Jimmy Spencer

His high school is known for having one of the best programs in the nation and producing more NCAA and NFL players than any other high school. Needless to say, there were no “off” days for Jimmy Spencer at Glades Central in Florida, which was fine because Jimmy knew he wanted to play in the NFL since he was 7.

He had his choices of colleges and was being looked at as simply an athlete. He played quarterback at Glades Central, but his speed caught the eye of scouts. Jimmy opted for the University of Florida and skipped his senior season to enter the NFL Draft.

The Washington Redskins took Jimmy in the 8th round and he spent his rookie season on the practice squad. The next season, he was with the Saints, where he was taught technique and thrived at defensive back. He also thrived at having too much fun and when he was given a chance to re-sign in the Big Easy, he credits God for showing him a different path. He took an offer with the Bengals instead.

After Cincinnati, he went to the Chargers, then finished his career with the Broncos for three years, including the final year serving as a player/coach, something that hadn’t been done since 1972. These days he’s a husband and dad to four and coaches one of his sons at Cherry Creek High School.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
I was getting in my car inthe garage and I was heading to hang
out with a couple of fellows.Before I was trying to open the door,
and I heard this voice kept tellingme to go back in the house.
And I kept looking around in mygarage and I'm looking around, like,
Wow, it's someone in my garage. And I heard this voice loud
and clear, but I tried toget in my car, couldn't get in
it. Heard the vorce again.And then on the third time when I

(00:22):
heard the voice, I just wentback in the house and I put my
keys down in my house by myself, looking around, and I sat down,
and then all of a sudden,I just started weeping and crying.
And then I said, well,Lord, you have to get me out
of New Orleans. Welcome to CutTraded, Fired Retired, a weekly podcast
featuring conversations with professional athletes and coachesin a variety of sports. My hope

(00:45):
is you'll hear a strategy or aperspective for your own life on how to
handle stepbacks and move forward, aswell as enjoy some fun stories. I'm
your host, Susie Wargen. Anotherone of my goals is to bring stories
to lighte from athletes that made animpact, whether it be on the field
or off. This episode's guest didjust that while he was playing, and
continues to do so in retirement.Jimmy Spencer grew up in Florida and attended

(01:08):
a high school that produced some incrediblehigh level athletes. There was no room
for slouching. From high school,he went to the University of Florida and
passed up on his senior year toenter the NFL Draft. He was picked
by Washington in the eighth round andplayed on the practice squad his rookie season.
From there, he went to theSaints, where Jim mora junior's son,
was his DB's coach and taught himthe technique he needed to have a

(01:32):
career that would span over a decade. New Orleans was a bit too much
for Jimmy, and he thanks Godfor showing him the way out and on
to other teams, including the Bengals, Chargers, and eventually the Broncos,
where he played for a few years, and then Mike Shanahan asked him to
be a player coach in his finalseason, something no player had done since
nineteen seventy two. In retirement,Jimmy's dad to four, including twins in

(01:56):
high school, one of whom hecoaches at Cherry Creek High School and Gentlemen.
Jimmy Spencer Cut Traded, Fired,Retired podcast with Susie Wargen. Jimmy
Spencer, I'm doing wonderful, goodgood. I didn't know you were in
town. You're on the staff withCherry Creek High School. Yes, And

(02:16):
I just kind of pillaged from Davelike people that he knows, and I'm
like, oh, Jimmy Spencer's there. Can I have his contact info?
So you spent good three four seasonswith the Broncos. Yes, I want
to say three because I'm retired thebeginning of four. Okay, so from
two thousand to two thousand and three, okay, all right. But you

(02:37):
were kind of a journeyman through theNFL, so I'm excited to hear some
of your stories. You were justalways that solid guy that was there.
But you just kind of had tokeep going, didn't you. Yeah,
I had to. You know,the NFL is a business, so they're
making business decisions for the team,and I understand it didn't take it personal.
So I had to make business decisionsfrom my family. Oh. Absolutely,

(02:57):
Yeah, all right, we'll getinto that. Let's go way back
to your very beginnings. You're bornin Manning, South Carolina. Yes,
man in South Carolina. My motheris from Manning and my father is from
Florida, so they met at AllenUniversity. I was born there and then
I moved when I was two yearsold to Florida. So I grew up
in Florida and played high school ballat a high school at Glad Central,

(03:19):
Heigh Central. There. Yes,a lot of things come out of there,
right, athletes Tonio Homes, FredTaylor, Rido, Anthony. Oh,
it's a lot of stuff. GatorWater, Yes, yes, yes,
yeah, I mean there's some serioustalent that's come out of your high
school. It's like abnormally crazy.Yes. And also the rivalry, our

(03:45):
rivalry team which was Puhochy High whichand they called the Mug Bowl when we
play against each other. That wason ESPN. And you have players like
Ricky Jackson, Hall of Fame,Andre Waters and Kwan Bolden. A lot
of talent down there, serious talent. There a lot of competition going on.
There was competition is unbelievable. Andwhen you're playing with guys that are

(04:05):
so great you just can't practice andthen all of a sudden go home and
don't do anything else. All thetime you have to be working on your
craft because guys are so good.I mean, it's just it's amazing,
you know, when you're playing atthat competition and down there, if you're
not good enough, they cut you. You just can't be on the team
because you never get on the fieldbecause the level of play is just it's

(04:27):
amazing. Were people moving there specificallyto be on those teams? I mean,
you obviously moved there when you weretwo, so it wasn't like it
was something that you did. Butwas it that kind of a draw for
that area or was it was itwas just that loaded with talent. I
mean it's a small town and wewere a small three A high school,
but we play against five A,six A, seven A and we beat

(04:48):
them because of the talent level.It was just a talent level. And
in a sense, it's kind oflike Cherry Creek. We used to win
and we know how to win,you know what I mean, So winning
breeds winning. Yeah, that's howit goes in the mindset. That's the
key. The mindset. If weknow we're gonna win. We know we're
good, and you pass it downto the young guys and then even guys
from the NFL. We would comeback in the summertime and then at five

(05:10):
o'clock in the evening, everybody wouldmeet out to school. We would run
seven on seven, we would teachtechniques. So this was going on with
high school, college and pro players. Oh my goodness. Yeah. So
when you were in high school,was football it or did you play any
other sports or did you have tojust play football all the time like you
said, hone your craft? Well, I played three sports for four years.
I played football, played basketball,and ran track. Oh good for

(05:30):
you, Yeah, all four years. What did you play in basketball?
I was a two guard shoot imaginethat. And then in track sprinter sprinter
meters, two hundred meters, fourby one relay. My fastest time was
a four to three five in theone hundred meters and the two hundred meters
was like twenty one eight. Geezme. Yeah, but that twenty one

(05:55):
eights you're not going to state really? Yeah? Because of the talent again,
it went into other sports, right, Yeah, these guys were running
twenty one flats, twenty one onetwenty point nine. Wow. Even my
ten three five I ran, Iwon that meet. But other than that,
I mean that gets you maybe fifthto sixth place in the state.

