First off, what have you been up to since your time in the NFL?
I’m retired now – I’m permanently disabled and living on a farm in South Carolina. I’m living in the woods near a lake and looking to work on the horticulture here – trying to holistically heal my body. My wife is now in Alabama with my son – I’m here on my own trying to start up a B&B or retreat here.
I’m assuming the injury was football-related?
I broke my neck with the Steelers, yes. I was going to be starting for Tuitt when I hurt my neck in practice before the Hall of Fame game. I was told just recently by my old college roommate who is friends with former players that he heard I was actually targeted by Pouncey there. He had an issue with me for some reason.
Why would he want to do that?
I don’t know why – I was a second-string player in Washington and was always for people – I love people. I always liked but didn’t love football to the extent that I’d lose myself to the game and over-commit myself to it.
But I did get into fights with the linemen there. It was in the papers – I got into a big fight with the offensive line early on in practice and beat the crap out of them. I told the guys there I played for eight teams and I wanted Pittsburgh to be the last one. So I was scratching and clawing to make the team.
I told Jay Ratliff – a good friend of mine – that I wanted to start a show called the Practice All American. I was an All American in college and always practiced with an attitude. But some guys got lazy – got their accolades – and I didn’t respect those guys. I wanted to have a show about how guys practice.
Pouncey and I -and Incognito too- we just didn’t get along. Pouncey would go after my ACL – I was fighting for my life against him.
What did the coaches say about the issues there?
Tomlin had me and James Harrison get up in front of those guys. He asked us both how many teams we played for over our time in the NFL. He told the room there are guys that are dogs – that he tells them to sic ’em – and others he has to say “Whoa” too. He told the room Harrison and I were wolves – that he’s telling us “Whoa” and that they needed to not try us anymore. That we were fighting for our lives.
Tomlin told me he respected me – that I made myself valuable and that I had a chance to start before I got injured.
What brought you to Pittsburgh in the first place?
Philly let me go and Washington picked me up. In Philly I got into an argument with the GM. We were required to wear sleeves in the lunchroom – this was after Chip Kelly got there and ruined everything there. We weren’t allowed to wear black socks either.
Well, I was wearing a jacket at lunch with a wife-beater underneath when the GM came by and told me I was supposed to be wearing sleeves. I told him I was just about done and was wearing a jacket – that I didn’t see the problem but would wear one next time. That’s when Coach Staley came in and told me I was about to make a lot of money and not to blow it – to go and apologize to the GM. But after that I was second-string again.
So I went to DC after that and when I was let go, I went to Pittsburgh. I always wanted to win a Super Bowl. I thought I had a good chance in Philly and with the Colts and felt Pittsburgh would give me a good chance as well.
Did you have other issues with coaches/teams over your career?
No – I kept my mouth shut. The only time I spoke out was in college. I was beaten up by the police – I was on the ground and had never gotten in trouble before when they beat my face in. My college coaches I felt didn’t support me at all and I cussed them out when that happened.
Were there guys in Pittsburgh you did bond with?
One guy was AB {Antonio Brown}. A guy I know no one likes now but I bonded with him. And Dan McCullers – he was a good guy. The Steelers were one of the best organizations to play for over my career. They took care of me – they gave me an opportunity and treated us all like grown men.
What did they tell you when they let you go?
Mike and Kevin {Colbert} – they came to my bedroom and sat down with me. They told me I should pat myself on the back – that I made it this far but had played my last down. My neck was messed up – they told me if I played another down I could be paralyzed. They had no idea how I was able to practice and play like I did up to this point and asked me how I did it. I told them my neck was hurting all week – up until the point I had to stop. Tomlin asked why I didn’t tell him sooner about it but I didn’t realize how bad it was.
What’s the plan now for you?
When you’re on NFL disability you’re limited in what you can do. I would like to bring people back to God and nature – to help people who have been abused and mis-used to nature and help them recuperate. I’d love to create a retreat with maybe 10-to-15 rooms where people can fish, walk in nature and have some shrinks to work with people and offer them some holistic medicine.
You’ve come from a pretty surprising long line of family members who played in the NFL by the way, correct?
60 Minutes had expressed interest in doing a story on us yeah. We’ve had seven members of our family play in the NFL and three who played in Super Bowls. Deion Sanders asked my uncle, Jumpy Geathers, to coach his defensive line. My brother played for the Bengals and I had two cousins who played for the Chargers, Colts and Bengals too. My dad played for the Bills. You hear the names of football families like the Mannings and Matthews, but no one talks about the Geathers. We had four NFL players in one house.
Lastly, what advice would you offer those coming into the NFL, knowing what you experienced?
I’d tell them that when they think something is too big for a higher power or a blessing is the only one you’ll get, to keep steady and pray and know that God wants to be there for you. That you don’t know God’s plan – you have to let him take you where you need to be and find peace in that. Our way is not His way.