Russ Washington obit

Russ Washington, member of Chargers Hall of Fame, dies at 74

 

He was not on the list.

Russ Washington, a Pro Bowl right tackle for San Diego Chargers offenses that took flight under coach Don Coryell, has died, according to former teammates and a former team spokesman. He was 74.

“He was one of the most popular and beloved teammates in Air Coryell,” Chargers running back Hank Bauer said Friday.

Russell Eugene Washington, known as “Big Rue” by coaches and teammates, spent his entire 15-year career with San Diego after arriving as the No. 4 pick of the 1968 NFL Draft.

He made five Pro Bowl teams between 1974 and 1979, while displaying rare size (6-foot-6) and athleticism for his era.

“He was one of the best tackles not in the Hall of Fame,” former Chargers Hall of Fame right tackle Ron Mix said in 2020.

Washington ably protected Dan Fouts for most of the Hall of Fame quarterback’s career.

As a run blocker, Washington assisted several Chargers running backs, including Mike Garrett, who went for more than 1,000 yards in 1972; Don Woods, whose run to the 1974 Rookie of the Year award coincided with Washington’s first Pro Bowl season; and Air Coryell stars such as Chuck Muncie, the 1981 NFL leader in rushing touchdowns with 19.

“Big Rue was such a smooth and athletic athlete,” former Chargers guard and linemate Ed White said on social media.

At defensive tackle, Washington earned All-America honors at Missouri.

Moved to offense before his third Chargers season, he missed only one start in the next 10 years. Bauer, who coached blockers as an NFL special teams coach, said Washington’s “super-athletic” agility helped him to avert injuries.

Washington’s best season may have come in 1979, the ninth consecutive year in which he made every start and his final Pro Bowl season. The Chargers finished second in points scored and won by lopsided margins over each team that later reached the Super Bowl.

Despite injury detours late in his career, Washington started more than half of San Diego’s games in 1981 and 1982 before he retired at age 37 after the team cut him. While future Chargers teams would receive good seasons at right tackle from steady Vaughn Parker and a gritty 19-game run from veteran Stan Brock in their Super Bowl year, their most recent Pro Bowl season from a right tackle was Washington’s 1979 campaign. And one or two San Diego lines for which Washington started ranked among the NFL’s best blocking fronts in the 1970s.

“It just hurts a lot,” Fouts said of Washington’s death, in comments to the team’s website. “To lose so many teammates in the last year and guys like Moosie [guard Doug Wilkerson] and Rue, guys who protected me, I just can’t thank them enough.”

Done playing, Washington ran a carwash in National City, said Bauer.

Bauer said the Kansas City-born Washington was a consistently pleasant, upbeat presence who often hollered “hey” in a jovial, stretched-out fashion.

“He was a lot like Chuck Muncie in how friendly he was,” said the former running back. “He was honestly friendly. Pure. Inherently loved people. Russ was one of those guys.”

The Chargers fined players for being overweight, even if by just one pound. Linemen had it especially tough.

Washington and White countered by rigging the team scale, using matchbooks stashed in Bauer’s locker. The dodge became a weekly routine, good for a few laughs soon after line coach Dave Levy sauntered into the locker room.

“Dave Levy would say: ‘Big Rue, 298 — right on the money, like clockwork every week,’ “ Bauer said, laughing.

Bauer estimated Washington was 15 pounds above the mark, and Levy knew about rigging the scale. “It was like one of those wink-wink, nod-nods. I would sit there and laugh and shake my head,” he said.

During the 1979 season, Bauer memorably teamed up with Washington late in a game against the Steelers.

The Chargers were leading in the second half when Coryell sent Bauer in to join the offense near the goal line. The intent was obvious: Bauer was to try to ram home an insurance touchdown.

Steelers linebacker Jack Lambert screamed threats and insults at Bauer as he reached the Chargers’ huddle.

Bauer bent into the huddle, then changed his mind. He stood up and accosted Lambert, telling the frothy Hall of Fame linebacker a run play indeed was coming right at him and that it would result in a touchdown.

“I get back in the huddle,” Bauer said, “and I look over at Russ. He looks at me and goes: “Heyyy! Are you trying to get us killed?”

The two men laughed.

Then Bauer took a handoff from Fouts, and followed Washington, No. 70.

Touchdown.