(06:18):
Wow. Yeah, and then youmight know you make the state if it
was in Texas, right, well, in Florida's huge. Texas is really
huge. Yeah. For track,it's oh yeah. I can't even imagine
the level of talent. It's ridiculoushow fast these guys are in high school.
I mean, it blows my mind. So when you were in high
school, when did you know thatfootball maybe your next gateway to going to

(06:40):
college. Did you have aspirations ofgoing to the NFL as well? I
did. I've known since I wasseven years old, and I should tell
people that, and you know thatI was going and people thought I was
crazy. I told them, Isaid, there's guys ahead of me that's
from my high school that have doneit, so you know I had examples
ahead of me. I'll I playedquarterback in high school. Oh, did
you? I was starting quarterback.Really didn't want to play quarterback. I

(07:02):
wanted to play wide receiver. Butmy head coach brought me in and told
me, he said, what Jimmy, I know, you don't want to
play quarterback, but I want theball to touch your hands first and then
you could do whatever you want todo after that. So I was like,
wow, okay, I guess I'mplaying quarterback. That's a pretty cool
responsibility. That's a cool way toput that. Yeah. When he put
it that way, the light bullwent off and I was like okay.

(07:24):
And then you know, so Istarted at quarterback. I led Palm Beache
County and passing my eleventh grade year, my twelfth grade year, and then
if we paid a team that hada very good receiver, so I would
go to corner and cover him.And then sometime I played safety as well.
Okay, so both sides of theball. Quarterback unless you got a
real good receiver. But I didn'tplay all the time. But if we

(07:44):
played a team that was really goodand had a very good receiver, so
I would follow him all over thefield, you know, so that's just
play man on him and yeah,okay, else you do your thing.
So that's where you kind of gotthe taste then of being a dB.
Yes, you go to Florida,which is where you went for college.
Did you check out other schools?Did you do your five visits or was

(08:05):
it yes, I did. Itwas University of Florida. It was Ohio
State, University of Miami, Clemsonbecause Danny Ford came down to my house.
Jimmy Johnson was at University of Miami. My mother was an elementary school
teacher. So he flew the helicopterfrom Miami and landing on the kids playground.
That was yea. He flew inhis University of Miami helicopter and had

(08:31):
paper and stuff flying everywhere and landedon the elementary school, my mother's elementary
elementary school. So did she thenwant you to go to Miami or was
that a little much? Well,she was like she left it up to
me, but she was like,wow, they really wanted you. I
was like, yeah, they reallydo. That's impressive. And I was
back in the nineties when they werewinning those national championships. But I decided

(08:52):
to go to University of Florida justbecause they pretty much had the pipeline from
my high school because there was LoisAlliver was there and Roddey Weston, which
was the All American detacker, andWilli Schnee's father, you remember really Sneed.
Oh yeah, I played with theSaints, and then it was just
this past year he was with theforty nine ers. So his father was

(09:13):
a very good wide receiver at myhigh school and his father was at the
University of Florida as well, soit felt very comfortable for you. Yeah.
Yeah, so that's why I decidedthe sign of in euros of Florida.
And how far over away was Gainesville? From your hometown? Gainesville was
four and a half hours again inColorado, were used to, you know,
a couple hours get you anywhere atthe most? Yes, Florida Texas.

(09:35):
Man, it's like you go hoursand hours and you're still in the
same state. Yes, yes,So from my hometown to Florida state was
about seven hours. And then whatabout to Miami if you'd gone my man,
was hour and a half Okay,so it was much closer, much
closer. Hence the reason the helicoptercould make it there to the elementary school.
I know, he took a helicopterfor an hour and a half flight.

(09:58):
That is so far. So tellme a little bit about your time
then at Florida. Did you loveit? I know you stayed for three
years and then opted out your lastyear. Yeah, I really, I
really loved it. I really enjoyedit. Did they start you with quarterback
or were you all? You know, most of the teams were looking at
me as an athlete to come inas a wide receiver because back then,
you know, a lot of teamswere not looking to sign an African American

(10:22):
quarterback that was five eleven, youknow what I mean. So Russ came
away after your time. Yeah,I move it to the rough rest era.
So so they wasn't taking quarterbacks thatshort and the African American quarterback.
So, like I said, Iplayed wide receiver cornerback, so I was
an athlete. So they took meas an athlete. And but the first

(10:45):
couple of years I really didn't playat corner. So I started playing wide
receiver when I first went there.And then one of the safeties, which
was from my hometown, Louis Oliver, were out there practicing and he said,
Buddy, he said, man,come on this side of the ball
and just track corner. I say, but I'm a wide receiver. He
said, just try it out.And I tried it out, and next
thing you know, I'm playing cornerback. And I stayed on that side of

(11:07):
the ball, really what you likebetter? I know he said you liked
shooting the ball, so I'm assumingas a wide receiver you loved catching the
ball. I loved catching the ball, but I wasn't really getting a shot
at wide receiver. But I hada chance to get on the field as
a cornerback, so I said,well, let me stay on the side
of the ball now and maybe Iget a shot. But I got caught

(11:28):
up in what I called the numbersgame where they kept changing coaches. So
a new coach come in and he'dhave his guys and he'll put guys ahead
of me. And then my senioryear, my last year, Steve Spurry's
first year, oh that was hisfirst year. Was last year, my
last year. So that staff camein after the first practice. The defensive
coordinator name was Jim Bates. Healso was the defense coordinator for the Dolphins.

