Texas Tech University Athletics
Saluting Señor Sack
September 12, 2014 | Football
Rivera becomes the fourth inductee into the Texas Tech Football Ring of Honor.
BY NICK KOSMIDER
Special to TexasTech.com
The pictures are fading but still menacing. There is one that hides in library archives and in the mazes of the Internet that shows a monstrous defensive lineman in pursuit of a quarterback.
His galactic presence casts a looming shadow, as if he won't simply tackle the ball carrier he has targeted, but instead fully engulf and consume him.
As he leaps into the air, his physical presence defies physics. Men that big aren't supposed to be able to move with such fluid speed and grace, coupled with such force.
In this photo, the lineman's fully spread frame is moments away from imposing its considerable will on a quarterback who likely had a thought running through his head many others in the Southwest Conference shared in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Why can't anyone block Gabe Rivera?
Transcendent talent
It was a question with which opponents often grappled, even if the answer was fairly simple. The math, after all, wasn't complicated. An athlete who stood 6-foot-2 and nearly 300 pounds, who could run the 40-yard dash in a mere 4.8 seconds, has a good chance of getting where he wants to go. And if that measurable talent is added to the tenacity Rivera possessed, he's going to get there almost every time.
"He was nearly freakish," said Rodney Allison, an assistant coach at Texas Tech during the final two seasons of Rivera's college career. "There weren't a lot of guys his size, with his speed and athletic ability in those days. You'd find one every now and then, but you didn't find one with that combination of strength, speed, power and agility. You just don't have those things at that level. That player was nearly non-existent in that time."
Players of Rivera's larger-than-life status are still few and far between. Transcendent players have a way of not being defined by the eras in which they played. Few defensive tackles in college football history have had the ability to operate on such a dominant level. It's why he's receiving an honor even fewer have. Rivera on Saturday will become just the fourth player in Texas Tech history to be etched on the school's Ring of Honor, joining Donny Anderson, E.J. Holub and Dave Parks.
"It's very exciting to be up there with those guys," Rivera said. "This is a great honor. Lubbock is my second home and all the fans there are great, so it's exciting."
For those who saw him play, legend is one of the first words that come to mind. Rivera finished his four-year career at Texas Tech (1979-1982) with 321 tackles, 34 of those coming for loss. The man they called "Señor Sack" had 14 of those. He broke up 11 passes. They are numbers that would be impressive today, even in age when teams are running far more plays, thus producing the opportunity for far bigger numbers than ever before.
But those numbers in his time made Rivera perhaps the best defensive player in college football. He was a consensus and unanimous All-American his senior year. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame. Now, he receives the greatest honor a Red Raider football player can receive, his name etched into the brick and mortar of the stadium in which he poured blood, sweat and tears.
"Gabe Rivera has had a tremendous impact on our football program and his legacy at Texas Tech will be forever," Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt said. "Induction into the Ring of Honor is reserved for the best of the best and Gabe's spectacular career at Texas Tech is worthy of our continued celebration."
`A brutal tackler'
Rivera's successes were about more than numbers. They were about big games and iconic moments. Rivera said he relives some of his most lasting plays and performances through the memories of fans who are quick to tell him where they were when he, say, knocked off the helmet of SMU running back Eric Dickerson during his sophomore year in 1980.
"He was a brutal tackler," Joe Hornaday, Texas Tech's former sports information director, said of Rivera. "He took it seriously. He really enjoyed blowing through double-teams."
For his part, one game in particular stands out to Rivera. It was his senior year in 1982, and the Red Raiders traveled to Seattle to take on No. 1 Washington. The Huskies were averaging 42 points per game and were heavily favored to dispatch Texas Tech.
But like many teams before them, the Huskies had no answer for Rivera. From his spot on the defensive line, he registered 10 tackles. He deflected four passes, pressured the quarterback four times and sacked him once.
In other words, Rivera had his way with one of the top offenses in college football that season, and for his efforts he was named the National Defensive Player of the Week by the Associated Press.
The Huskies barely escaped a game they were expected to dominate with a 10-3 victory. At midfield once the game was over, a towering Washington offensive lineman looked at Rivera with a smile and said: "We'll sure be glad to see you leave town."
One pro scout told me I should get a windbreaker and put 'Gabe's Coach' on the back," said Dean Slayton, Rivera's position coach during his final two seasons at Texas Tech. "He said, 'You're never going to have another one like this.' He certainly knew what he was talking about.
`Pushing every day'
After his stellar career at Texas Tech, Rivera drafted was drafted 21st overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1983 NFL Draft. After six strong games to begin his rookie season, Rivera was involved in a two-car crash that paralyzed him from the chest down.
There were challenging years for Rivera afterward without the career he had dreamed about as a kid growing up in San Antonio, where he still lives today. But with the same tenacity he used to shed would-be blockers during his college career, Rivera has embraced opportunities in his life to help others. During his summers in San Antonio, Rivera works as a mentor with Inner City Development, an organization that helps disadvantaged youths reach their goals.
"It's about pushing yourself every day, no matter life's circumstances," Rivera said of the messages he imparts upon kids in the program. "I just keep showing them through hard work, you can do what you enjoy. I show them that there are a lot of positive things in life."
Rosa Lopez, an administrative assistant at Inner City Development has been amazed by Rivera's spirit.
"I don't even know how to explain the way he is, being in a wheelchair, never down, always playing with the kids," Lopez told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "I've never seen him mad. He has a big impact."
It's easy for Rivera to identify the moments he most enjoys in life now. Watching his four grandchildren -- ages 2 to 9 -- grow up is easily his favorite pastime.
"They're pretty awesome little kids," Rivera said. "I enjoy watching them grow up and seeing how different they are. Each one of them has certain things that are different about them."
Rivera said he will be thinking about his family, his coaches and teammates "I battled through the trenches with" when he sees his name unveiled on the inside of Jones AT&T Stadium.
As for what Rivera wants his fans to think when they see him etched along Texas Tech's other favorite sons?
"That it means a lot to me," Rivera said. "The fans are the ones that remind me of the things I did. The things I accomplished weren't just with myself, but with them and all my teammates."
