First, can you let me know what you’ve been doing since your time in the NFL?
I’m a firefighter here in Longmont, Colorado. I’ve been doing that for 14 years now.
After football I didn’t know what to do next. I went back to Fort Collins and did some side construction work. One of the guys there suggested I would enjoy being a firefighter. I said now way – I thought I was too big. But he said no – I’d be fine. It took three years to get this position – it’s very competitive. Most of the time there is just one or two jobs available – especially in a small town like Longmont – and hundreds of applicants.
Was the post-NFL adjustment difficult?
For me it was. I didn’t know what I wanted to do. At Colorado State I got a general Liberal Arts degree. My main focus, especially in my Junior and Senior years, was to continue playing football. I didn’t think past that. The day football ended for me I wasn’t ready. I had no idea what to do next.
I did side construction work, worked at a school….I was just figuring out what I wanted to do. I thought about coaching at a high school but that just didn’t pay the bills.
Not having the team, the locker room or a purpose was hard at first.
Your brother also played in the NFL – how did you help one another and inspire each other?
I always laugh – I paved the way for Erik by showing him what not to do. I was a lost soul after college. I was just happy to be in the NFL. I didn’t know how to carry myself in the NFL. I didn’t know how to create goals for myself as a practice squad player to get where I wanted to be next. No one really helped or told me what to do.
I think in my conversations with Erik he was able to learn from that and got a glimpse of that ahead of time since I was two years older than him.
I remember when he was in Denver and I was in New York. I had Coughlin as a coach and he had Shanahan – they were very different coaches. I told him we were dying out here and he said it was great in Denver – they were just practicing in shells!
How did you find yourself in Pittsburgh?
I was immature early on and was released by Miami. I came back to Denver when my agent called and told me I had a workout with Pittsburgh. I had no idea what to do so I went Monday and worked out Tuesday for them. They told me they wanted to sign me. It was a short workout and they told me it looked like I’d be a good fit. That was it. So I had to go back that night to Denver that night and come back the next day with my stuff for the first day of practice.
There was a strange Colorado State connection there with Haggans and Porter there. Maybe that helped me too.
Did anyone help take you under their wing at all?
No one really helped. When I got back Wednesday they showed me where my stuff was and gave me the schedule. That was it. I followed around the big guys – that’s where I knew I needed to be.
I stayed at a hotel they put me up in for the first week but they told me I needed to find a place after that. I ended up moving to a furnished apartment at the Allegheny Center.
Hartings, Faneca, Grimm – that was a very good group of linemen and coaches. At 22 years old, I didn’t recognize then or appreciate what was in that room. But I don’t remember anyone showing me how they did things or anything like that. It was a free-for-all for me. I had to learn where to go and not to go. I went up against guys like Casey Hampton. That was a guy practicing for Sundays – I was trying to make the team. So I wasn’t sure how hard to go in practice either.
Russ Grimm was intense but he always knew what was going on. It was a veteran offensive line group. I just tried to take as much in as possible. But it being so deep, it did make me wonder where I stood.
What were some of those practice squad matchups you remember most?
Hampton was a massive person. I’m 6’6″ and he was maybe 6’2″. He was so explosive though and played with tremendous leverage. And the linebackers were insane – they were so smart and athletic. They were so intelligent – that was such a big difference from what I experienced in college.
Any memories stand out to you most there?
I mostly laid low. But seeing Jerome Bettis walking around in his robe and slippers in the locker room. As the new guy watching that – I just thought it was amazing to see. He didn’t have a care in the world. That’s how you know you’ve made it, when you can do that.
And picking up my paycheck. The paychecks for players were in a wooden box on the secretary’s desk. I needed to go pick up my check every week – a furnished apartment in Pittsburgh was expensive. The checks were in envelopes with names on tabs they stuck to them, sorted alphabetically. Well, Porter’s name was close to mine. I remember picking mine up again and seeing a bunch of his checks all still there. He didn’t even bother to pick them up yet. That was another indication of a guy who was doing ok!
A lot of the guys also had these really expensive RC cars they’d race. They were like $2,000 – a hobby shop would come in and sell them and soup them up. That was before video games!
You also got the chance to play in NFL Europe. What was that like?
It was lots of fun. You’d go to camp in Tampa for a month then they shot you out to Scotland to play. We played on a soccer field and the facilities were very different, but the fans were insane. It was a lot of work though. I played a full season in Pittsburgh, had three weeks off, then NFL Europe work began and we played 10 games there. Then after NFL Europe we came back and started camp again in the states.
I remember my second time in NFL Europe with the Giants – I played in Germany that year. That was the only time I ever faced James Harrison. He was a maniac. That was when he was trying to make a name for himself still. He pulled out on one play and didn’t care at all where the ball was. He just wanted to knock me down. That was one of the hardest hits I ever took. He was like a bulldog – strong and fast like a smaller Casey Hampton.
Do you watch the NFL today?
I watch it now. I didn’t for a few years after I stopped playing but my kids started getting into it and that rekindled my interest.
It’s changed a lot now – for the better I think in terms of the long-term health of players. But like when I watch my kids play, I go to see them play, not to watch the refs. There’s too much ref interjection now. I just wish they’d let the guys play and finish their plays. In 2007 we could clean the pile off – we’d hang our hats on finishing plays and taking that energy downfield. Now it’s different – some of that I think has been taken away.
But, I still love football. My daughter played for two years and my son plays now. I coached my daughter’s team and loved it. There’s not much like it.
It goes back to why I enjoy being a firefighter now I think. That sense of purpose and locker room feel where we’re all in it together. It’s similar to that football experience.
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