Orlando Pace

Orlando Pace was an NFL offensive tackle who played 13 seasons, mostly for the St. Louis Rams. Born on November 4, 1975, in Sandusky, Ohio, he played college football at Ohio State. In 1995, he won the Lombardi Award while blocking for Eddie George during George’s Heisman-winning season. The next year, Pace added the Outland Trophy, a second Lombardi Award, the Jim Parker Trophy, and UPI Lineman of the Year. The Rams selected him first overall in the 1997 NFL draft, and he spent all but his final season with the team, becoming a key part of the “Greatest Show on Turf” offense. He ended his career with the Chicago Bears.

During his 12 years with the Rams, Pace anchored an offensive line that helped the team achieve the most gross yardage, the second-highest completion percentage, and the fifth-most touchdown passes in the league. Under his protection, the Rams’ passing offense topped 3,000 yards every season he played. Seven different quarterbacks threw for over 3,000 yards in a season, and seven running backs rushed for 1,000 yards. Pace also blocked for three straight league MVPs: Kurt Warner in 1999 and 2001, and Marshall Faulk in 2000.

Pace retired as a seven-time Pro Bowl selection and three-time first-team All-Pro. He was a core contributor to the Rams’ first Super Bowl title in Super Bowl XXXIV. He entered the College Football Hall of Fame in 2013 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016.

Growing up in Sandusky, Pace played football and another sport for the Sandusky Blue Streaks. He made the Parade magazine high school All-America team as an offensive lineman and the USA Today All-America team as a defensive lineman.

At Ohio State, Pace majored in business and played for the Buckeyes from 1994 to 1996. He was only the second true freshman to start on opening day for the team. He became a two-time unanimous All-American and won the Outland Trophy in 1996 as the best interior lineman. His two Lombardi Awards (1995 and 1996) made him the only two-time winner of that award and, as of 2023, the most recent offensive lineman to receive it. He is one of 12 players to win both the Outland and Lombardi, and one of three (with Dave Rimington) to win three combined awards in that category. In 1996, he finished fourth in Heisman voting, the highest finish for any lineman since Washington’s Steve Emtman in 1991. During his junior year, he also played defensive tackle in goal-line situations.

Pace’s dominance popularized the term “pancake block” at Ohio State, earning him the nickname “The Pancake Man.” The Ohio State athletic department even distributed Orlando Pace pancake magnets to promote his Heisman campaign. He did not allow a sack in his final two college seasons. In 1999, Sports Illustrated named him a starting offensive tackle on its “NCAA Football All-Century Team,” alongside Bill Fralic. He was one of five Ohio State players on that list, joining Jim Parker, Archie Griffin, Chris Spielman, and Jack Tatum. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2013.

The Rams traded with the New York Jets for the first overall pick the day before the 1997 draft. Pace became the first offensive lineman taken first overall since Ron Yary in 1968. After a three-week holdout, he signed a seven-year, $29.4 million contract on August 15, 1997, including a $6.3 million signing bonus. He played 13 games as a rookie, making his first start on September 28, 1997, against the Oakland Raiders, and started every game after that.

In 1998, he started all 16 games at left tackle and was named a Pro Bowl alternate. In 1999, he played 896 of 994 offensive snaps, earned his first Pro Bowl selection (the first Rams offensive tackle to do so since Jackie Slater in 1990), and was named first-team All-Pro as the Rams won the Super Bowl. In 2000, he started all 16 regular-season games and one playoff game, playing 1,006 of 1,013 offensive snaps (99.3 percent), the second-highest total on the line.

He was one of three Rams offensive linemen not penalized for holding that year. In 2001, he played every offensive snap for the second straight season, started all three playoff games, and earned a third straight Pro Bowl nod as the Rams reached Super Bowl XXXVI. In 2002, he missed six games due to injury.