Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 06:03, 26 November 2006

{{NFL.com player}} template missing ID and not present in Wikidata. Jason Steven Plummer (born December 19, 1974 in Boise, Idaho) is an American football player who plays quarterback for the Denver Broncos. He went to Arizona State University as a four-year starter. Sports fans refer to Plummer as "Jake the Snake". Plummer went to high school at Capital High School in Boise. An All-American at Capital, Plummer passed for 6,097 yards and 68 touchdowns, completing 69 percent of his passes. In addition, he also ran for over 600 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground. Plummer led the Capital Eagles to a state high school football title in 1991, defeating the previously unbeaten Twin Falls Bruins in the championship game.

In 1993, Plummer enrolled at Arizona State, where he became the first true freshman to start at quarterback since 1984. As a starter, he compiled a 15-8 record in Sun Devil Stadium. Plummer is the school's all-time leader in pass completions, passing attempts, and passing yards, and his 65 career touchdown passes in college are ranked third all-time in Pac-10 conference history. One of his most notable games as an ASU player was in 1996 when he led the team to a 19-0 victory over defending national champion Nebraska; he was 20-26 for almost 300 yards in that game. That year he was one of the finalists for the Heisman Trophy. At Arizona State, he became great friends with Pat Tillman, who were also teammates on the Arizona Cardinals squad before Tillman decided to go to the Army.

NFL career

Drafted in the second round of the 1997 NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals, Plummer started that season as the third-string QB behind Kent Graham and Stoney Case, but made his first appearance of the season on the road against the Philadelphia Eagles. He entered the game with 10:26 left and promptly led the Cardinals 14 play, 98 yard touchdown drive to tie the game. That season, he set rookie records for the Cardinals in passing (157 of 296 for 2,203 yards) with 15 touchdown passes and 15 interceptions. In only his fourth NFL start, he set an NFL rookie record with 388 passing yards against the New York Giants, breaking Troy Aikman's mark of 379 established against the Cardinals in 1989. Plummer finished 3-6 as a starter and the Cardinals finished last in the NFC East.

The year 1998 was an up and down season for Plummer. He threw for 3,737 yards and 17 touchdowns but was intercepted 20 times. The Cardinals were 6-7 before winning their final 3 games by a total of 8 points, all in dramatic fashion, to clinch the franchise's first playoff birth since 1982. He then led the Cardinals to their first playoff victory since 1947, 20-6 at Texas Stadium against the Dallas Cowboys. Plummer's ability to lead the team to victory in these close games certainly gave credence to the "Snake" nickname. Also named as a Pro Bowl Alternate.

The year 1999 was an injury-plagued season for Plummer. He suffered a sprained thumb in the second preseason game, broke his finger midway through the season and had nagging hip and groin problems as well. These injuries were partly the reason why he had a bad year; 2,111 passing yards, nine touchdown passes and 24 interceptions for a 50.8 passer rating. He finished 4-8 as a starter and the Cardinals went 6-10 to finish 4th in the NFC East and out of the playoffs.

In 2000, Plummer continued his passing woes from the 1999 season, having slightly better numbers (2,946 yards, 21 interceptions, 66.0 quarterback rating), and reached 10,000 career passing yards in only his 47th career start. In 14 starts he compiled a 3-11 record and the Cardinals finished 3-13 and in last place in the NFC East.

The year 2001 just happened to be Plummer's best season in the NFL at that point in his career. He was one of two quarterbacks to take every snap for his team (Kerry Collins was the other), and he passed for 3,653 yards, 18 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. He had a stretch of 142 consecutive pass attempts without throwing an interception until January 6, 2002, when he threw an interception to rookie Redskin linebacker Antonio Pierce. He led the NFL in fourth-quarter passing yards in 2001 (1,227) and led the Cardinals to a 7-9 record and a 4th place in the NFC East.

Plummer's last season with the Cardinals was in 2002. Again, his passing marks were rather mediocre (53.6 passer rating, 2,972 yards, 18 touchdowns and 20 interceptions), but he passed the 15,000 yard passing yards mark for his career against the San Diego Chargers on September 22.

