Red Hawk
JUST WIN!
FROM SI
Bye, bye Bidwill
While making the training camp rounds, I asked several of Plummer's fellow ex-Cardinals how they think he'll fare in Denver. Their responses, for the most part, were surprisingly positive.
"I think he'll do well," says wideout MarTay Jenkins, who signed with the Falcons during the. "In Arizona, I feel like there wasn't a coach who got on his butt, and that's not going to be the case in Denver. Jake's a good quarterback, and when something went wrong he would take the blame. But some of the coaches on the staff would point the fingers elsewhere, and maybe Jake got caught up in that. Sometimes you've got to take responsibility for your own actions. In Denver, he'll be in a better position to do that."
Another wideout, former Pro Bowl selection David Boston, believes Plummer will thrive on a team with savvy veteran targets such as Rod Smith, Ed McCaffrey and Shannon Sharpe. "Jake, I'll guarantee you, will do really well," says Boston, now with the Chargers. "He was indecisive in Arizona, and sometimes he made bad decisions, but he never had the talent around him that he does now. A lot of the interceptions he threw last year were to younger receivers he didn't trust as much, so he hesitated before throwing the pass. Now he's in a great system where that won't be a problem."
Safety Kwamie Lassiter, who also landed in San Diego, believes Plummer took too much heat in the desert. "He'd been the golden boy at Arizona State -- Jake the Snake -- and everybody wanted him to be the next Joe Montana," Lassiter says. "They didn't give him a chance to grow, to learn, to ease into the role. With all that pressure, he tried to do it all himself, and that was too much for anyone to bear. I hope he does well, because I love his attitude and passion for the game."
Lassiter, like Jenkins, desperately wanted to stay in Arizona, despite the team's legacy of losing under chintzy owner Bill Bidwill. Lassiter's anger surfaced when I mentioned that a lot of people wondered how much Plummer was responsible for his own struggles, and how much those hard times could be explained by playing quarterback for a dysfunctional organization.
"They're gonna find out," Lassiter said. "There are a lot of guys that aren't playing with the Cardinals right now who actually wanted to stay in Arizona, and the Cardinals still wouldn't re-sign them. It's been going on for years, with them letting guys like Larry Centers, Eric Hill, Seth Joyner, Clyde Simmons and Aeneas Williams get away. When you have a bad team for so many years, you've got to take steps to stop cutting off your nose to spite your face."
Says Jenkins: "I feel bad for [coach] Dave McGinnis, because he's got his hands tied by management. You pay your head coach to make the tough calls, but if you don't have the personnel, how can you build a championship team?"
Bye, bye Bidwill
While making the training camp rounds, I asked several of Plummer's fellow ex-Cardinals how they think he'll fare in Denver. Their responses, for the most part, were surprisingly positive.
"I think he'll do well," says wideout MarTay Jenkins, who signed with the Falcons during the. "In Arizona, I feel like there wasn't a coach who got on his butt, and that's not going to be the case in Denver. Jake's a good quarterback, and when something went wrong he would take the blame. But some of the coaches on the staff would point the fingers elsewhere, and maybe Jake got caught up in that. Sometimes you've got to take responsibility for your own actions. In Denver, he'll be in a better position to do that."
Another wideout, former Pro Bowl selection David Boston, believes Plummer will thrive on a team with savvy veteran targets such as Rod Smith, Ed McCaffrey and Shannon Sharpe. "Jake, I'll guarantee you, will do really well," says Boston, now with the Chargers. "He was indecisive in Arizona, and sometimes he made bad decisions, but he never had the talent around him that he does now. A lot of the interceptions he threw last year were to younger receivers he didn't trust as much, so he hesitated before throwing the pass. Now he's in a great system where that won't be a problem."
Safety Kwamie Lassiter, who also landed in San Diego, believes Plummer took too much heat in the desert. "He'd been the golden boy at Arizona State -- Jake the Snake -- and everybody wanted him to be the next Joe Montana," Lassiter says. "They didn't give him a chance to grow, to learn, to ease into the role. With all that pressure, he tried to do it all himself, and that was too much for anyone to bear. I hope he does well, because I love his attitude and passion for the game."
Lassiter, like Jenkins, desperately wanted to stay in Arizona, despite the team's legacy of losing under chintzy owner Bill Bidwill. Lassiter's anger surfaced when I mentioned that a lot of people wondered how much Plummer was responsible for his own struggles, and how much those hard times could be explained by playing quarterback for a dysfunctional organization.
"They're gonna find out," Lassiter said. "There are a lot of guys that aren't playing with the Cardinals right now who actually wanted to stay in Arizona, and the Cardinals still wouldn't re-sign them. It's been going on for years, with them letting guys like Larry Centers, Eric Hill, Seth Joyner, Clyde Simmons and Aeneas Williams get away. When you have a bad team for so many years, you've got to take steps to stop cutting off your nose to spite your face."
Says Jenkins: "I feel bad for [coach] Dave McGinnis, because he's got his hands tied by management. You pay your head coach to make the tough calls, but if you don't have the personnel, how can you build a championship team?"
