QB apologizes after item appears in gossip column
Associated Press
DENVER --
Jake Plummer likes Broncos fans. Really.
Jake Plummer
You must be registered for see images attach
Quarterback
Denver Broncos
Profile2005 SEASON STATISTICSAttCompYdsTDIntRat17810410767383.6
On the defensive for ripping Denver's fans in an angry conversation with a local gossip columnist, Plummer apologized Monday, hoping to end the latest tiff he's created among supporters in a city that has long wanted its quarterback to be more than just a good player.
"I wish I could go back and change some things, but I can't," Plummer said. "It's time to move on, let it go. I realize that I'm in the public eye. I know that, and I've been in that public eye for a long time. I can handle it."
At issue was a column by Penny Parker of the Rocky Mountain News, who saw Plummer with his girlfriend at a charity event last week and did some digging to find out more about her. Turns out, the girlfriend is
Kollette Klassen, a Broncos cheerleader, a fact Parker reported in her column last Thursday.
The morning after the column, a local radio show talked about Klassen and accused her of being a
"jersey chaser."
Parker wrote that Plummer -- worried that his girlfriend would be harassed in public if people knew they were dating -- called her and tore into her after hearing that on the radio. In part of his tirade, Parker reported Plummer said, "You think Denver has the greatest fans. Well, they aren't."
Plummer said he was surprised any of this "news" came out in the newspaper and felt some of his conversation with Parker was taken out of context.
Still, he conceded that he's well aware of where he lives and who he plays for.
Denver is, after all, a city that once made a big deal about the kind of candy John Elway handed out for Halloween. Elway was -- still is -- beloved in town, not only because of what he did on the field but also because he was perceived as a good guy who embraced Broncos fans and understood their passion.
Plummer offered an uncharacteristic mea culpa Monday in the locker room.
"I just like to be out in the public. I like the fans. I like to be around them," he said. "Certain things, as they continue to get ritten, it kind of turns you to not wanting to go out in the public. I don't want to do that. I want to be out and enjoy my fans and have a beer with my fans and shoot pool and do those kinds of things, and I will continue to do that, and I thank the fans for supporting me."
Really, though, the fans have been lukewarm to Plummer since he arrived in Denver three years ago. And Plummer hasn't always taken things in stride.
Last year during a home game against Miami, Plummer was being booed by the crowd and flashed an obscene gesture toward the stands. He apologized for that move after the game, saying, "I would never direct that at our fans. We have the greatest fans in the league."
As was the case then, Plummer drew a lot of criticism for his imbroglio with Parker and had to answer not only to the fans, but to higher-ups on the team.
Coach Mike Shanahan said he talked with the quarterback about the latest episode.
"He's got to review with you guys," Shanahan said. "He's accountable for what he says and what he does. You guys have the right to ask him the questions."
Lost in the latest conflict is the fact that Plummer is off to a very impressive start to the season. Often criticized for his careless mistakes, he has gone 17 quarters without throwing an interception. In Sunday's game against New England, a 28-20 win, he threw for 262 yards and two touchdowns.
The good start, however, couldn't prevent the latest embarrassment.
And while it's true that Plummer does lots of charity work -- he was at a fund-raiser for the Jake Plummer Foundation when this latest episode began -- he hasn't exactly been a public-relations wizard over his career.
Toward the end of his time with the Arizona, Plummer said he didn't give a "rat's [expletive]" about Cardinals fans who booed him.
In Denver, he hasn't necessarily helped his image with his decision to sport a shaggy, unkempt beard, a topic that angers him seemingly whenever it comes up in interviews. He also made news when he canceled his wedding in Hawaii the day of the ceremony last year.
All those issues, he insists, are personal.
"We're not Hollywood superstars," he said.
In Denver, though, the Broncos quarterback comes close.
"You know, whatever people are going to write, they're going to write, and we have to live with that," Plummer said. "You've got to bite your tongue sometimes, and as you grow, you learn lessons and you move on from them."