First, can you let me know what you’ve been up to since playing football?
After I retired I got into flipping houses – that was before the housing market died down. I’d go into bad neighborhoods and try to work on houses to make sure people had decent homes to live in there. Where you grow up often determines what kind of person you become, and I wanted to help parents give their kids the kind of homes they needed.
As a kid I remember being embarrassed when other kids came to my house. It wasn’t my mother’s fault – she did the best she could – but I still wanted a better experience – a house to be proud of. Well, I tried to help give that to people in those neighborhoods.
After that I became a bail agent – I started that in 2003 and have been doing that for almost 20 years now. I didn’t know when I started that I’d be running after people like I did when I was playing football! I named the company JPC Bailbonds, after my three kids.
Was the post-NFL adjustment difficult?
It was one of the most difficult things I ever had to do in my life. You have the opportunity to do what you loved every day – it changed my life in every way, including financially, obviously. I didn’t know about this until after I started talking to other retired players, but when you play the crowd yelling excites you, and when you stop playing they say that the yelling stops. It’s like depression – it takes a few years to get over that.
I remember talking to Mike Ditka after my last game in New Orleans. I went to his office and he gave me the best advice I ever got. He said the first thing I needed to understand is that I’ll never find anything that excites me more than football. Nothing will replace it. That’s what I loved about Mike – he was straight up about things.
He told me that if I tried to replace football I’d only fail. That life was over with – I won’t find anything like that again.
We put so much into the game – we didn’t play for money. We played for the excitement. You go through the injuries and frustration and you put your life on the backburner for the game because you love it that much.
Did anyone help mentor you when you first got into the league with Atlanta and with Pittsburgh afterwards?
There was always someone. My thing is, when I signed with Atlanta they had already drafted Aundray Bruce round one and Marcus Cotton after, plus they had guys like Jesse Tuggle and Joel Williams there. I didn’t think about that when I first signed. I just went in and tried to humble myself and keep quiet and learn from those guys.
If those guys saw you weren’t real cocky and weren’t coming in thinking you were going to take their jobs, they’d help you. I just wanted to do my best snd they saw that. That’s why those guys are still like big brothers to me today.
What had you end up in Pittsburgh after that season in Atlanta?
Pittsburgh was one of those teams that called me during the draft – Tony Dungy called me. They had me on their radar, I guess. After that first season in Atlanta – that was the first season of Plan B free agency. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever get a real chance in Atlanta, so I took Pittsburgh’s offer and went there. They gave me a good signing bonus as well.
The problem was, I didn’t know about Greg Lloyd and David Little – or Hardy Nickerson and Jerry Olsavsky, Jerrol Williams, Bryan Hinkle and Tyronne Stowe and Tracy Simien. If I had I may have stayed in Atlanta!
God has a funny sense of humor. He sent me to a team with five starters on it – from one bad situation to another!
Any memories stand out of your time in Pittsburgh?
The guy I couldn’t handle – the one I couldn’t stand but also admired was Greg Lloyd. He was so cocky but that joker could play! He played like I played – he didn’t tackle players, he just flew around and hit everybody. Those other guys tackled – but my game emulated Lloyd’s.
My first preseason game I got MVP – I was hitting players every chance I got and made some big hits on special teams. As a free agent, when you get an opportunity you have to make them say your name.
But I got hurt later in the season. I thought it was over for me then. But after the season the coaches called me in and told me they wanted me back for the next season. My foot got better but then Dallas called – Jimmy Johnson and Dave Wannstedt called me. When the head coach and defensive coordinator call you, you know they want you! And their offer was just one I couldn’t turn down.
Any fun memories stand out?
I remember being really angry at Greg – something happened between me and him and I was out drinking with some of the guys and told them I was going to whoop his ass on Monday. I wasn’t scared of him, I told them. I was from North Carolina and we didn’t get scared of anyone!
Well were sitting there – this was a Friday – and the TV is on and there is someone talking about a feature coming up with Greg Lloyd. The feature starts and we all see him in a black gi – his Kung Fu outfit. Then we watched him break all of these boards on TV.
I was in shock. I had no idea – I was thinking “Oh Lord!” The guys all started laughing – they told me it wasn’t real – they were just pumping him up – making him look good. I just saw that though and thought, I could either swallow my pride or get my head cracked in. So I decided to swallow my pride!
Any other good ones?
Jon Kolb – he was the Strength and Conditioning Coach there. Watching him work out was a whole different ball game. He was fair but crazy as a coach!
I remember the first time I saw Federal Street Hill. We got bussed to the stadium and worked out together, then he told us all we were running today. Well we run through the park and get to Federal Street Hill. We’re all looking at each other – we were all already tired. We started up the hill and that was the first time my leg actually froze! My back and legs both locked up – I couldn’t move! I wasn’t the only player like that either.
Well, then Woodson, Lloyd and Lake all run by us. After seeing them I said I’ll get to the top somehow. I got there and there were two smaller hills then the stairs back to the stadium. I wanted to show them that I could do it – that I was close to making the team. I wanted to prove myself. In the locker room all of us undrafted free agents and guys trying to make the team all had this little room – we had to go through a crowd just to get to the locker room! I wanted to prove that I belonged.
Another time we ran Federal Street Hill and Jon Kolb was running with us. But I looked over and he looked tired this time. I’m watching him and all of the sudden he gives out this loud groan: “Haaah!” he yells, then he just took off up the hill. It was incredible. It was like he changed into a different person. No wonder he was such a great player. He was a great coach too – I never saw him treat anyone differently no matter who they were. He treated everyone the same – he didn’t care if you were Rod or Greg – he didn’t show more love to them than anyone else.
Any on-field memories stand out?
My first preseason game agains the Redskins the coaches told us to go out and do our best – we needed to prove ourselves especially on special teams. Well the first kickoff I knocked the heck out of a player and caused a fumble. My third preseason game I had six or seven tackles before I got hurt.
Any thoughts on the way the game has changed since you played?
I see what the NFL is trying to do with concussions and injuries by making practices less physical. I get it. The problem is you can’t expect an athlete to go 40% in practice then 100% in a game. You wonder why guys get hurt more now than they did when we played, I think it’s because they don’t practice the way we did. You have to get your body used to hitting and cutting – I don’t think it’s a benefit to players to practice less. You have to get your body used to what it’ll experience in a game.
Read more by former Steelers via the book Steelers Takeaways: Player Memories Through the Decades. To order, just click on the book:
