The Players That Made Me: Jake Plummer shares his inspirations and personal stories from a life in football

[Miles]

College: Deion Sanders


“That’s when I got coached. Bobby Petrino was my first quarterback coach [at Arizona State], so right off I was chewed to pieces on the whiteboard, because it looked sloppy and wasn’t professional. So I learned right away, OK, this is a craft. It’s time to master it. I learned as much as I could from him about defenses, how to beat defenses, what coverages there were and what their weaknesses were. That’s when it really started to happen.


“And then after that, I had another good coach, Dan Henson, but my junior year is when I had Hue Jackson, who went from, like, the mental side was already there and he kept building that, but then he had me work on my mechanics. I mean, tirelessly in the offseason to where I got my drop went from being kind of janky to a real smooth drop. …


“Troy Aikman was really who I learned a lot from, from watching. … Elway was still kicking ass then, too. And even Joe, I think, was still playing. …


“And then that’s when Deion came on the scene, too. Deion Sanders — I was just hoping that they’d stop the offense so that they would punt and see what the hell he’d do with that punt return. That guy was — and still to this day is — one of my favorite athletes of all time. …


“Shoot, I was watching him [later during my NFL career], going, This guy’s amazing. And now I’m in the league and I’m being coached to not throw at him? Whatever! I’m in the league for how long? I’m going to throw at the best in the world. So I went after him — not after him — but I would go to his side. If my guy was in the read, I’d go there. He picked me off a few times, yeah, but that’s OK. So did Champ, so did every good DB. But they respect me now more because I actually challenged them, where some guys don’t even challenge them. But, yeah, Deion was tops on my list there. …


“I [was] playing in this … Tazon Latino all-star game [in 2015]. And in walks Deion, and everyone in the room is like, ‘Deion!’ and talking in Spanish. And he’s loved by all of these people. Then he comes and sees me — my brothers and my best buddy are with me — and I’m like, ‘What’s up, Deion?’ and he’s like, ‘What’s up, Snake?’ … This was after retirement, but still, the feeling from that … man. To know that Deion, when he sees you, [he] knows you — and respects me, because I went after him in the league.”