By Drew Silverman
Red Line Editorial
For years, Jake Plummer had no choice but to be on the move.
As a star quarterback at Arizona State and then for 10 NFL seasons with the Arizona Cardinals and Denver Broncos, Plummer was constantly being chased by massive linemen, chiseled linebackers and blazing defensive backs with all-world speed.
Now, two months before turning 50, Plummer’s choice to stay active is more a decision that he’s making.
His football days are way in the rear-view mirror. He jokes that he’s not old enough to play golf. And even handball, which at times has been one of Plummer’s fiercest passions, is not on his schedule as much as it used to be.
“I just love to play,” Plummer said. “With pickleball, I can play, compete and laugh. It’s less taxing on the body, it’s still a ton of fun, you’re staying active and you’re getting to play a game with a wide array of people, which is what makes it so appealing.”
Plummer actually was exposed to pickleball earlier than most people. Nearly 35 years ago, as a sophomore in high school, he was staying at a hotel in Providence, Rhode Island. On the roof of the hotel was a pickleball court.
“We played it, and I was like, ‘Man this is fun,’” he recalled.
Unfortunately, there were no courts back home in Boise, Idaho. So, Plummer and his brother drew a rectangle on the driveway and rallied back and forth, sometimes even using their hands when no paddles were available.
Over the years, he’d see a real pickleball court “here and there,” but obviously that all changed with the explosion of the sport over the last decade. He finally got re-involved about seven years ago, playing a match against some older women. But if you think the former professional athlete had the advantage in that matchup, you’d better think again.
“The next day I could not walk,” Plummer said. “I was like, ‘Oh boy, I’m not taking care of myself.’ So I started playing more and it got me back on a path to wellness, which was phenomenal for me.”
Plummer quips that, as you get older, you have two options: You can just sit around and be sore, or you can be sore from having fun and playing a game that you love.
“For some people, the only movement they make is grabbing the remote control or getting the newspaper,” Plummer said. “What I love about pickleball is that it’s getting people up, it’s getting them out, and it’s helping them feel good. Movement is key — and that’s why I think this game is so great.”
Plummer will be taking part in USA Pickleball’s Dinks for a Difference Celebrity Match presented by Lerner & Rowe at the 2024 Biofreeze USA Pickleball National Championships. The event benefits USA Pickleball Serves, the charitable arm of USA Pickleball.
“It’s all for a good cause,” said Plummer, who also will be holding his own charity event in February. “We’re building awareness for the ability of this game to unify people in a friendly, competitive way.”
In fact, he’d like to see more former NFL players — and more athletes in general — getting involved with the game he loves.
“There’s a big opportunity for athletes to get moving again, while also giving them a chance to give back to their communities, especially the youth community and the underserved,” Plummer said.
Additionally, Plummer is trying to make a difference in the athletic community by stressing the value of functional mushrooms for athletes. He is a co-founder of Umbo, which designs food and supplements that use mushrooms to give an athletes an edge with performance and recovery.
“We often think of an athlete as someone who plays a professional sport,” Plummer said, “but pickleball players are athletes. We’ve built our company around performing as athletes and recovering. These organisms are a natural way to prepare your body for being active again.”
That’s part of the reason Plummer is so passionate about mushrooms — and about pickleball. He clearly knows the importance of staying active, whether you’re on the pickleball court or on the gridiron.
“Especially for football players, with the damage we’ve done to our minds and our bodies, if you don’t stay active and move, it can get worse rapidly,” Plummer said. “So I have a desire to introduce this game to more guys — and get more guys active.”
Yet, while Plummer is a competitive athlete who has played sports at the highest level, he acknowledges that the competition is not what motivates him to pick up a paddle.
“It’s always fun to go play,” Plummer said. “I don’t care about winning or losing, but that’s just me. It’s fun to play a sport that is appealing to more people than just big, bulky, strong men. This is a ‘life sport.’ I believe ‘life sports’ are really important. So, I’m not trying to be the best in the world. I just love to play.”
Drew Silverman is a freelance contributor to USA Pickleball on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
