Jake has found solace in handball
Jake Plummer was always "out there". From his time at Arizona State, to becoming a 2nd round draft pick of the Arizona Cardinals, signing a huge Free Agent deal with the Denver Broncos and his surprise retirement after the 2006 season, Plummer has always walked to the beat of his own drummer. That's why it should come as no surprise that Plummer has stayed as far from the field as possible, choosing instead to populate the handball court instead.
I have always said I thought Jake The Snake was most talented QB to come out of the PAC-10 in the past 25 years. No one did more with less, and Jake alone had the Sun-Devils 90 seconds from a National Championship until Ohio State came back to beat them in the Rose Bowl. Talent was never the issue. Jake simply didn't love football enough to make it his life. What football did provide Jake was the financial stability to go out and do what he does want to do, what he does love, and that's Hand-Ball with his brother, Eric.
"The NFL is so competitive, but it's also a very cutthroat business at times," Plummer said Thursday as he prepared for his first- round doubles match in the U.S. Open of Handball. "I spent 10 years doing a lot of great things, and I wanted to get out before my career ended the way a lot of other people's careers end. I got out because I wanted to play handball and I wanted to do other things.
"I want to play with my kids when they get older. If I had played a few more years, I might not be able to do that. I feel it already, in my knees and my back. Like I said, this sport is not easy, and it brings out all those little ailments that I have. It makes me fully aware of how beat up I got in those 10 years."
Few can argue with Plummer's reasoning. We need look no further than guys like Earl Campbell for reasons why it's a good idea to walk away while you can, well, actually walk way. Many have predicted Plummer would come back, the motivation of competition and $7 million enough to draw him back in. Not this Plummer, he seems happy and content where he is.
"We don't even talk football, so I don't think he misses it," Eric Plummer said. "If he does, he hasn't told me.
"I wasn't surprised (about Jake's retirement), no. I didn't know (in advance), because it's never anything that he shared with me, but I just think he played a long time and it's physically exacting and it takes a toll on your body. I think he just sees the next 30 years of his life and he wants to be able to enjoy that. If you play five or 10 more years of football, you're just going to be that much more beat up."
We all have our personal feelings towards Jake and his time as the quarterback of the Denver Broncos. I, for one, was in favor of the move to Jay Cutler, but I am also in favor of Jake Plummer finding happiness and Plummer simply wasn't happy, nor was he having any fun playing football. If this is what makes Jake happy, good for him, maybe one day Jake can play in the Super Bowl of Handball.