First, can you let us know what you’ve been doing since your time in the NFL?
Well, I’ve been volunteering here in Dallas at a private school for the last five years as an offensive consultant and quarterback coach. It’s the same school that Troy Aikman’s kids go to.
After the NFL I tried to figure out what I could do to make some money. When I’d go back and forth from Iowa to Dallas, I noticed the franchises that were there in Iowa and saw new ones opening up. I didn’t see any Wingstops in Iowa though, though I did see them in Dallas. I knew Troy Aikman was a spokesperson for them, so I reached out to him and asked him about the franchise. He told me he didn’t own any franchises but liked the brand, and put me in touch with the CEO. A few months later I was offered the territory in Iowa and now have three franchises in the Ames and Des Moines areas.
How has your NFL experience – especially as a former quarterback – helped you as a franchise owner?
Just like in the NFL, you have to have good leadership an discipline. You have to manage your employees, which is difficult for me as an absentee owner in a sense – since I’m in Dallas managing the Iowa territories. Just like managing and leading others on the field, I have to lead my manager, who is like my quarterback.
So let’s talk Seattle and the Super Bowl. How do you remember your team preparing for that game?
We knew their defense would be a challenge for us. And we figured their offense would rely on the run with a young quarterback. We thought that with our strong offensive line and the NFL MVP in Shaun Alexander, that we’d be able to run the ball pretty well.
We felt we had a great gameplan going in. We challenged ourselves to find a plan that would work. With our stud offensive line we felt we would be able to run the ball. We just had to find a scheme that could beat their 3-4 defense. They beat us on one big run and a double-pass, and we had some bad calls that didn’t go our way. We got screwed by the refs. We had touchdowns taken back and they were given a touchdown when Ben never got the ball over the goal line, but they called it a touchdown. And it being in Detroit – it was like a home game for Pittsburgh too.
You were traded to Cleveland after a long stay in Seattle – what were your thoughts on that trade?
I was in Seattle for seven years – I just wanted to be able to compete for a starting job. Mike Holmgren drafted me in Seattle so he brought me in to Cleveland and wanted me to compete. It didn’t matter to me where I went, I just wanted to show the world what I could do if given a chance.
How did Cleveland differ from Seattle?
Cleveland was difficult – it was struggling to find an identity – and really is still struggling to do so. The grass isn’t always greener – Lerner sold the team year three. It was dysfunctional before then and still was after I left. It just didn’t have an identity.
Why was that?
It’ about leadership. It starts from the GM to the president to the coaches. Winning takes time and you need good leadership to make it happen.
When you look at other teams in the conference, they are all known for their defense. Baltimore and Pittsburgh – and Cincinnati had a few good years too. The Browns weren’t known for defense – that wasn’t their identity – they were historically bad for so long. Kitchens tried to make their identity about offense with Mayfield and OBJ – that helped them sell tickets and get fans in the seats. But they still have to win games and stop from being seen as a bottom of the barrel team.
How as a quarterback did you try to influence Cleveland’s identity when you were there?
I tried to bring some consistency to the team. Jake Delhomme was there too – he was a bit long in the tooth by that time – he and I challenged each other for the starting job. I tried to change the culture – I tried to show them a strong work ethic and the right way to prepare – and hoped it would be contagious throughout the team. You can see the list of quarterbacks that started in Cleveland over the years – it was endless. I tried to change that culture. But I got hurt, Jake got hurt…so I never got to do it really.
Any good memories of those Steelers-Browns games?
I remember when we played Pittsburgh near the end of the season. Josh Cribbs needed 10 catches to get his one-million dollar bonus. I told him I was going to force-feed passes to him all game if I got a cut of the million! I didn’t care what the cut was. It was windy, sleeting and snow… I threw him hitch routes, smoke routes – and he got 11 catches that game – the most he ever had in one game. We almost won the game.
I also remember when we played Pittsburgh – Colt McCoy was starting because I had gone out with a high ankle sprain. He got knocked out of the game after a big hit by James Harrison and I came in. This was near the end of the game and it was still close. I came in off the bench and drove us to the Steelers’ eight yard line and Colt came back in. He got sacked, threw an incomplete pass than an interception. Pittsburgh then drove down the field and scored and closed out the game.
Both of those games were exciting – those were the kinds of games that helped show what I could do when I was given a chance.
It’s funny. Both teams could be 2-8 but they will still be physical games. They come down to the team that makes the least mistakes. But, they still don’t have the same feeling as the Baltimore and Cincinnati games though.