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Manu Showing RDA How To Play Angry But Under Control
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- Manu Showing RDA How To Play Angry But Under Control
Jacob Manu talked about the tough side of the game. | Dan Rale
At University of Washington fall football practice, it seems as if there's continually been something that upsets Rylon Dillard-Allen and really rubs him the wrong way.
Angry words exchanged. Players restraining players. Even a stray helmet sent flying across the turf.
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In the middle of all this mayhem has been Dillard-Allen, the safety from Phoenix who's known by his initials "RDA" but also by his comic book hero "Batman." He plays perpetually angry, if not more like a super villain.
UW coach Jedd Fisch explains how his second-year defensive back reminds him a lot of Jacob Manu when the latter was a first-year linebacker for him at Arizona doing everything he could to establish himself. Even if it meant repeatedly stepping over the line.
As a scout-team player in Tucson, Manu tried to hit everyone he could in practice -- to the point Fisch made this super aggressive kid a starter just partly to protect his quarterback and the other first-teamers from harm.
Manu sees similarities in himself with Dillard-Allen, now his Husky defensive teammate.
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"RDA, he plays with a little edge to him," Manu said. "Sometimes he goes over the edge. That's kind of how it was my freshman year and I kind of chilled out a little bit. We try and control RDA during practice."
For sure, football always has been a violent game. Through the years, the Huskies have had their share of decidedly hot-tempered players losing it between the lines, among them cornerback Marcus Peters , center Olin Kruetz and defensive tackle Steve Emtman.
One of those guys got thrown off the team because of his anger issues. Another broke a teammate's jaw. Yet another won a national championship by letting it all hang out.
Dillard-Allen has been fighting in practice since he first arrived as a freshman in Montlake last year, while Manu transferred in. Teammates and coaches don't want to change the Batman, just tone him down some.
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"We kind of talked about it," Manu said. "He understands what he's got to do and how to protect the team. He's been doing a better job on the field."
Jacob Manu consults with a coach during stretching. | Dave Sizer photo
As for Manu, he's a fifth-year player who still gets after it with a lot of intensity but he understands the boundaries that he's trying to instill in the other guy at safety. At least most of them.
"I feel like I try to protect the team as much as I can," Manu said. "Here and there, I have my little mistakes. It happens."
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/washington as Manu Showing RDA How To Play Angry But Under Control .
