compare where they rank within their position and Ogden wins it. Nothing against Aikman’s great career, but Ogden is above him, at least IMO.

by Ryan Rosenblatt on Jun 11, 2008 4:18 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

The problem is that OL is not a flashy position

QBs get all the attention by nature. OLs and DLs do all the grunt work. It’s part of the reason why I’m not sure he will get in on the first ballot. There has been talk about what the 2013 HOF ballot will look like. We all know Brett Favre is a shoe-in first ballot and I would be willing to bet good money that Michael Strahan gets in too, and that’s not even counting the other players who will be eligable before and haven’t been voted in. Having said that, those who have been around the game much longer than me have said he will get in on the first ballot, so I will be happy to eat crow if that is true.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. You would be hard pressed to find a bigger Troy Aikman fan on this board than me. Having said that, yes Rye, Aikman would not be in my top 3 all-time QBs, maybe not even in my top 5. As for Ogden, the only other OL I can think of in my lifetime that was equal to his talent is Larry Allen.

by bruinbabe2000 on Jun 11, 2008 2:27 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Great OT's

Anthony Munoz has always been considered the best OT in NFL history (unfortunately, he played at that “other place” in college). Gary Zimmerman (a Duck) is another mentioned as the all-time greatest OT. Time will tell, but Ogden may surpass them both.

Nice column in The Baltimore Sun about JO today

greg in denver

by gbruin on Jun 11, 2008 3:49 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I say this with all the respect in the world

Jonathan Ogden is the most physically imposing person I have ever met in my life. I will never forget winter quarter my freshman year. I was working in the athletic department and at the time, the majority of the staff worked out of cubicles (this was before the remodeling). I will never forget his head sticking out of every cubicle he passed by while he was visiting. I have to admit, for a couple of seconds I was scared, until I realized who he was.

Let’s wish him all the best in his new life. No doubt his bust will be in Canton one day.

by bruinbabe2000 on Jun 11, 2008 2:18 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

He is an absolute, sure fire ...

NFL Hall of Fame player.

He is eligible in five years and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he is inducted in his first year of eligibility.

Go Bruins

by Achilles on Jun 11, 2008 2:28 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

First ballot for sure

No question.

greg in denver

by gbruin on Jun 11, 2008 3:35 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ogden is one of the greatest

If you had a chance to read The Blind Side, there’s a great blurb about Ogden and his ability to take over the game.

Now the highest paid player on the field, Ogden was doing his job so well and so effortlessly that he had time to wonder how hard it would be for him to do some of the other less highly paid jobs. At the end of that 2000 season, en route to their Super Bowl victory, the Ravens played in the AFC Championship game. Ogden watched the Ravens’ tight end, Shannon Sharpe, catch a pass and run 96 yards for a touchdown. Ravens center Jeff Mitchell told The Sporting News that as Sharpe raced into the end zone, Ogden had turned to him and said, “I could have made that play. If they had thrown that ball to me, I would have done the same thing.”
Having sized up the star receivers, Ogden looked around and noticed that the quarterbacks he was protecting were…rather ordinary. Here he was, leaving them all the time in the world to throw the ball, and they still weren’t doing it very well. They kept getting fired! Even after they’d won the Super Bowl, the Ravens got rid of their quarterback, Trent Dilfer, and gone looking for a better one. What was wrong with these people? Ogden didn’t go so far as to suggest that he should play quarterback, but he came as close as any lineman ever had to the heretical thought.

I found this blurb online here. Congratulations on a great career Jonathan and enjoy your place in Canton.

by sfatoo on Jun 11, 2008 3:37 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Shannon Sharpe

My 2nd all-time favorite Bronco (behind Steve Atwater) – an amazing personality and amazing player.

Thing is, JO really could have made that play, too.

greg in denver

by gbruin on Jun 11, 2008 3:58 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

You beat me to the reference...

The Blind Side is a MUST read for any football fan. Written by Michael Lewis who also wrote Money Ball and Liar’s Poker tells the story of how Ogden and others before him transformed the Right Tackle position in pro football into arguably the most important and highest paying position in the League. Just an amazing true story with rich historical insight into the status of offensive lineman overtime.

by Bald Eagle on Jun 11, 2008 4:42 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed.

Like Moneyball, it is a must read for any sports fan.

Just to be a bit anal, the position The Blind Side mainly focuses on is the left tackle, not right tackle.

Michael Oher (the kid the book focuses on) is showing up as a top 5 prospect in the 2009 draft in many draft boards:
http://www.fftoolbox.com/nfl_draft/2009/2009_nfl_mock_draft.cfm?writer=33

by sfatoo on Jun 11, 2008 7:25 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Proof that 'The Line Wins Games"

Jamaal Lewis was 2K yd rusher, and Trent Dilfer was a Super Bowl winning QB.

Are those guys that great? Or was Jonathan Ogden dominating their offensive line?

I’m sure CRN and OCNC know how much we need linemen in Westwood.

greg in denver

by gbruin on Jun 11, 2008 4:03 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

ahh

this is absolutely bittersweet for me, as the Ravens are my team. it’s always humored me how my Bruins and Ravens have so many ties to one another (Ogden, Neuheisal, Harbaugh being a candidate for both gigs, etc.). that being said, both teams are going to have the same plight next year—new coach, replacing linchpins, O-line, questions at the QB position (Flacco is cool, but I think the job should be Smith’s to lose), ...

at least we still got Ray-Ray and Reed.

by deepdish on Jun 11, 2008 4:07 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

good at basketball too

I remember playing a pick up basketball game in the Wooden Center with Big O. He kept shooting 3’s. But when the game got close we posted him down low and the big fella went to work. At the time I think he was only listed as 6’8”, although he looked more like 7’ with his afro picked out. Good times! Thanks for the memories, and good luck in the future!

c/o '98
Go Bruins!

by Romo785 on Jun 12, 2008 1:23 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs