Three years ago, Jake Plummer walked away from a $5 Million NFL contract at the relatively young age of 32. Since then he has started playing handball on a regular basis. Not just another player, the former professional star has steadily improved his game and has won several weekend tournaments. The 6’ 2’’, 212 lb quarterback with a strong throwing arm was a natural for the sport. Having been a star basketball player in a high school it wasn’t a stretch for him to take up handball with its similar pace and moves. And he’s not just playing the sport, he’s helping to promote it nationwide and is encouraging youth athletes to not just focus on one sport, but to also give handball a try. At 35 he’s a little bit older than desired for new players, but rumors of him pushing for a spot on the national team are now starting to surface……..
Unfortunately, the handball “Jake the Snake” has really taken up as a hobby is the 4 walled variety which is more well known in the U.S. Symptomatic of the struggle Team Handball has in this country to gain traction, there are probably as many, if not more, main stream press articles on this retired quarterback’s handball exploits as there is on the Olympic sport version.
Video: Jake Plummer talks about his handball legacy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGLeOxgZL_Q&feature=player_embedded#
Yahoo Sports (4 Nov 10): Ex-NFL QB Jake Plummer is playing a new sport these days: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Ex-NFL-QB-Jake-Plummer-is-playing-a-new-sport-th?urn=nfl-282499
ESPN (13 Nov 08): Where in the world is Jake Plummer? Playing handball http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=clemmons/081112&sportCat=nfl
Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jake_Plummer