What was it like being a Miami Hurricanes teammate of Dwayne Johnson, Mario Cristobal?
During their glory days, the Miami Hurricanes were a brotherhood. The toughest competition the Canes ever faced in the 80's and early 90's were... each other.
Former Canes defensive tackle Mark Caesar joined me on Locked On Canes to share some incredible stories.
What was "The Rock" Dwayne Johnson like as a teammate?
"I was Dwayne Johnson's host when he came to Miami. He stayed with me and Stephen McGuire," Caesar said.
"In his freshman year he had one speed: full speed! He was going crazy."
Dwayne was going so hard in practice that he got a chance to go up against a future first round draft pick and pro bowler to be served some humble pie. The Canes were LOADED in 1991, after all.
"It got to the point one time when (former defensive line coach Ed Orgeron) threw him in the starting lineup. He went one on one against Leon Searcy and that was it." Caesar implies that Searcy handled him out there. "It was ugly after that."
After Johnson hurt his shoulder and redshirted, a young Warren Sapp was moved from tight end to the defensive line. Caesar recalled the occasion when Sapp famously told Johnson, "I'm here to take your job," and he did.
Caesar gave us some interesting details on how Ed Orgeron helped influence Dwayne's famous pro wrestling persona.
"When you watched him in wrestling and he kept saying 'candy ass,' and all that stuff, all those sayings were Coach Ogeron's sayings. Coach O used to say all the time, 'kick his candy ass, kid.' A lot of the sayings he (used in wrestling) he got right there from Coach Orgeron."
What was Mario Cristobal like in his playing days?
When Cristobal and Caesar first arrived at Miami they were wearing the numbers 71 and 72, respectively. Caesar was then given the number 76 but Cristobal wanted it. It was his childhood playing number.
"The first day of training camp, me and Mario got into a fight," Caesar said. "We got some punches off and then the veterans broke it up. That's one thing I loved about Miami. Guys fought like crazy on the practice field and then they're hanging out thirty minutes after practice. It was a family."
"What happened on the field stayed on the field."
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