(11:50):
So after he called me and hesaid, Jim, I have no
idea what happened to you, whatyou did and what he said, but
I don't know why they weren't playingyou here. He said, this is
amazing, man, how fast andquick you are. And I said,
Coach, I didn't do anything.I just you know how they when coaches
have their own guys that they wantto play and his guy, yeah,
this guy. So he's like,oh wow, yeah, so he said,

(12:13):
man, you're the starter, andthat one year I just took off
from there and they said I wasn'tgoing to get drafted. I got drafted
in the eighth round to the WashingtonRedskins by Joe Gibbs, and the newspapers
was calling me like crazy and theywere just blown away. Isn't that amazing
though? How one person and Ijust chatted with Ebenezer Ecuban about this.

(12:33):
We were talking about if you're notsomebody's guy. He wasn't Bill Parcell's guy
in Dallas, and so things justwent to hell in a handbag because he
wasn't his guy. But then allof a sudden, he was a guy
for somebody, you know, atthe next team. So it's just interesting.
You you haven't changed as an athlete, right right, just in better
graces. Yeah, and you knowpolitics is in there in everything. Oh

(12:58):
and it's like, hey, thisis my guy. I want my guy,
whether you better than him or not. But you know, like everydisa
said, there's another guy that's lookingat you as well, and he knows
talent, and hey, he's gonnaplay the best guys. I just had
to be patient and keep competing,and whenever I got my chance, just
take off like I did. Andwhile I looked at frustrating, enough of

(13:18):
them, move around enough to wherethe chances are a guy that knew you
when is going to be over here, and then all of a sudden you're
going to be his guy. Yeah, which is great. So you mentioned
you get drafted in the eighth roundin the nineteen ninety one draft. You
forego your senior year. That firstyear with Washington. You weren't active,
were you. No, they hadme on the practice squad the whole year.

(13:39):
And also I was on that samepractice squad with Keenan McCardell, so
we were on that together. Andactually we went to the Super Bowl against
the Buffalo Bills in Minnesota. Anddid you get to go as a practice
squad player? They took us.They gave us forty tickets. Yay,
wow, Yeah, but they wouldn'tlet us stand on the sideline, so
we had to sit up in thestand. Was like okay, and we

(14:01):
won, but they didn't give usa Super Bowl ring. You didn't get
a super Bowl ring and you wentup against those guys all the time in
practice. Yes, and they hadto slow me down in practice because I
was saying back a little bit.Yeah, because my forty time was a
four two six. Yeah, Iwas extremely wow, seemly flash. And
you didn't get rings. The fiveplayers on that practice squad, they did

(14:22):
not get us rings. And WilbertMarshall, which was the outside linebacker at
the time that was there. Hefought really hard for us and he was
trying to get us rings, soI thank him for that. But no,
they didn't give us rings. Wow. Yeah. And that was Joe
Gibbs, the original Hogs oh instinctwas on that ring, was on that
test was on that team as well, so that's where I met him at.

(14:43):
But no, we didn't get rings. Oh and you help them.
Yeah, I tell you to do. Talk about being a practice squad player,
especially since you were that for thewhole season. Yes, that's a
grind. A you're glad to bethere, be on the squad. You
get most of the benefits. Youdon't get as much of a paycheck,
not close, not CD, Andit is a grind. You're not just
standing around doing anything. You're you'regoing up against the ones all the time

(15:05):
and trying to emulate what the otherteam's going to be like for them that
coming weekend. Yes, and itstarts in special team as well. Yes,
So you're on the special teams,you're running down on kickoff, you
on the return, like you said, you know, you're showing to look
for those guys. And then whenfirst team defense is up, you're a
wide receiver, you know. Andthen when the first team offense is up,
you're a cornerback. So you're goingNonStop. You know, you might

(15:28):
get a drink here and there,and they might take you out one play,
maybe too many. It was wayback before the cbas. You got
way before no water and no water. Let's not talking about the training camps
too. A day's full gear,hitting every single day, full gear,
two days for six weeks. It'sbrutal, brutal. Where'd Washington have their
training camp? Then? Do youremember? It was in some part of

(15:50):
Virginia back then, somewhere hot,right, it was human and hot.
But you know what I was usedto, the humid it I grew up
And that's true. So that's true. You got that big. Yeah.
Yeah, I grew up in Florida, went to Gainesville where it was hot.
Yeah. All right, So oneyear with Washington and then for the
ninety two season, you're with theSaints. What happened in that transition?

(16:11):
Did you get released? No?They wanted to sign me back, but
be honest, I was a littlesalty with them because they didn't play me
and you didn't get it rid rightand I didn't get it ring. So
I was like, okay, guys, So they wanted me back, but
I decided, actually I should havesigned with Kansas City because they were doing
a lot of Manda Man, whichis my best coverage position as far as

(16:33):
playing Manda Man in press coverage man. But I turned down like one hundred
thousand dollars just to go to theSaints because it was closer to home and
Ricky Jackson was there and I knewhim. And then when I looked at
the city Kansas City or New Orleans, I think I'd go to New Orleans
and weather you're used to what happensin New Orleans as opposed to Kansas City.
Yeah, oh yes, the weatheris freezing in Kansas City, and

(16:56):
New Orleans is hot humored, youknow what I mean? Down one hundred
grand Yeah I did. I did, just coming off the pice off the
practice for Yeah. Yeah. Wereyou single then? Yes? Okay,
yeah, yeah, the great thing. That's where I met my wife at.
Oh well that's where you were supposedto go then okay, all right,

(17:17):
and that makes it all better?Yeah, all right, I heard
in New Orleans. That's good.And you stay there for a while.
You're there through uh ninety four years? Yeah, I was there for four
years, played with those great linebackersRicky Jackson, Samuel von Johnson. And
then you played you started playing?Yes, When did you get your first
NFL game? Right away? Ninetytwo? Right away? Good? And
I played the nickelback at ninety two, which was perfect because I was playing.

(17:38):
And then the next year I startedso which was outstanding. And Vic
Vangio was there, he was coachingthose linebackers, was coaching the linebackers.
Yeah, so I know him.And it was Jim Moore Senior, which
was the head coach. Yeah,and then Jim Moore Junior was my coach.
The defen was a bad coach.Oh wow. And he's the one

(18:00):
who taught me technique when I waswith the Redskins, I couldn't learn technique.
I mean I couldn't watch Doren Green. Darren Green had no technique.
He was just so fast, andI was like, okay, I'm not
learning anything. He watchington well.And plus, it's hard for you to
learn if what you're doing is justbeing the other team during practice, like
you can't develop a skill that way. That is true. And back then,

(18:21):
none of the guys is not goingto teach you because it's like,
okay, I'm not going to teachyou to take my job exactly. Yeah,
I know why you're here, youknow. Oh, that's really cool
that then he took you aside andtaught you. He taught me, and
like I said, I was sofast and quick, but I was always
just a hair from knocking down theballs or miss intercepting the balls. And
I was always so close but nevermade the plays. What were some of

(18:44):
the things he taught you, I'mcurious. Well, the number one thing
that he taught me, which issimple, but it was huge. It
changed my whole career. He toldme, when I break towards the receiver,
to turn my head first instead ofbreaking and looking back at the quarterback
because that was slowing me down.So I started turning my head and breaking
to the receiver. All of asudden, I start intercepting balls, knocking

(19:06):
balls down. And it was liketwo interceptions in practice in this and so
now they're noticing. So I startedgetting better and better just from that one
little small Well that makes sense becausethe wide receivers looking at the quarterback,
so you don't need to right,you just need to look at him.
I need to look at him andcatch up and get to him and then
turn my head real quick. AndI was making plays and just that little

(19:27):
small incident changed everything. And I'massuming you do that now as a coach
when you're over Oh yeah, Itell them all the time, and then
I always correct them when they don'tdo it because I tell them. I
said, listen, it's a gamechanger. Yes, it's a different than
you making plays, or different thanyou being on the field or not.
You know, so it's huge.So that's the number one thing that I

(19:49):
teach. Turn that head, quick, footwork, stay low, getting in
and out of your breaks fast asyou can. So those are the things
that I teach. Oh that's great. Now you can pay it forward did
Yeah, Oh yeah, he tookcare of So you stayed with the Saints
through the ninety five season and thenyou head to Cincinnati. What happened there?
You're a free agent at that point. Yes, So my contract came

(20:11):
up and they offered me a hugedeal in New Orleans. Actually, that's
where I turned my life over aswell to Christ. When I was in
New Orleans, what happened was Iwas getting in my car in the garage
and I was heading to hang outwith a couple of fellows. Before I
was trying to open the door,and I heard this voice kept telling me
to go back in the house.And I kept looking around in my garage

(20:33):
and I'm looking around, like,wow, it's someone in my garage.
And I heard this voice loud andclear, but I tried to get in
my car, couldn't get in itheard the vorce again. And then on
the third time when I heard thevoice, I just went back in the
house and I put my keys downin my house by myself, looking around,
and I sat down and then allof a sudden, I just started

(20:55):
weeping and crying. And then Isaid, well, Lord, you have
to get me out of New Orleans, I said, because this is a
playground for me to party all thetime. So at this time, my
contract is up and the Saints haven'tspoken with me about bringing me back.
And then the very next day theycalled my agent and they offered me a
multi million dollar deal. And nowat the same time, I just said

(21:18):
to the Lord, you have toget me out of here, and I
turned it down. I turned downmulti million dollar deal, wow, just
to get out because I do.It was time to go and I couldn't
stay there. So I flew downto Florida, flew home cause my agent's
from Fort Lauderdale, and so wewere driving to the Miami Heat game and
then Jimmy Johnson called. He hadleft the universe of Miami and now he's

(21:40):
with the Miami Dolphins, and heknow I wanted to come play for the
Dolphins. I wanted to come home, and so, man, he was
just low balling me. I toldmy agent, I said, there's no
way I can come play for himwhen I'm a starter for that type of
money, There's no way. Itold my agent, I said, just
call Cincinnati back. So it wasin between Cincinnati and the Dolphins. But

(22:00):
I wanted to go to Miami,but the money wasn't even close. So
I signed with Cincinnati and that's whenI got there, and wow, yeah,
so tell me what was happening alittle bit in New Orleans? Just
too easy to party and have fun. And you know the name of the
city, the nickname is the BigEasy. It's a reason why. There's
a reason why. You know,every night you can go somewhere and you

(22:22):
can just hang out. You canparty all night wherever you want to go,
whatever you want to do, BourbonStreet, whatever, the clubs,
you name it, and nobody cares, and nobody cares. Everybody's doing it.
Yeah, you do it whatever youwant and how you want. That
was for four years and so Isaid, I have to get out of
here. And then when I wentto Cincinnati, of course it was night
and day compared to now. Didyou you said you met your wife in

(22:47):
New Orleans. Did she come withyou to Cincinnati. Were you buried by
that or just still kind of No, we were still kind of dating.
And actually at the time she gotpregnant with my first son, and I
said to her, well, youknow, you're welcome to com and I
know this is your family and you'revery close with your family. I said,
if you decide to stay, I'mfine with that, but if you
want to come, I'm asking youto come, but I'm gonna leave it

(23:10):
up to you. And she decidedto come, and I'm thankful for that.
So she came, and then everybodywas saying, man, you need
to get married, you need toI'm like, what, I didn't really
like people telling me, you know, with big, big decisions like that.
Yeah, So I said, youknow what, I said, I'm

(23:30):
an ask the Lord. I said, Lord, if you want me to
get married, then you have totell me. And so I just start
practicing and going to practice, youknow, up in Cincinnati. And this
one guy that played with me withthe Washington Redskins. He was a defensive
tackle. They brought him in andhe was there for like eight days.
And then as I walked out ofpractice one day, I saw him standing

(23:51):
up. I said, Hey,where are you going? He said,
oh, man, I'm into theairport. I said, you need a
ride? He said yeah, hesaid, you're going that way. I
said, I lived that way.I said, but what are you going
to airport? He said, oh, they just cut me. They just
got rid of me. I said, but you've only been here for eight
days and he said, yeah,I know. So I said okay.
I was like, wow, thisis crazy. So we're driving to the
airport and as we're driving to theairport, he's talking to me about my

(24:15):
family and I told him about meand my girl and this and that he's
a christ and he said, well, you know you're you're shacking up and
I'm listening to him. I waslike yeah, and he started giving me
these scriptures. I was like,oh, it's like okay. And then
when I let him out when Igot to the airport, I said,
oh, wow, the Lord justspoke to me through this through him.

(24:37):
Oh my gosh. Wow. Yeahit was Yeah, it was mind blowing.
I was like, okay, thereit is. So I went home
and I told my wife, said, hey, let's go to the courthouse
get married. I mean, shedidn't even acknowledge me. She's like,
okay, I know, I didn'the him. I said, hey,
did you hear me? So,yeah, I heard you, and she's
still watching TV. And then shelooked at me. She said, oh,

(25:00):
you're serious. Said yeah, I'mserious, said what happened? So
I told her the story, andshe started getting dressed real quick. You
got married, Yeah, went tothe courthouse in Kentucky and got married.
And my wife she was so upsetwith the lady because she messed up the
paperwork. She messed it up threetimes, Oh jez And I looked at

(25:21):
my wife and said, hey,that's three times. You don't messed up
this paperwork. And my wife leanedover to that. Later. I have
no idea what she said to her, but she got it right. And
we got married during the season innineteen ninety seven, November twenty first.
After the season, we had theceremony, did a real wedding. Yeah,

(25:41):
I did a real wedding fly seasonfor the family. Wow, Oh
my gosh, Jimmy, what agreat story. Yes, holy cow.
So after that season, let's sayyou do the ninety seven season, and
then you signed with the Chargers forninety Yes. Yes, my agent he
set up a lot of different teamsfor me to fly to. So I
flew to New York to the Giants, worked out for them. I was

(26:03):
scheduled to go to the Chargers,and then after the Charger it was supposed
to been Arizona and then Seattle.The Chargers was off in the league minimum.
They were the least amount of money. But I know why because the
linebacker coach that was at Cincinnati,he was the defensive coordinator at the time
with the Chargers, so he knewme. Yeah, he just wanted me
to come. But he's like,I don't have any money, Jim,
I just need you to come.I just want you to see the people.

(26:26):
So I was like, all right, I just give you a visit.
So I go there and I'm walkingthrough the hall and the same voice
that spoke to me in my garagethat said go back in the house,
that same voice spoke to me again. I said I want you to sign
here. So I just brushed offand kept walking, and the boy said,
I want you to sign here withthe Chargers. And so when I

(26:48):
walked in and saw everything, wastalking with everybody, and then I called
my agent and I knew he wasgoing to freak out again. He said,
Jim, and we have other teamsset up and they want to pay
you. I said, I know. I said, let's just side here,
David, and so I signed there. So I played with Junior to
say Rodney Harrison, those guys.Junior was having Bible studies at his house

(27:10):
and all this stuff. So Imet some unbelievable men there. They put
me on a four team and Iwas the starting cornerback. So I was
complaining Susie the whole time I comehome. It almost felt like a rookie
again because they had me doing allthese other stuff. I'm like, I'm
a starter, Why they have meon the fourth team doing all this stuff.

(27:30):
I was complaining for about three weeks. Then that same voice at shut
up and stopped complaining and do whatyou need to do because you never know
what I'm doing behind the scenes.But it was breaking all this pride and
all this stuff in me that Ithought I was all everything. And then
when I said, okay, lord, I'm gonna shut up. I'm gonna

(27:51):
do everything these coaches tell me todo and how they tell me to do
it. The very next day,on a Wednesdays because you know in the
NFL you get tuesdays off, Igo in Wednesday, I'm on the fourteen.
We're in the defensive back room andthe coaches on the board riding down
plays and he turns around. Hesaid, oh, Jimmy, by the
way, you're starting this week.I was like, what did you say,

(28:12):
coach? He said, you're starting? Do you want to start?
I was like, yeah, SoI went from fourteen fourteen to a starter,
a starter after this voice now hadsaid to me be quiet and stop
complaining. And then when I agreed, the very next day, gosh,
I'll become a starter, and thennot only become a starter. So it's

(28:33):
four games left in the season.I started and just started playing great.
Led the team in interceptions with fourgames. Oh my goodness. Yes.
And so I had a huge incentivepackage, so they had to pay me
so much money because I got allI hit all my sentence. I'm surprised

(28:53):
they didn't take you out. Nowadaysthey take you out. In the last
game. They tried. They triedto, did they? Yeah, but
guess what, for some reason,the other quarterbacks were getting hurt, so
they had to start me. Playersknow about players and centives, don't players
know? And you guys want tohelp each other as much as you can,
try and hit those Well Tom Bradydid that grunk down in Tampa.

(29:17):
Yeah, you know, so playersknow, coaches know, everybody know.
The ownership show. Oh yeah,they know, you know, because they
have to pay the money. So, oh, that's fantastic. You hit
all the incentives. So that's whyyou were told to shut up and just
yes. But then at the endof the season, they kept going back
and forth with the money that Iearned, and so I said, Okay,
if you guys don't want to payme half of the money that I

(29:37):
earned and just go ahead and releaseme, you know, I can go
somewhere else. They're like, no, we don't want to do that because
what they were trying to do isrecoup the money. Because Ryan Leaf was
there that year, so it wasninety eight ninety nine season. They were
coming to different starters trying to askthem to get pay cuts, restructure yourstructure
your contract, and give you somuch less. So that's what was going

(29:59):
on. So did they release you? They finally released me the very next
day. I got a call fromMike Shanahan and we started talking and he
was telling me all these plays becausewe played against him twice a year.
So I played against the two SuperBowl teams. Oh you did, yeah,
yeah, So that was Terrell Davis, John Elway, Rod and me

(30:19):
and Ross Smith. I bet youguys had a few words with you talking
about some battles. Me and Rodtalk about that to this day. I
mean, Susan, we we foughtand went at it to have heard some
of those conversations. And he wouldpush me and push me down and the
ref wouldn't call a penalty and Iwill hold him and grab him. And

(30:41):
he was like Jimmy, when youstop holding me? And I'm like,
Rod, do you see a flag? You get back in that hood and
shut up and come back out hereagain so I can Yeah, there's no
flag. Let's go and stop allthis. Then playing you got the best
quarterback in the league. I don'twant to hear it. So but before
the game we would shake hands andthen doing the game, it was battle

(31:04):
time battles. Same thing with Ed. Ed was six' five, big
receiver. Aggressive, would come atyou and he had zero fear. Yes,
I mean just would go. Andyou saw that with so many catches
he made across the middle. Heknew three guys are coming his way,
but he'd still catch the ball andjust absorb the hit. Yes, yes,
yes, wow. And we hadsome great battles because we had a

(31:25):
great defense. Junior Oh, RodnyHarrison. Those were really good defense with
the Chargers. Then yes, yes, we were number one team in the
league. And that's with Ryan Leafat quarterback. We go to Seattle,
Ryan Leaf throws six interceptions, threefor touchdowns and we only lose by three
points. Wow, I mean wewere so Mike Shanahan saw enough of you

(31:49):
in those games that then yes,come over and watch you join us.
Yeah, come on, I'm like, okay, I would join us since
these guys don't want me. Andthen what was your time like in Denver?
I mean that's where I know youfrom, and like I said,
you were that guy that was justalways there and dependable and you'd get the
pick and you did your job.Yes, yes, I you know,
studied a lot watch teams, knewhow to study and watch players, you

(32:14):
know, even when players would goget gatorade. I'm watching them when they
walk off the field, when Edor Rod walks off the field, watching
them when they walk off, howthey walk, when they're coming on the
field, watching everything everything they do. I watched. You're a student of
the game, yes, because youknow body language tell you everything the whole
nine. And I would study thoseguys. I would look and see if

(32:35):
they're running the end route, iftheir shoulders, leaning looking for something that
they would give me. And Idid it all through my career. You're
like a poker player. You're lookingfor the tail. I'm looking for the
tail and something's gonna tell me something. It's gonna give me something. I
love it. That's good and thatwhat a great edge. I'm sure there's
plenty of guys that don't do thatbecause they're so absorbed in what they're doing,
and it's hard. It's easy toget that way. It's hard to

(32:59):
observe and then figure out what they'redoing. Yes, and also it's not
a knock on guys that go inthe first round or second round. A
lot of time, guys that goin that first round they already have the
money. Some of them don't workas hard or what have you. But
when you look at myself, whenyou look at like a Shannon Sharp,
you look at like a Tom Naylan, you look at a Rod Smith,

(33:21):
undrafted free agency at McCaffrey, that'sall we know. Work none stop fighting,
work, fighting, work, that'sit. Yeah. So I assume
your time with the Broncos, Imean, obviously you stayed here afterwards.
Did you fall in love with Denverand teammates. And I mean, I
just I think it's so cool howmany guys, especially from your era that
just stayed here made home Denver.I mean, Denver is very nice.

(33:45):
It really captured the wives because Denveris so family oriented. So the wives
are like, it's so much fora family to do here. That's why
a lot of us stay. Butmy wife and I I told her,
I said, hey, what Istarted coaching. I said, hey,
when I when I stopped coaching.Now we're gonna have to head back to
Fort Lauderdale. I want to goback to the beaches. But of course
that because speaking of that, yourlast year in two thousand and three,

(34:12):
you played and you were also anassistant DB's coach. You were the first
player to be a player and acoach since Dan Reeves did it in nineteen
seventy two. How did you kindof finagle that to be a player and
a coach. Well, all ofthat came about with coach Shanahan, and
he is man. He is sobrilliant, very intelligent. Just let you
know, I thing, Susie,like different teams that I went to,

(34:37):
if I heard a head coach said, well, hey, my doors are
always open. You can come inand talk to me. I did that
down in New Orleans with Jim MooreSenior. You know, he said my
doors are always open. So Iwent in there and would talk with him,
just you know, just to tryto get my no my head.
Coach. It was a little different, although he said his doors were open,
but they wasn't really really, reallyreally open. I was just talking,

(34:59):
Jimmy, why are you coming uphere? You know, I can't
expect you to actually show up.You do the only want to show up.
Everybody else understands they're really not open. What's wrong with you? Get
back down at least go to practice. And then when I came to Denver,
I heard coach Shanahan said the samething and one of his speeches,
and so I said, okay,let me go up and see. So

(35:21):
I go up and then I'm talkingwith coach and he stopped doing what he
was doing and we just had aconversation. I was like, oh wow.
And so from there we just formedthis relationship. I would go up
from time to time and talk withhim and see what he was doing and
how he was doing. How Ibecame the player coach Chrusall McLaughlin. He
came to me said, Jimmy,hey, after the season, man,

(35:42):
I want you to come with me. I'm going down to Tampa. The
NFL is going to pay for it, and I'm going to get my coaching
certificate. I was like, oh, it's like, I don't want to
be a coach. He said,man, just come down. You and
I just hang out. It's free, Jimmy, we can eat free.
Because Ches loved to eat. SoI was like, okay. We called
a big cheese. That was hisnickname. So I said, okay,
I would come down and dom hangout with you. And also he got

(36:06):
me in trouble with Shannon Sharp whentraining camp. Oh he did well.
I didn't know Shannon had him ona diet, so I would go up
in his room and hang out withChester. So I go up there and
he's like, hey, let's goto Wendy's. I was like, okay,
we take my car, we goto windows, he buys all this
stuff, and then we go outto practicing. Shannon come to me and
he's like upset. I'm like,what's wrong. You took cheese the Wendy's.

(36:29):
I said yeah. He's like Ihave him on a die yet,
I said, well, he didn'tsay that, Shannon and so, and
I'm thinking the Shannon Sharp diet isprobably not one most of us want to
be on. No, Shannon eatsperfect exactly. He eats perfect. And
man, I looked at Chester andChester took off running on the other side
of the field. So Shannon wasso upset would be about that. Oh

(36:52):
my gosh, that's funny. Butyeah, So you go to Tampa for
the coaching No, no, Ididn't make it there. Oh you didn't
make it. No, but I'sgoing at the end of the year.
I'm heading up to pick up mylast check. And so as I'm going
to get my check, coach Shanahanis walking and he's walking into the coach's
lounge. So he said, hey, Jimmy, you heading back to Florida.
What are you doing. I said, well, yes, I said,

(37:13):
I'm just about to grab my check. And I said, oh,
Chester mcglockan and I we're going downto Tampa, you know, to this
coaching cleaning to get my coaching Seratiftic. He said, oh, I didn't
know you want to coach. Isaid, no, I didn't know,
Eith until Chester invited me. Hesaid, oh, he said, okay,
that's nice to know, and thenhe just left. So I get
home. Five days later, Iget a call from Cindy, which is

(37:35):
his secretary, and she's like,hey, Jimmy, coach wants to talk
with you. So I'm like no. I was like, oh no.
I think I was about in mytenth eleventh year at the time. I
said no. I said, ifhe's going to cut me, why didn't
he do it when I was talkingto him? So I'm thinking I'm about
to get cut. Yeah, SoI'm freaking out. I'm on the phone
and I'm like, oh Lord,what is happening? And so I'm waiting.

