By Jim Gehman | Engagement Insider
A quarterback in the league for 11 years with five different teams [Washington, Miami, Houston, Minnesota and the New York Giants], you played in 44 games with a dozen starts. As a competitor, how important was it for you to keep a positive attitude day in and day out?
“Well, I think that was vital for my career success because I was mostly a backup, sort of fighting to be on the roster every year. Being positive did a couple things. One, it kept me in the right mind frame. Every day, because I wasn’t a starter and wanted to be a starter, being positive helped me stay motivated.
“And secondly, being positive showed my teammates and my coaching staff that even though I was a backup most of that time I was still being a positive teammate.”
You were traded a few times during your career. Did you look at those as fresh starts?
“Yeah, but more as opportunities than that somebody didn’t like me. I think it was more of the fact that another team did like me enough to give up something other than just salary for me. A draft pick or something. And every one of those trades; they were a good opportunity to improve my career. So obviously, I was happy that they occurred.”
What did you find most enjoyable about playing in the NFL?
“The relationships with other players and coaches and people within the organizations; the trainers, equipment guys, the people that work in the marketing world, in the business side of it. And the hundreds of relationships that I now have.”
Earlier this year, you co-founded a website about the NFL where articles are written by you and other former players. So you were briefly contributing content for the website. Is writing something you have always been interested in?
“I never really thought of myself as a writer, I never really wrote anything in high school or college or in my time in the league. But when I got done with the league, it’s something that I’ve done a little bit of here and there, and really enjoyed doing. It’s a way to get my thoughts out on paper so others can enjoy them, I guess. Or scrutinize them.
“I wrote my first article for [Sports Illustrated and MMQB.com’s] Peter King a little over a year ago about the 2009 NFC Championship Game with the Vikings and Brett Favre. People really seemed to enjoy that. So I guess it gave me motivation to write more.”
Have you thought about writing a book?
“A lot of people have told me that I should just because of being that I bounced around the league. I got to play for five different organizations, a slew of head coaches and coaching staffs. I played for 13 of the coaches that were running NFL offenses (last season). From Gary Kubiak to Kyle Shanahan to Jason Garrett, Mike Shula, Norv Turner, Scott Linehan. The list seems to go on and on and on with all the guys that I played for while bouncing around.
“And I got the chance to play for Nick Saban, Steve Spurrier, Marty Schottenheimer, Tom Coughlin, to name a few. Not a lot of people have played for Spurrier and Saban. [Laughs]”
After experiencing all of that, have you considered becoming a coach?
“I have. But at least for right now I’ve decided to just be in one spot and enjoy my (three) kids. And have a little more free time to do some traveling and do some other things I didn’t have a chance to really do while I was in college or the pros.”