Discuss your thoughts about Jake Plummer retiring from football.
View a slideshow of Jake Plummer images from his career with the Broncos.
Analyze Jake Plummer's career statistics.I've got many rivers to cross."
Plummer filed retirement papers with the NFL office late Friday, according to a source close to him. So much for wild speculation that assumed Plummer was trying to pull a fast one by using his retirement as a tactical maneuver to force a trade somewhere other than to Tampa Bay, and to a situation where he has a greater chance to start.
That rumor began Friday morning after the Broncos traded Plummer - their starting quarterback from the season opener of 2003 until Game 12 of the 2006 season, when he was replaced by rookie Jay Cutler - to the Buccaneers in return for a mid-round draft pick.
That swap was nixed, however, when Plummer told his agents and the involved teams he was retiring from the NFL after 10 seasons, the last four with the Broncos.
"Yes, that's it," Marilyn Plummer, Jake's mother, told The Denver Post when asked Friday if her son had retired. "I thought this would happen from the moment the season ended. He needs a break, but I foresee him doing something else. He's a lot like Pat Tillman. Pat would do something unexpected. Jake used to say, 'I wonder what Pat would have done next.' Jake is a lot like Pat. He has that same rebel soul."
Tillman, who was Plummer's friend and teammate with the Arizona Cardinals, turned down a $3.6 million contract extension in May 2002 to enlist in the U.S. Army. He served in Iraq and later Afghanistan, where he was killed by friendly fire.
Plummer, 32, is walking away from a contract that would have paid him a $5.3 million salary in 2007.
Everyone from top-level football executives to national media analysts to fans chiming in on blogs surmised Plummer was trying to force a trade to Houston, where he would be reunited with former Broncos offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak. But the Texans would not surrender a draft pick for Plummer and trade talks between the teams evaporated.
Even the Broncos and Bucs didn't believe Plummer would retire. The teams regrouped and announced Saturday morning a contingency trade that sent Plummer's rights to Tampa Bay in exchange for a conditional draft pick in 2008.
"I think Jake Plummer will play again," Tampa Bay general manager Bruce Allen said Saturday.
Allen predicted Plummer's return even as he was simultaneously introducing the signing of another veteran quarterback, Jeff Garcia, to a two-year contract.
There should be no more mixed signals. Plummer is finished with football.
"Jake loved football, but at the same time, he did not like the other aspects that came with being a professional quarterback," said Brett Plummer, Jake's oldest brother.
No way. He had four seasons here to make his mark, and his success was mostly because of the system and talent around him, anyway.
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Definitely! Mike Shanahan never gave him a chance to play to his strengths.
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Shanahan gave up on the whole team before the season ended by bringing in Jay Cutler. When does Shanny retire?
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He didn't like the quarterback limelight. He just wanted to hang out and be a regular guy.
"And, also, in spite of playing such a physically demanding position for 10 years, Jake is in good health. He wants to leave with his health intact because there's other things he wants to do. He's into backpacking and handball and he wants to start a family. He wants to make sure he's healthy enough to play one-on- one with his kid in the backyard."
Fittingly, Plummer's retirement will not be a clean break. The NFL Players Association is expected to file a grievance against the contingency trade, arguing a retired player cannot be dealt. The Broncos may try to retrieve up to $5 million in prorated signing bonus from Plummer.
Whatever opinions Broncos fans had of Plummer, everyone had to agree they never had another one like him. He was a right-handed quarterback who occasionally tried to throw left-handed.
A free-spirited but highly competitive leader, Plummer guided the Broncos to the AFC championship game last year, only to show up to the pregame news conference with hair flowing to his shoulders, full beard, jeans and undershirt.
He spent most of Friday morning explaining to his agents and Tampa Bay officials why he was retiring. Early that same afternoon, Plummer and his girlfriend Kolette walked into the Colorado Humane Society and handed over a personalized $10,000 check. Usually, he just goes there to take the shelter dogs out for runs and walks, and writes the big checks through his foundation that benefits families and Alzheimer's patients.
There were athletic scrambles and pretty throws on the run. There were interceptions and controversies from road rage, to rage at a female reporter to a subtle if obscene gesture at a heckler.
But above all else, let the record show Plummer was a winner with the Broncos.
He finished his four-year tenure here with an 84.3 career passer rating and .722 regular-season winning percentage (39- 15) - numbers that exceeded those of Hall of Famer John Elway (79.8 rating; .643 winning percentage).
Elway, though, whipped Plummer 5-0 in leading Denver to the Super Bowl.
And now Good Jake/Bad Jake is Gonzo Jake. Having lost his starting job to Cutler late in the 2006 season, Plummer now has lost his desire to play, period.
To the very end, Plummer rolled against the norm.
"Maybe, but mostly Jake is genuine," Brett Plummer said. "He goes by his heart, not by what people think. He loves people, but only he knows his own heart."
