First off, what have you been up to since your playing days?
Well, I retired in January of 2001 and I’m here now in Atlanta. I’m married and living the dream. My goal was to retire and not have to work after football – I wanted to set my family up after football and that’s what I was able to do.
Now I’m doing some golfing, camping, horseback riding and riding my Harley every now and then and going to bike rallies!
How difficult was the transition to post-NFL life?
It wasn’t difficult for me – I know it is for some guys. I was ready – I was worn out. I signed with Dallas after my year with the Titans but after a week I just was too worn out.
But I don’t miss it, except in July, it still feels a little weird when I was so used to being in training camp. But I was ready to call it quits. I had a good nine years.
You were a terrific athlete leading into college including a great basketball player. Why did you choose football?
Basketball was and still is my favorite sport. I was pretty good but I was the tallest guy on my high school team and played center. In college I would have probably played guard. I had decent ball-handling skills and a decent shot, but I would have had to work a lot on my skills. I could have gone and played at a smaller school, but I enjoyed football a lot too.
You also played so many different positions well in high school – safety, receiver, special teams….what made you settle on receiver?
Tennessee recruited me as a receiver – that’s what I wanted to do most. I never thought I’d play safety there but the starter and backup got hurt, and Tennessee knew I had played safety in high school. They had veteran receivers too so I wasn’t getting many snaps there anyway and really wasn’t as ready to play on offense. It was easier for me to transfer to defense at the start.
Once the older receivers moved on the following season – guys like Alvin Harper – it was my time to step in as the X receiver. That made a way for me to step in.
Were you aware of the Steelers rivalry as a rookie – what is your first memory of that rivalry?
The Steelers were my favorite team growing up. I had family in Canonsburg and we’d go there every Summer. I had a Lynn Swann jersey and always followed him.
Once I got into the league I heard about the rivalry day one. For some reason we played great against the Steelers. We may have lost by 30 points the prior week, but we stepped up our game when we played them. Things just clicked for us in those games.
How did you and the team prepare for those games?
We knew those guys were physical – Lloyd, Lake, Woodson, Perry….the secondary was loaded. We had to stay focused and know the adjustments. Cowher coached them well – we knew we had to be ready. Wednesdays and Thursdays we placed more emphasis on detail. You knew that week you had to be locked in. I can’t explain why it clicked more for us in those games.
What matchups did you most enjoy or hate and way?
There weren’t any individual ones. They were physical and aggressive -they were ballhawks that gang-tackled and ran to the ball. I remember one year we went there and it was like 10 degrees. We looked across the field and saw Greg Lloyd standing there in a cut-off t-shirt with no hat on, just arms crossed staring at us. We were freezing – in sweaters and turtle necks. I just turned to Tony McGee and told him “We’re in a world of trouble today!”
But all of those guys could hit. You had to be ready. Woodson was one of the best – he could run, and if he didn’t hit you, Carnell Lake would.
You played with a lot of fire as I remember it – did the Steelers trash talk or egg you on to try to provoke you?
The trash-talking was high! It is a competitive game and you want to stand your ground. Once the trash-talk starts it makes you want to make a big play or big block. That’s when you really want to live up to the billing.
I don’t know if the trash-talking was motivated to bother me. Usually it’s just figuring out the play, then someone says something and there’s a scuffle. “Getting chippy” they call it now, which drives me crazy. What the hell is chippy? But the trash-talking – that part motivated me to make big-time plays. You have to play with that edge.
How difficult was it leaving the Bengals for Tennessee your final season?
It wasn’t difficult at all. I was there for eight years and we were continuing to go in the wrong direction. There were coaching changes and players going in and out but it wasn’t translating into wins. I wanted to play somewhere else with a chance to win.
I finished the 1999 season and was on a driving range there in Cincinnati. A guy came up to me and said he heard the Bengals were going to draft Peter Warrick. I said, “Ah ok, oh well. We’ll see – if they do I guess I’m done!” Well they did, and I was!
Were you upset?
At the time the most games we ever won was nine. It was hard to stay positive. I was frustrated – I wanted to win and be proud of going to work every week. You want all of that hard work to pay off. I think for the most part players stayed positive and focused, it just wasn’t our time to shine.
There were other issues taking place that I’m not smart enough I guess to comment on. I can’t say what they should have done – it just wasn’t working.
Did that “Carl Pickens Clause” influence that at all? What was behind that?
When my contract was up I met with Mike Brown and we talked specifics about the following season – what they were going to do to bring in players to help the team. But none of that happened. I voiced my opinion on that and that’s where all of that happened. I didn’t think I bashed the team – I just was discussing my idea of what I thought was supposed to happen and the fact they didn’t uphold their end of the bargain.
You see a lot of players – especially receivers – today who are more outspoken – do you feel you were singled out on that then?
I don’t think it’s just receivers. I think in any position you want to be competitive. As a receiver your job is to make plays, and if they are telling you that you need to make big plays to make big bucks, well, if that’s the case, they need to put you in a position to do that.
For me, if you tell me you are going to do this or that, you can’t just change your mind. If you do, guys have the right to say “Hey, why did this change?” I just think that’s a part of it.
Lastly, what are your thoughts on the NFL and the Steelers-Bengals rivalry today?
I watch here from Atlanta – the Steelers are still one of my favorite teams and I watch them and the Bengals. It’s interesting – the Steelers are well-coached and find ways to win. The Bengals continue to have their struggles – they have a great quarterback in Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase is fantastic – they have some good guys.
I do think it’s easier to play now with the rule changes. It’s made it easier for players to stay healthy.
I think the abilities of today’s players though has fallen by the wayside. I wonder how some of these guys got to this level – it’s a different game now. You look at some of the players and their fundamentals – they just aren’t there as much. I watch with my wife and we talk about it- “Why isn’t this guy high-pointing that catch? Why isn’t he breaking when he finishes his route?” I wonder who’s teaching them because they are often not running good routes. There’s a lot of good players but it’s disappointing. We were coached harder and differently then.
Game recognizes game. I can watch a guy and notice right away if he’s running good routes and putting himself in the position to make plays. Someone can look good at the combine but don’t have the fundamentals – they don’t come back to the ball, things like that. To be 30 years younger! I don’t look for it now, but it was a different time then!