The topic was toughness, and the first two words out of 
The 330-pound nose tackle also was the first player the Seahawks targeted in free agency this offseason, because they needed a selfless wide-body to anchor their rebuilt defensive line.
“Colin Cole,” Kerney said before the entire adding-toughness scenario could be completed.
“Certainly, you start with the nose tackle, who has to be the toughest player on the team because he’s going to be battling two guys more often than not, down after down. We have toughness in Colin.”
This was apparent in last week’s preseason game against the Chiefs in Kansas City. Cole was engaged with a would-be blocker in what appeared to be a stalemate. But before anyone could utter draw, Cole bear hugged four-time Pro Bowl guard Brian Winter and deposited him on the ground in one thrust – which was as impressive as it was powerful.
Cole just smiles when asked about the play.
“I can’t say that I’m the epitome of what toughness is, but for me it goes all the way back to high school and wrestling,” he said.
Cole wasn’t just a wrestler – and definitely not a ’rassler. He was the undefeated state champion his senior year at South Plantation High School in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. – and his only loss as a junior came at the state tournament. His combined two-year record: 61-1.
“I wrestled a lot of guys that had a lot of ability,” he said. “A lot of guys that got an opportunity to wrestle collegiately.”
And yes, Cole was a heavyweight – even if he was 55 pounds lighter than he is now.
“How did you know I was a heavyweight?” he said with a laugh.
Early in his career, at times Cole was a too-heavy heavyweight.
“There was a weight limit for the heavyweight division when I was in high school: 275,” he said. “Some times I pushed that early on. I pushed the envelope. So I’d have to do some extra running to shed a little bit of water weight before weigh-ins.”
Coles laughed again when he said that. But what his wrestling background has done for his football career is no joke.
“If it hadn’t been for wrestling, I would never have gained the abilities that I’ve got right now – especially to be able to play on the interior the way I do,” he said. “All the attributes that you have to have to play, I got from wrestling.
“Every play, every snap, for me is hand-to-hand combat. Every snap for me is tight quarters. Hands. Hand placement. Balance. When guys are coming at your legs, you’ve still got to play square; you’ve got to still play with speed. But at the same time, sometimes you have to play off one guy to get another guy.”
That’s when Cole the NFL nose tackle reverts to tricks and traits he learned as Cole the high school heavyweight wrestler.
“Prior to me wrestling, I don’t know that I had the balance, I don’t know that I had some of those things that I utilize playing defensive line now,” he said.
Cole never planned on becoming a wrestler. He saw his winters in south Florida being filled with rebounds and setting picks, not takedowns and pins.
“I fancied myself as a basketball player,” he said. “Then the defensive line coach got a look at me, and he steered me to wrestling.”
It was a lane change that led to Cole’s career path.
He entered Iowa as a defensive end, but moved to tackle his senior season – when he was first-team All-Big Ten. He joined the Minnesota Vikings as a rookie free agent in 2003, but was waived and then signed with Detroit Lions. Waived again in training camp in 2004, he was signed to the Green Bay Packers practice squad.
Cole played the past five seasons with the Packers, as a part-time starter and full-time run-stuffer. It was the second part of the equation that attracted the Seahawks.
“Colin has the traits for what we needed and what (line coach) Dan Quinn was looking for at the position,” club president Tim Ruskell said.
The role of the nose tackle is pretty well defined. It’s his job to tie up two blockers, so others are free to make the play. Nice plan, but Cole has other ideas.
“You talk to him about holding up two and keeping guys free and he says, ‘No, I want to hold up two and make the play,’ ” Kerney said. “He doesn’t limit his expectations to just doing his job. He wants to be special.”
Not to mention tough.
