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SALT LAKE CITY -- Named after legendary western film star John Wayne, who won an Academy Award for “True Grit," Utah offensive tackle John Wayne Cullen has shown some true grit of his own over the years to become an integral part of the Utes’ offense.
Cullen didn’t exactly have a typical start to his football career when he was 8 years old. Instead of playing in a care-free environment and allowed to just have fun, Cullen found out it’s not always easy to have your parent as a coach, especially when you’re just starting out.
“Believe it or not, I hated football when I was a little kid. My dad was my coach, and he was the definition of strict — especially with me,” Cullen said. “My dad was the dad that you could hear yelling from the sideline if you were sitting in the stands. He was that dad. He was definitely rough on me when I was younger, so I didn’t like football. I just did it because that is what I was supposed to do.
“As I got older, he kind of calmed down,” he said. “It definitely changed when I got to high school, when I started being coached by different people. It got to be more fun when I started playing with my friends and growing into the game. I’ve played O- line my whole life. I played center as a kid growing up, and then when I got taller I moved out to tackle for varsity. But, I’ve always been an O-lineman, since day one.”
Despite their head-butting early on, Cullen’s dad has missed only a handful of his games over the years.
“One thing I love about my dad is that he will not miss me play football,” Cullen said.
Cullen also played rugby while growing up, and credits the sport with helping his agility on the football field.
“I played rugby in high school and I loved it. It helped out a lot with my athleticism and being able to move around,” Cullen said. “I miss it all the time, especially when guys on the team are always talking about it. They tried to get me to play, but I was a little scared because I didn’t want to get hurt or anything like that. It’s definitely something I will be continuing after football.”
Even though he has bypassed playing rugby, Cullen has not managed to escape injury. Before Utah’s bowl game last year, the starting left tackle broke his arm and needed to have a plate put in it. In fact, just to the side of the five-inch long scar from surgery, one of the screws holding the plate in place can be felt slightly beneath the skin.
“It sucked,” Cullen said. “By the time the bowl game came, (what had happened) had set in. But it was the first time I’d ever missed a game due to injury, so it was weird. I didn’t really know how to go about it.”
Prior to the injury, Cullen had a stellar first year with the Utes. He led the team with 19 cuts and amassed eight pancake blocks in the 11 regular-season games that were graded.
Cullen, who was the top-rated junior college offensive lineman in 2009 by Rivals.com, chose to come to Utah despite numerous offers from other Div. I powerhouses.
“I liked it here. I’d already known about the (potential) Pac-12 move before it happened. I’m allowed to say that now,” Cullen laughed. “The BCS (conference) thing wasn’t really a factor because I knew I was going to play in one here.
“I had some academic issues that hindered certain choices that I had, but when it came down to it — with all of the options that I had — Utah was the best fit,” Cullen continued. “Playing wise, I had an opportunity to play right away. The guys I was going to play with, the program itself, the tradition, being able to start something here — especially with the Pac-12 and being a new school in the league — we can do things that nobody before us here has done yet.”
When he’s not playing football, Cullen likes watching movies to unwind. The offensive lineman’s serious dislike of one particular movie genre of reveals an interesting contrast to his “tough-guy” exterior.
“I hate horror movies. I’m the biggest sissy in the world and I’ll be the first to admit it,” Cullen said. “I never watch realistic, ghost, creepy movies. I can do vampires, werewolves, zombies, because there are rules; you can fight against them. But ghosts and demons, and stuff like that, you can’t fight them. A ghost could attack you, but you can’t hit a ghost. I have too good of an imagination. I just don’t mess with ghost movies.”
Opposing defensive linemen aren’t real fond of messing with Cullen either, as he tries to help the Utes reach their ninth consecutive bowl game.
Andrea Wilson is a Utah Athletics Communications Assistant