Plummer signed as a free agent with the Denver Broncos in 2003, replacing Brian Griese as the starting quarterback. With the guidance of the Broncos's head coach Mike Shanahan, he had his best season as an NFL quarterback to that point. Controversially, in the first game of the season he pretended to have a concussion to mask a shoulder injury. He finished the season with a career high 91.2 rating. He had the longest run by a Broncos QB on Monday Night Football, 40 yards against the Oakland Raiders. He led them to a wild card playoff berth where they were beaten by the Indianapolis Colts 41-10 at the RCA Dome.

2004 was a roller coaster ride for Plummer. Along with matching or surpassing some of former Broncos QB John Elway's passing records (including the most passing yards and tying for the most touchdown passes in the season), he also threw for 20 interceptions, and was seen giving an obscene gesture to the fans in one game. He led the Broncos to a second straight wild card playoff berth at Indianapolis against the Colts where they again soundly beaten, 49-24.

2005: No Mistake Jake

In his third year playing for Denver, he threw 227 pass attempts without an interception, causing some to christen him Jake No Mistake, or No Mistake Jake rhyming with his older more well known nickname Jake the Snake. The Broncos relied on the running of Mike Anderson and Tatum Bell, which decreased the number of difficult throws Plummer was required to make. Furthermore, even when the running game stalled, he was still able to pass the football efficiently and without costly errors, finishing the season with 18 touchdowns and only 7 interceptions. He was selected as the second alternate for the 2006 Pro Bowl and was placed on the Pro Bowl roster after injuries to quarterback Carson Palmer and first alternate Drew Brees. However, Plummer had an injury to tend to, causing him to miss his first Pro Bowl appearance. He was replaced by Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair.

The Broncos played excellent football in 2005, capturing the AFC West Title with a 13-3 record and earning the second overall seed in their conference. In an important milestone, the Broncos achieved their first playoff victory since the retirement of John Elway, defeating the defending champion New England Patriots 27-13 at Invesco Field at Mile High. Despite these accomplishments, some critics and media predicted that Plummer's transformation was a façade and that he would inevitably revert to his old ways. The Broncos were defeated 34-17 by the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship game on January 22, 2006, a game in which Plummer threw two interceptions and fumbled twice, losing both to the Pittsburgh defense.

The Beard

Up until near the end of the 2004 season, Plummer had always kept his hair short and face shaved. However, he started growing it out, and although it was very obvious that his appearance had changed, the fans and the local media didn't take serious notice until well into the 2005 season. The shaggy beard, which could clearly be seen protruding from his chinstrap, earned Plummer nicknames like "Mountain Man Jake", "Pornstache Plummer", and "Grizzly Adams Plummer". It was so heavily discussed by football enthusiasts that it sometimes overshadowed his performance in the game. Plummer stated that he was growing his hair and beard in honor of his best friend Pat Tillman, who sported long hair for quite some time. Plummer has shown great support of him. He was under scrutiny by the NFL in 2004 after he refused to take out the number 40 decal (Tillman's number) for several games after all the NFL teams sported decals of his number for one game. Finally, Plummer and the NFL agreed to celebrate the troops and Tillman during halftime of one of the Broncos' home games. When the Broncos played against the Steelers in the 2005 AFC Championship game, their quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was also sporting slightly longer than normal hair and a scruffy stubble, leading to one radio announcer saying that the game was a battle between Grizzly Adams (Plummer) and Sasquatch (Roethlisberger). When the 2006 season came, however, Plummer appeared to have his short hair again, showing that he probably cut off all his long hair during the off-season.

Career stats

External links

• Let Plummer Play Jake Plummer Fansite
• On-line Pro-Jake Plummer Shop
• Jake Plummer at ESPN.com

• 1974 births
• Living people
• American football quarterbacks
• Arizona Cardinals players
• Denver Broncos players
• People from Idaho
• Arizona State Sun Devils football players
• People from Boise, Idaho