First off, what have you been up to since your playing days?
Now, I’m teaching algebra in the Virginia Beach school system. I got my degree in property management. After the NFL I did that in Ohio for a little bit then moved to Virginia Beach. The real estate market was bad then so going into teaching was easier.
How difficult was that post-NFL transition for you?
It wasn’t easy for me. It wasn’t real bad, but I just had to figure out what where I wanted to be next. Football was what I knew. Now I had to figure out if I should go into something different.
I got hurt too – so I didn’t leave football on my own accord. I fractured my neck so finding my own way was a struggle.
How did you get injured?
I was with the Giants at the time. I was picked up by them after Pittsburgh. They liked me but I had no game experience so they wanted to send me to NFL Europe. I didn’t want to go at first – I wanted to stay with the team. But I eventually went, and in the last game of the season there I was tackled, and as I was tackled I got hit on my head and my head got pushed straight down. I was worried when I got up but I was ok and finished the game.
A few days later I noticed my arm was getting stiff. I saw the doctor and got an MRI but they couldn’t see anything. It got worse so I went back and got a CAT scan. They found a fracture in my neck – they said the kind you only get in a car accident or doing what I do. I told him I remembered the exact hit that caused it.
The fracture occurred at the odontoid process in my neck. They told me that if it broke they other direction I could have been paralyzed. But all I needed was to rehab and wear a neck brace.
Were you surprised to get drafted by the Steelers?
I had no idea the Steelers had interest. I wasn’t sure I’d even get drafted. Near the end of the draft Denver called and said that they wanted to sign me if I didn’t get drafted and offered me a $20,000 signing bonus. But all of the sudden I got a call from the Steelers and they asked how it felt to be a Steeler? I told them “I’m ready!” But it caught me off guard.
Did anyone take you under their wing at all when you got there?
One person did that was a bit out of the norm since he played a very different position. Joey Porter helped me. When I got there I did exactly what the coaches told me to do, but it wasn’t my game. They wanted me to run like Jerome Bettis – that just wasn’t me. I tried to do that and ended up on the practice squad.
But when I was on the practice squad I decided I was just going to run with the style I was most accustomed to. When I did that Porter came up to me and asked me where that guy was during camp. The defense was watching practice film and asked who that guy was. He told me that the coaches want to do what’s best for the team but that I had to do what was best for me too and do what got me there.
But soon after that I ended up pulling my hamstring and got cut.
What do you think caught the teams’ eyes enough to land you on the practice squad?
For a while I just couldn’t believe I was even there and I think that hurt me at first. But I hustled and had a good preseason game – scored a touchdown from the two yard line – pushed my way in. I think that caught their attention. I was also a good third down blocking back and caught on to things quickly.
Any fun moments stand out to you most of your time there?
I remember being in the cafeteria in Latrobe and the rookies having to stand on the tables and sing. Most sang school fight songs but I got up and sang Usher’s “Nice and Slow”. Everyone stopped eating and started singing along with me!
What happened that caused your release?
I pulled my hamstring and after my rehab was done the Steelers released me. They told me that that was how it would play out in advance.
That’s when Verron Haynes got hurt. They were ready to bring me up to replace him when I hurt my hamstring.
That probably hurt more than the hamstring pull.
Yeah – I think it did!
Do you think sometimes it would have been better to go somewhere of your own choosing rather than having been drafted that late and having no choice?
I understand the idea of it. The fact that the guy Denver signed in free agency instead of me – Mike Bell – had a good season that year in Denver. I think about things like that. I could have possibly gone somewhere else, no gotten injured and play well – or it could have still not worked out at all. No one knows how different it could have been. But it was all in place for me in Pittsburgh – I just got hurt.
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