First, can you let me know what you’ve bene doing since your playing days?
So, currently I’m the Fitness Director for Onelife Fitness I’ve been there since November of 2018. We went to a new 80,000 square foot facility in 2019.
It’s been an eye-opening experience. Before then I was a personal trainer – I didn’t have any management experience and didn’t have to report to anyone. Now I’m running the facility and learning as I go – it is all thrown at you at the same time. I applied for the Assistant Fitness Director position actually – but they pushed me to this position instead. I guess they saw something they liked!
How was the post-NFL adjustment for you – difficult?
It was pretty good. I coached high school football in Virginia and West Virginia for a while and trained. I still did odd jobs as I was training people – I needed something steady to go with that work.
I did play some semi-pro and arena football after the NFL too. But, I tore up my knee playing in the Arena League and that put my football career on the backburner for good. I’m still healthy now though – I’m actually at the same weight I was when I played receiver at Virginia Tech.
I also got married a year ago in Virginia – right before they began shutting down all of the places there.
How did you end up with the Steelers in ’98?
I started off in camp with the 49ers. They had Rice, Owens and Stokes there and also had two capable backups as well. Their model for receivers then was guys that were 6’1, 6’2″. I knew I was probably not going to make the team, but being there allowed me to see the game differently. Seeing them play the art of one-on-one football – that’s what the NFL is – the best man wins. Watching how Jerry Rice got off the line of scrimmage and his nuanced way of avoiding jams. Terrell Owens was so big no one was jamming him on the line.
After I was cut I went to Tampa and that’s when Pittsburgh called and had me go there. I didn’t really have time to adjust to the playbook and the team though. I went to NFL Europe soon after so didn’t have the chance I needed to learn the playbook and adjust.
Other guys were there learning the playbook and had time to work with the team during OTAs. I needed more time to learn and just didn’t have that opportunity.
Did anyone help you out at all when you got to Pittsburgh?
That was a big difference then between San Francisco and Pittsburgh then. San Francisco had an established group of receivers. They didn’t really have that in Pittsburgh.
David Culley was the receivers coach in Pittsburgh at the time and he just didn’t give the kind of learning experience and mindset they had in San Francisco. Not that I asked for a lot of attention, but he just wasn’t as instructional. Remember too, I was injured and missed most of my Senior season at Virginia Tech so I lost that opportunity to play and learn too.
It was interesting watching Hines Ward develop over the years too. That was his first season too and I didn’t think he would get it either. But a switch turned on for him somehow.
Courtney Hawkins was good to watch. He was a smaller receiver like I was. I could watch him and model some of what he does. Charles Johnson was there too but he was a bigger, more physical guy.
What were you able to get out of that NFL Europe experience?
In NFL Europe there were players that played pro football. There wasn’t much of a dropoff from the NFL players – there was some but not a lot. Many of them went on to have very good careers in the NFL. Like Jake Delhomme – he was my quarterback in Frankfurt. It was a great experience. Playing against guys like that broadened my horizons and helped me to elevate my game.
Any good memories of your time in Pittsburgh – especially those practice squad matchups?
On the practice squad I would model the other teams’ offense. A lot of what we did was one-on-one matchups to show our defense what other offenses were doing. Guys wouldn’t go one-hundred percent unless they start getting beaten. I lined up against Carnell Lake almost every day. That was fun going up against a dominant player like that. It showed me I could play in the NFL. I never doubted that – I just needed an opportunity to adjust.
In fact Tim Lewis pulled me aside and asked me how fast I was. He asked because I played that fast in practice. That stood out to me – that I could impress him going up against the number ones.
Any other fun memories?
I had a run-in with Levon Kirkland. I was running a crossing route in practice and there he was. We were wearing our skeleton pads and he just nipped me. I ran across his face and they were supposed to bump us off our routes. He just nipped me but it felt like he knocked the crap out of me he was so big!
Another good memory was there were all those rumors about Kordell. I didn’t care about them either way. But it got to a point that he felt he needed to give a speech to the entire team about it. He talked to all of us for a while, then in the end he said something that made everyone laugh. He said he believed in Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. Guys laughed then and it kind of broke the tension. No one cared at the time about that stuff anyway. I had the sense that no matter what, guys felt he was our brother and they’d protect him no matter what the case.
Do you watch the NFL today – are you a Steelers or San Francisco fan now?
I watch San Francisco, and the Steelers mostly. I follow them most of all. After experiencing the black and gold and that town and those fans – that town won me over.
Even as a Hokie – Pitt rival?
Ha yeah! Pittsburgh had two Hokies on the team – the Edmunds brothers!
That’s my story. A lot of people don’t know I played football at first. I’m quiet about it – I never walked around like I ran the world. But once I start talking about it, it’s hard for me to stop!
Read more by former Steelers via the book Steelers Takeaways: Player Memories Through the Decades. To order, just click on the book:
