UW's Emtman Plays 'Til Cows Come Home

There are philosophical reasons why the University of Washington football team is better at defending the run than it's been since 1984, reasons why it suffocated USC's power sweep and took away at least the inside thrust of the Colorado wishbone. Why it ranks No. 2 nationally against the run even after playing Colorado and USC.

But there is a physical one, as well.

A 6-foot-4, 290-pound player with the profile of a grain silo, and a background to match.

``Steve Emtman is playing defensive tackle as strong and consistently as anyone has for us for a long time,'' said Jim Lambright, the UW's defensive coordinator.

Emtman, a sophomore, replaced 300-pound Dennis Brown, a second-round draft choice of the San Francisco 49ers. He embodies the attack, get-crazy philosophy of a different defense.

But the biggest upset is not how well Emtman has played, but that he is playing for Washington at all.

The neighbors around the 2,000-acre Emtman cattle ranch outside Cheney all knew what the kid would do. He'd leave for a few years, but wouldn't be so far from the cow manure that he couldn't still smell it.

It was, in 1987, a great year for young defensive linemen in the state, and the places for the pieces of the puzzle were obvious. Mike Lustyk, the prep All-American from Bellevue, would make the short and inevitable trip across the lake to become a Husky, from suburban to urban.

And Steve Emtman would make an even more logical transition, from Cheney to Pullman.

``Cheney is a lot like Pullman, it was in our high-school league,'' said Emtman. ``It's a college town, too, but you've got to go to Spokane to see a movie.''

He made his first recruiting trip to Washington State, was put in the company of star quarterback Timm Rosenbach and nearly announced his decision that weekend.

``Everyone thought I'd go to WSU,'' said Emtman, ``and I guess at one point, I did too. But I wanted to see if the U (Washington) might not be too big. Everyone was sure it would overwhelm me, everyone but me.''

Emtman ran a reverse on the Cougars and rural America. He saw a university community that put some distance between itself and downtown Seattle, and he saw a new weight room that was the best in the Pac-10, the Nordstrom of weight rooms.

``I got back from Washington on Sunday and at 2 o'clock in the morning I called Coach Pinkel (Gary Pinkel, the offensive coordinator) to tell him I was coming,'' said Emtman. ``Hardly anyone at home believed me.''

Going to Washington represented a challenge for Emtman, to show that a farm kid could make good in the city, to show that he didn't have to do what was expected of him, and to show, finally, that he might just be as good or better than Lustyk.

The decision devastated Dennis Erickson, then the coach at WSU. Erickson, now at Miami, was both a keen judge of talent - the other Husky he most wanted that year was receiver Mario Bailey - and a believer in recruiting local kids, especially those east of the mountains.

But as much as Emtman's decision hurt the Cougars, it brought a different dimension to the Huskies, a work ethic that ran from dawn to dusk, the way they work on the farm.

``I think what got him,'' said Dick Baird, UW recruiting coordinator, ``is that people said he wouldn't be able to play over here. He basically said, `Don't tell me I can't play for Washington.' ''

Baird watched videotapes of Emtman playing for Cheney High. He knew otherwise.

``What you want to know is how badly a person wants to be a great player,'' said Baird. ``Watching Steve Emtman, it just jumps off the videotape. This guy is thrashing around, doing anything he can to get to the ball carrier. On offense, he's blocking his guy until he's got him drilled to the ground.

``To me, Steve Emtman epitomizes what a defensive football player is all about. The kid is tenacious, and he burns to be a great player. He has a great work ethic.''

The Emtmans raise cattle. They work hard, but it is the work Steve Emtman didn't do that seems to have made the greatest impression on him.

``I'm doing what the rest of my family couldn't do because they were working on the farm,'' he said. ``I'm indebted to them, especially my brother, Russ. They worked extra hard so I could play sports, so I could go off to a sports camp in the summer. They made it possible.''

It seems to be a collective effort by the Emtmans to be, as the Army says, the best you can be.

For Steve, that was leaving the farm and heading to Seattle, where he could meet Lustyk face-to-face and maybe even beat him out of a job.

``If I'm honest,'' said Emtman, ``then I have to say I read a lot about Mike and was highly jealous of him. He was in the big city getting all the publicity and I was in little old Cheney not getting any at all.

``I was sure he would be cocky, but what I found out was that he was a real nice guy. We've become good friends. In a way, his publicity allowed me to sneak in the back door here. It's been hard for him; they made him out to be something I don't think anybody could live up to.''

Lustyk, like Emtman, is a redshirt sophomore. Unlike Emtman, he languishes on the second and third teams.

``Kids mature differently,'' said Baird. ``People forget Curt Marsh (a first-round NFL draft choice) didn't play for us until his fourth year. Mike is by no means a disappointment for us. He's getting better and he's only a sophomore.

``What's pushed Steve ahead of Mike is that burn he has to be great. He plays until he drops.''

Or until it's time to do the chores.