(37:58):
I'm waiting and I'm just freaking out. And so he comes on and
he just set me at ease.How you doing, what's going on?
How's the weather? You know,He's just I'm like, come on,
coach, just give me the news. And so he said, hey,
I was just sitting here in myoffice if was wondering your coach, Ron
Milas he just took a job inArizona. I think it was the Arizona

(38:19):
the Giants, And he said,I was trying to figure out who can
I get the coach to DB's.So I said, coach, I'm not
ready to retire right now, whatdo you mean. He's like, no,
no, I'm not talking about that. He said, I'm talking about
you coaching and playing at the sametime. I was like, coaching and
playing. He's like yeah. Isaid, oh wow, how would I
do that? He said, withJimmy, you are already coaching, and

(38:39):
I had no idea, and he'sbeen watching me. I had no clue
he was watching me. He said, Jimmy, I've been watching you the
whole time. He said, You'realways helping the young guys. You're telling
them what to do, You're teachingthem technique. You are ready coaching,
and you have no idea. You'redoing it. You're just not getting paid
for it, right. So that'swhat I said to him. I said,
oh, am, I going toget two checks and he said he

(39:02):
said, well, not really,he said, because I looked into that
and I can't do it through theNFL. Oh, but he said,
we'll make it worthy a while.I've got some Shanahan's gift cards for so
he said, well, don't answerright now. He says, just take
a couple of days and give mea call back, and I and I

(39:22):
got off the phone and Susie Icould not comprehend it. I'm telling you,
I was in tears just because coachShanahan thought of me that much,
just to be that he thought Iwas a guy that can be able to
coach and to play at the sametime and not tell anyone that, hey,
we're gonna cut you or whatever,and not let guys know what's going

(39:42):
on up in meetings with the coaches. You know, that you could separate
the two. Yeah, you that'shuge. Yeah, that was That's the
one thing that just I just couldn'twrap my head around it. That was
huge. I'll tell you our relationshiptoday has been great. I bet.
I mean he is a unbelievable guy, Like I said, very intelligent.
Oh yeah, very that's cool thatyou did that. And then did you

(40:05):
continue to do a little bit ofcoaching after that? Yes, So that
year, I, you know,I played in my coach and then the
next year I retired beginning of fourand then I went into coaching the defensive
backs with Bob Sloyd. So Icoached you know, like Champ Bailey,
John Ninch and redrafted Dominic Fox withthe late Darren Williams called Paymer. So

(40:25):
those guys and Nick Ferguson that's inthe oh. Yeah, yeah, So
I coached those guys. It wasjust great. Noah Kennedy, you know,
delth O'Neill, Willie Middlebrooks, allof those guys. There's some great
names in there. Yeah. Alot of first rounders too. Oh yeah,
a lot. Okay, So thenafter you retire, you do some

(40:45):
coaching, and then what well,when I retired, I started, I
started coaching literal league. I guessthat's what all the pro players do because
Peyton's coaching. Yeah, on thesame team team. Yeah, that's not
right. That's a lot of talent, a lot of talented jeans and that.
Yeah, that's not good. That'snot Yeah, that's not fair.
So I started coaching Little Leg andI started coaching Afford. Yeah yeah,

(41:08):
he was the head coach. Soit was me Afford and Harrod Hasselback.
He was on that team. Wehad so much fun. Hey, did
you have a child on that team? My oldest son, he played on
that team. He played defensive end. It was so much fun. Man.
Actually we played against Christian McCaffrey againstcoach. Yes, yeah, and

(41:32):
Christian, Oh my gosh, ridiculous. Right. He has been that way
from little league to high school,college and the pros just different, just
different. And so I was thedefensive coordinator, and so when we played
against them in the Super Bowl,I was like, okay, because if
you out of your gap, ifyou try to attack a Christian, it's

(41:54):
goodbye you. I mean, hewas so fast even in the league.
And so I said, okay,obviously I have to stop Christian. So
what I did. I really stoppedhim and slowed him down big time.
They won by three points, sothey won the Super Bowl. So after
the game, Ed came up tome and he was blown away. He's
like, man, what did youdo? And so I said what I
did? Every other play I changeddefenses. So Ivy played a four to

(42:17):
three next player, I would playerthree four. Oh, next play,
I would play a four to fournext player. I would player three three
five. So every play or everyother play, the offensive line was seeing
a totally different defense. Every playthey were missing blocking their guys, so
two and three guys were free everysingle time. It was like wow,

(42:37):
I'm saying, well, I hadto confuse them. Because when I looked
at the other teams that played youguys, they were lined up in the
four to three and you guys knewwho to block, and all you had
to do is wall a person off. And Christian's running ninety yard touchdowns,
eighty yards, seventy yards and bythe end of the first quarter he's out
the game. So I said,there's no way we just lining up and
letting these guys just do this.So he was like, wow, I

(42:59):
love it a right little bit aboutyour family kids, and now you're helping
to coach over at Cherry Creek HighSchool. Yes, my two older boys,
Jimmy and Javon. Jimmy's twenty seven, Javon is twenty five. They
both live in Scottsdale. They're coldersand the computer wars. Yeah, yeah,
so they do that out there.And also I have twins, a
girl and a boy. How oldare they They are fifteen. They're at

(43:21):
Cherry Creek High School. And Icoached my son at Cherry Creek with Dave
Logan. It's just been outstanding andfascinated to coach over there with Dave.
After watching Dave call plays and differentthings and what he do and how he
does it. After the first practice, I told him, I said,
you know what, I'm not sayingthis just because I'm here coaching, but

(43:42):
he is brilliant as well. Ohyeah, When I watch what he do
and how he's doing with that offense, I said, you remind me a
little bit of Mike Shanahan and alittle bit of Steve Spurrier because they know
offenses. They know how to ifthey're trying to run the ball a certain
way, they know how to getthat extra man over there to get that
extra block, and they know howto move guys and it's the same place
they're running, but they're just showingyou from a different way, from a

