Sachem alum Jumbo Elliott was a guest on the “Bald Faced Truth” radio show on 750 The Game in Oregon this week and spoke candidly about being on the nomination list for induction to the College Football Hall of Fame.
Elliott, who has done very few media appearances since his retirement from the NFL, was open about his time with the Jets and Giants and gave great insight into his time at Michigan. Of course, he was also asked about the Monday Night Miracle catch and playing for Bill Parcells, both topics that allow for endless commentary.
Here’s a transcription of the interview:
On wearing his Super Bowl ring: “I keep it in a safe place. I’m not much for jewelry. It’s more of a symbol for me. It’s more about the journey, the team bonding and the experience, is 99 percent of it. The ring is really a symbol of that, but you know most guys aren’t really into jewelry and rings. It means a lot, but it’s more about the coaches, relationships and the work to get there.”
On playing in New York: “I was born and raised out on Long Island, New York and I went to Michigan. Most people think because of the way I speak I’m from the midwest. It’s definitely cool to play in New York. New York people are a different breed. They are rabid terrific fans. It was cool to play with the Giants early on. You know it was before free agency and salary caps, so you could have a much deeper team and tighter team. Football is still terrific and better for the players, but it’s a different game now. I tend to favor the Super Bowl memories of the Giants, although I loved when Parcells came over to the Jets, with all the guys who came over and joined the organization, they were able to turn it around to some extent.”
What made Parcells a winner? “Besides Bo Schembechler, who was the most intense man I’ve ever met, he was my coach at Michigan, I think the second most intense man may be Bill Parcells. He has a presence about him. It’s one of those coaches where you could be sitting in a training room getting iced down, or getting your ankles taped, and before he even entered the hall or entered the room, this feeling, this presence would enter the room. He’s just one of those guys who has an aura about him. He knew people and personalities very well. He knew what buttons to push. The good coaches are really able to evaluate their players and know how to get the most out of them and he was one of those.”
On playing for the Jets before Parcells arrived: “It was so hectic and disorganized. Parcells comes in the door and all of a sudden from the secretaries to the coaches to the players everybody was dotting their I’s and crossing their T’s. It was the only time in my life I’d be training on a Friday afternoon in the weight room, putting in some work, and I’d see coaches leaving at 4 or 5 o’clock in the afternoon. I never saw that in my life. I was always used to the Bo’s and the Parcells, and coaches like Bill Belichick, staying there until 10, 11, 12, 1 o’clock in the morning. I’m just very thankful Parcells came over to the Jets.”
On playing offensive line for then Michigan quarterback Jim Harbaugh: “I love Jimmy Harbaugh. I have a good memories of my time at Michigan. One of my favorite memories of all is playing at The Big House and we had Ohio State come up there and Jimmy hit John Kolesar for the win. One of my all-time favorite memories. I remember I was blocking and typical Jimmy Harbaugh he just got whacked. In the middle of getting knocked out he threw up a good pass to Johnny Kolesar who streaked down the left sideline and scored for us. The student section is going crazy, our whole team is down in the end zone. I turned around and went back to Jimmy and he didn’t know where he was. He was one tough guy and that’s how he played in the pros too. He was very competitive and now look at him. When I watch him I see a lot of modernized Bo Schembechler.”
On how he developed at Michigan: “I changed immensely. I was a really raw talent. I managed to somehow start for four years at Michigan, but I redshirted my freshman year and that was invaluable. I was really like a baby giraffe when I arrived at Michigan. They took me, molded me, I started to mature physically and they helped my progress on the field immensely. With the right coaching and right work ethic you keep evolving as a player. I was very fortunate to get into a solid program like Michigan.”
On being on the College Football HOF ballott: “Really it’s an honor. All of the players who I played with instantly came back into my head. We had so much fun and working together playing for Michigan. It was truly a terrific period in my life.”
On the Monday Night Miracle touchdown catch: “It was at the tail end of my career and I came back to the Jets. I had some severe spine issues, so I came in as a break-the-glass emergency kind of guy and help almost as an assistant coach with technique practice. We’re down and it was looking bad. You know the mood. You can see it in people’s eyes. I remember Vinny Testaverde, who has the most fabulous arm, he started calling his own plays in the second half and he really started to light it up with Wayne Chrebet. We’re in a situation where we can tie it up and hopefully go into overtime. We were in a goal line package and I came in as an extra tight end. I’m an eligible receiver. Vinny calls the play and we go to the line of scrimmage and I’m like ‘oh my, fill in the blank’.” As I’m getting in my stance, I’m like this thing is coming to me. He’s going through the cadence and inside I’m like, ‘I can’t blow this, I can’t blow this’.” I released, get past the linebacker, go a little turn around, a little hook pattern. I think I caught the thing seven or eight times. I started bobbling it. I was fighting that thing all the way to the ground. Finally I said screw this and cradled it and squeezed it as hard as I could. Thank goodness I caught it because of all the hard work the fellas put in.”
Jumbo will learn if he is inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame this spring.
CLICK HERE to listen to the entire Jumbo interview
-Words by Chris R. Vaccaro