By Jim Gehman, Engagement Insider
St. Louis’ first round draft choice in 2007, you played for the Rams and Washington Redskins before tearing the quad muscles in your right leg on two separate occasions. Three surgeries followed that, and you haven’t played since the second week of the 2012 season.
Has everything gone well with your rehab? Any setbacks?
“Early on there were some frustrations, but that can be part of a rehab process. It depends on how good the trainers are that you’re working with. I ended up going to the (Dr, James) Andrews Institute (for Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine in Gulf Breeze, Florida). And once I started working with them, some quality trainers, I was able to recover real well. I feel good that I’m fully able.”
You were able to take part in the NFL’s recent Veteran Combine in Phoenix, Arizona.
“The Veteran Combine was a great opportunity. Especially for someone like myself. I was very excited. It gave guys an opportunity to show what they can do. A lot of the guys who were there hadn’t played in a while. And I know a lot of times, teams look at guys like that or like us and they’re like, well, we know who they are and we don’t need to see them anymore unless we want to specifically bring them in.
“From what I understand, agents hound GMs all the time. So basically, of the 2,000 applicants, they narrowed it down to the 105 guys. The Veteran Combine streamlined a lot of that process for the agents and the GMs. It gave them an opportunity to look at guys today. Because you’re always either getting better or you’re getting worse. You never stay the same. It’s impossible.”
Being one of the 105 players selected to participate; right there you beat the odds. Did you take that as a good sign?
“It was a great opportunity. Everybody needs an opportunity, but you need to be seen. To get that opportunity was definitely a good sign and I was excited.”
How do you feel that you did?
“I felt like I did pretty well. I mean, you always feel like you can do better. You always feel like it could have gone worse. That’s just being a competitor.”
Have you heard from any teams since the Combine?
“There have been some talks. There has been interest from multiple teams. We’ll just have to see what happens.”
Worst-case scenario and it doesn’t happen. What’s next for you?
“Growing up you’d have career day and I would always write pro athlete. At the time it was either football or baseball. The teachers would always make me change it to something else. They’d tell me the odds and whatnot. And then when I get to college, I’m on scholarship to Nebraska, general studies for the first two years. After two years you have to declare (your major).
“I remember calling my dad, ‘I have to declare. I have no idea. I can’t bide more time with general studies.’ We go back and forth and he’s like, ‘You really have no idea what you’d like?’ And I say, ‘No.’ It was pretty much now just (going to be a career in) football for me. That’s all I ever thought about.
“He said, ‘Well, just go where the money is, which is in business.’ That was fine with me. And it was funny. I found out within business, there’s business administration, business marketing, business management, all this other business stuff. So I asked, ‘What’s the broadest thing you have?’ Which is business administration. So I ended up going into that. I’ve never really had anything that I had a passion for like I have for football or competition.
“And then the other thing, which is a logical step, is coaching football someday. For me, most likely, I would like to take a high school job. Simply because my high school [Kennewick, WA] coach [Warren Hull] was huge for me. I wouldn’t be where I’m at today without him. I kind of see myself helping kids the way that he did.
“Our team wasn’t very good in high school. We didn’t win any games (my senior year). And Pasco, across the (Columbia) river from us, was the state champs. They went undefeated. They put two guys into college. We put three. It was all about what our coach was willing to do for us. So I kind of see myself helping young men in their future, their lives, and obviously, getting to coach football.”
Through no fault of your own, your NFL career hasn’t gone the way you would have hoped. But you still did play in the league. Many can’t say that.
“Yeah, I have seven credited seasons. I started almost all of it. I just had the injuries. It’s interesting because a lot of people ask me, ‘Why don’t you just walk away? You played seven years. You were a first round pick.’
“I’ve always compared it to a person that will fall in love with someone. You can’t help who you fall in love with. A lot of times they fall in love with someone they don’t even like in the end, but they love them. Well, I like football, but I can’t help what my heart’s doing right now. Its saying you’ve got to give everything you can. You’ve got to try to play again. It just beats that every day. Kind of how I feel it beating for my wife and my kids.
“And I think what feeds that is when you go down to the Andrews Institute. I’m doing speed and agility drills with defensive backs and I’m beating them a third of the time. And they’re 100 pounds less than me. And then I walk into the weight room and there are some big, strong dudes that are there. They’re not all rehabbing. A lot of them just work out there year round. Some of them are All-Pros and things of that nature, and I walk in there and I’m the strongest guy in the room. So it’s just that I know I can still play this game. I just need an opportunity.”