(44:06):
different play and the emotioning guys.They're moving guys and they're you know,
And I was like, wow,this is fascinating. Yeah, And he
spent a lot of time with Mikebecause I'm sure, you know, I
mean, he and Mike are veryclose. And Dave's just brilliant. And
I feel honored that I get tolisten to him call a game for every
single Broncos game while I stand onthe sidelines that happens in front of me,
and then I get played by playingmy ear of what's going on from

(44:28):
the time. It's like I'm ina virtual reality movie every time there's a
game. No, it is awesome. And like I told him, you
know, just watching him because youknow, playing football, I call it
a cat and mouse game. Youknow, when you're moving this guy,
you're moving this guy. And hewould ask me, you know, what
did I think about doing this orwhatever? And I would say if I
played against them, because a matterof fact, we played against them when

(44:51):
I was coaching with Ed McCaffrey whenhe went to the ballard. Yeah,
yeah, so I was on thatcoach that staff. Yeah, so I
was there with him, And Itold Dave that certain things I would that
we did, you know, everytime he moved in shift because he wants
to see what we're gonna do.So a lot of times we would just
standing there and wouldn't shiff, youknow, and wouldn't move. I said.
It's kind of remind me of whenI played cornerback, and I remember

(45:12):
playing it against the Minnesota Vikings againstquadri Ishmaire, which was rocket Is mayor
brother. He was extremely fast,but he couldn't read defenses. So when
I played cover two normally when youplayed cover two, you would sit about
five yards off and they know andthey'll look at the safeties. So when
I played against him, when wewere in cover two, I wouldn't sit
at five yards. I would sitat eight yards, so it it looked

(45:34):
like quarters of Cover three to him. And when the ball snap, I
was just run in front of him, intercept the ball. I'm knocking down
back. They're fast enough to dothat, and fast enough to do that,
That's the key until Randy Moss cameon the scene. Randy Moss,
and people ask me his all time, who was the best receiver you ever
covered, I'd say, by far, Randy Moss because of his speed.

(45:55):
I could not believe how fast thisguy was. I mean I ran four
two and I can remember me backpedalingto him. He's about four yards from
me, and I opened up andhe ran by me like I was standing
still and kept going and it's nothingI could did about it. But they
didn't throw the ball to him,which I was like, you thank god

(46:15):
he didn't have. I was likewow. I was like, this is
amazing. And I played against JerryRice twice a year. I played against
all these bike irving Troy Aikman andDan Marino. But that speed will get
you that speed. And I playedagainst the guys that were fast, like
Joey Galloway, Tony Martin, MikeHaynes, Flipper Anderson. I played against
Gud's speed, but not that kindof sit. It's hard to run backwards

(46:37):
with that kind of speed. It'sextremely hard. Now, the only guy
I've seen with that kind of speedright now is Tyreek Hill. He's the
only guy that I seen that hasthe type of speed that Randy Mouth has.
I mean it's lightning fast. Yeah, it does not have the height
that Randy had. Randy just abig human being. Yes, Randy was

(46:58):
six' five and fast. Yeah. I would say Randy rand at least
for one dang and Deon Centerf wasfast too. I would say diarm is
probably low four twos, maybe highfour ones. But I would say the
fastest guy I would think probably everran Afford. It was Bo Jackson.
Oh yeah, he was the fastest. I bet against some great, pretty

(47:19):
impressive athletes. Yeah yeah, yeah. All right, Jimmy, Well we've
had you for a long time.I appreciate this. I'm going to ask
you one last question and I dothis with all my guests. You don't
have any of the really bad Igot cut, you know, and the
coach was this or that story,but you had the ins and outs and
your experiences with hearing from the Lordis what really shaped you. So what
do you tell people, your kidsor others about how to kind of get

(47:42):
through some of those tough times.That's one thing that I tell my kids.
And as you just alluded to,the Lord has helped me with everything,
and whether you believe in him ornot, he's real and he's true,
and he is helping you even whenyou're not believing in him because he
wants you to know him because hehas created you and created everyone. But
I tell them never get too lowand never get too high. Just stay

(48:07):
neutral and trust the process because everythingis not going to be going great.
And I even tell my players,I said, here's what I'm looking at.
I'm looking at if you get beatfor a touchdown maybe two, can
you still function like you have hadtwo interceptions for touchdowns even when you get
beat. Can you still stay atthat level and play at that level of

(48:28):
confidence and not go into the tank? Can you brush it off? Can
you put it behind you. Thoseare the guys that make it. And
not just in football, but inlife, because life throws your curveball too.
You have to have a short termmemory, yes, short term memory.
Otherwise it haunts you. Oh itdoes, and it tears you down.
And next thing you know, youdown and you had a place that

(48:49):
and you're like, how did Iget here? You know what I mean?
And so those are the things thatI tell them, you know,
I try to keep their confidence upand build them for them not to go
too far in the tank, justto stay neutral. Jimmy, this has
been a lot of fun. Ireally appreciate you coming in. Great story.
Yes, yes, yes, andso good to see again. I'm
glad you remembered me. Oh yeah, yeah, I remember you coming in.

(49:10):
And I don't know how many kidsyou have, but I remember one
time you came in. You werepregnant. You were still coming in.
I was doing your job. Iwas up at training camp, pregnant as
all get out. Was that greyGreeley. It was two thousand and two.
I say to this day, that'sthe hottest summer ever. But I
know it's just because I was eightmonths pregnant. Well, no, it
didn't rain at all the whole summer. I was it doesn't rain greedy,

(49:32):
I know, No, it wasso hot and I was so pregnant and
everybody was awesome to me. Itwas great. So you've seen me through
the gi yeah yeah, yeah,yes, yeah, go way back,
way back. Yeah. All right, Jimmy, thanks so much, thank
you, Thank you, Jimmy.New episodes of Cut, Traded, Fired,
Retired are released on Tuesdays on nearlyevery podcast platform. Please follow,

(49:54):
download, and review this podcast whereveryou listen to podcasts, and remember you
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podcast, and be sure to checkout the website ctfurpodcast dot com to find
out more about me. Visit Susiewargindot com. Thanks again for listening,
and until next time, please becareful, be safe, and be kind. Take care