First, can you let me know what you’ve been doing since your time in the NFL?
I’m retired now. After football I worked in a bank for a few years and did real estate development at the same time. After a while I did the real estate development full time, developing single-family and multi-family homes, but mostly large apartment complexes. I ended up selling the business after a while and retired and moved to Florida.
Was the post-NFL adjustment difficult?
I didn’t prepare for it but my last year in Pittsburgh I had knee surgery. I was in the pros for three years and I just kept getting injured. It was a rollercoaster because of that and I think I was just glad to not be hurt anymore after football.
Who were some of the mentors you experienced throughout your NFL career?
I wish I had Dick LeBeau when I was in college or when I was in Dallas. He was the greatest defensive backs coach I ever had. I improved so much playing for him – even despite the injury. He made the game easier.
How did he manage that?
My other coaches never played defensive back in the NFL. He knew the tricks of the trade. I saw guys like Rod Woodson and Carnell Lake become experts under him.
For example my other coaches always told me not to grab on to guys. Dick told me I should grab on to guys for dear life if I had to – some are just so damn fast. He taught me to hold on until my arm was extended and then to let go. I watched the other guys in Pittsburgh do that. They held like that all the time but knew when to let go.
What caused you to sign with Pittsburgh?
Dallas moved me to free safety and I didn’t like that. I wasn’t a huge student of the game and wasn’t big enough to play free safety. I met Coach Cowher at the Senior Bowl when I was a Senior and really liked him – and he liked me. So when they called I thought it was a perfect fit for me. They wanted me to play cornerback. My first year there I played really well in camp – it all came easier for me there.
I made the team but then injured my knee. The second season they gave me every opportunity again but my knee was still bothering me, then I severely sprained my ankle. I just couldn’t stay healthy.
That was Cowher’s first year as Pittsburgh’s head coach. What did you notice about how he handled that first season and how players responded to him?
It was just a different feel. He played in the NFL. So did Dick LeBeau. You really felt like they understood the players.
I loved Cowher’s attitude – even at the Senior Bowl when he was with Kansas City. He was always positive – it was a great vibe. You knew they knew what they were talking about because they played the game. And Bill understood how to handle players’ injuries too. He just wanted everyone to play well.
In Dallas the camps were harder – the hitting was all the time in camp there. Pittsburgh was less so compared to Dallas. It was enjoyable. Players liked it. I didn’t see any of the players in Pittsburgh compare him to other coaches either. They liked how it was going.
Anything specific about Coach Cowher that you remember most? Anything you learned from him that stands out most?
He was just amazing.You learn more from your position coach – Cowher was more like the CEO. But everything was just so positive with him. Even when he was yelling. I was just happy there – even going to practices. You just wanted to play for him – for he and Dick both.
When he was around Lloyd and Greene too – it was like he was a player around them! He just didn’t have the equipment on!
Any good stories that stand out to you from your time there?
When I first got there all the players went on a paintball excursion. That was the first time I ever really had to deal with Lloyd – he was just so intense. In the locker room I was four stools down and I remember him sitting there one day with his shirt off. He was built like a brick house. Back then Pittsburgh had a lot of carjacking occurrences, and he showed me a weapon he had in his bag and told me he was ready if someone tried to carjack him. I’m looking at him thinking, someone would have to be nuts to carjack him even without the weapon!
Any guys you bond with most while you were there?
They were all great guys but I was mostly trying to just make the team. I talked to Rod and Carnell a bit but I was pretty focused and didn’t go out much.
Actually though, right when I first signed they had mini-camp for the new guys. I was staying at a hotel – a few of us were – it was Friday and we had nothing going on until Monday. So we pull over a cab and tell him to take us to the hottest place in town. Well we walk in to this bar and we see all the women talking to these two tall white guys at the bar. We had no idea who they were. We asked the waitress and she told us it was Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr. We had no idea who those guys were – we didn’t watch hockey. We thought maybe they were quarterbacks!
Later on we went to a few games and that was the year they won the Stanley Cup!
What do you think of the NFL today – you watch many games?
I don’t watch often, no. I’m a typical bandwagon guy – I was a Tom Brady fan. I don’t like things as much now. The hitting is so scrutinized – and it’s so hard to control that as a defensive player. It’s a lot safer for the players but it’s such a different game now.
The players are so much bigger and stronger now – so much more athletic. It’s enjoyable to watch it’s just not like it was. No one is out there trying to take people’s heads off now.
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