Bretsky
06-17-2007, 09:09 AM
Timmerman not the retiring type, yet
He still sports a crew-cut. He believes in good old-fashioned hard work, an ethic learned on his family farm growing up in Cherokee, Iowa. He lives by the values that legendary Green Bay Packers' coach Vince Lombardi stressed:
God, family, and football - in that order.
Adam Timmerman is old school.
Timmerman's father, Larry, was an avid Packer fan, who followed the team since the 1960s glory years. He watched his son develop through high school as a football, basketball, and track star (110 high hurdler) to a NCAA Division II All-American offensive lineman at South Dakota State.
He watched his son get drafted by his favorite professional team, something he might have secretly wished for when toiling side-by-side with Adam and his brother, Larry, on the family's 800-acre soybean and corn farm.
Former general manager Ron Wolf made Timmerman Green Bay's seventh-round selection in the 1995 National Football League draft. And his work ethic and "throw-back" personality quickly made him a favorite of head coach Mike Holmgren and popular with Packer fans.
"We knew we had something special right away," Wolf said. "We had him rated as a fourth-round pick, and when he was still on the board in round seven, we said let's take him. We didn't really need an offensive lineman, but he was available and turned out to be a really good player for us."
The 6-foot-4, 295-pound rookie was just happy to be drafted. Timmerman can laugh now about the moment.
"I was just so glad to be on somebody's board," Timmerman said. "It was a relief, and I was just happy to be drafted. It didn't matter when. I was excited as a first-rounder."
Timmerman not only made the Packer roster, but after being inactive for three regular-season games and seeing special action and spot guard duty in the next 13, he became a starter - out of necessity.
His baptism by fire came in the 1995 NFC playoffs, when a season-ending knee injury to starter Aaron Taylor pressed Timmerman into service. He finished the game against Atlanta at left guard and started his first game against San Francisco the following week, matching up against Bryant Young, one of the league's better defensive linemen at the time.
"He's such a great kid. I go back to when he had to go in against Atlanta when Aaron got hurt and I went up to him on the sideline and his eyes were just like this (bug eyes), and he is always smiling," Holmgren said in a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story in January 1996. "He is very unique for an offensive lineman because none of those guys ever smile."
It would not get any easier against the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship Game, facing Pro Bowl tackle Leon Lett. The Packers led 27-24 in the fourth quarter before Dallas rallied with 14 consecutive points in a 38-27 victory.
"I thought we had a great team in 1995, and I got my second start as a rookie against Dallas in the championship, a game that went down to the wire," Timmerman said. "Even though we lost that game, I'll never forget coming home to thousands of fans waiting for us at the airport."
And Timmerman would never forget winning a Super Bowl title a year later against New England in New Orleans. Or losing Super Bowl XXXII to Denver in San Diego.
"I was so young, an impressionable young player," Timmerman said of the Super Bowl victory. "I was just in my second year. One thing coach Dick Vermeil told me later when I was in St. Louis was the years really fly by - when you're winning.
"As I look back in my career, you reflect more on the tough losses than on the wins. What could I have done better so we could have won that game? We definitely missed an opportunity to win another Supper Bowl against Denver.
"All that work that goes into the season, whether you're an underdog or a favorite. There are no guaranteed victories in the National Football League -that's why you play the games."
Timmerman showcased his abilities as quarterback Brett Favre's protector and his durability by starting 48 consecutive regular-season games and all playoff contests from 1996-'98. That string would grow to more than 175 consecutive games in St. Louis.
The jovial lineman also remembers his teammates and some of the lighter moments in the locker room.
"Our offensive line pulled some pretty good jokes," Timmerman said. "One day I walked out with Marco Rivera's car keys and he had to call his wife. Another time I took stuff out of his locker and put it in his yard. Another time I put a pink slip in his locker, to go see Ron Wolf. Stuff like that."
After the 1998 season, Timmerman became a free-agent, and Wolf could not retain his services.
"The reason I'm probably not in the game any more is because of situations like Adam Timmerman," Wolf said. "One aspect of free agency is you take a guy and develop him into a very good player, and then you face either paying him a lot of money or letting him go.
"But we had to let him go. We didn't want him to leave Green Bay and he didn't want to leave Green Bay. But what can I say? He got an offer he couldn't refuse, that we couldn't match, and he was gone."
Gone to St. Louis, where he helped the Rams to a dramatic 23-16 victory over Tennessee in Super Bowl XXXIV to conclude the 1999 season. St. Louis and Timmerman returned to the Super Bowl two years later and dropped a 20-17 decision to New England.
After earning Pro Bowl honors in 1999 and 2001 and serving as one of the Rams' captains the past several years, Timmerman was released after the 2006 season.
"I've been fortunate, I've played with some great guys," Timmerman said. "Brett Favre, Reggie White, Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Gilbert Brown, Frank Winters, Keith Jackson, Earl Dotson, Torry Holt, Orlando Pace - just a ton of great players and friends."
Lee Remmel, Green Bay team historian, said: "He blocked for three different league MVPs in Brett Favre, Marshall Faulk, and Kurt Warner. Adam Timmerman is a very genial and outgoing fellow, which makes him a rare bird among offensive linemen. He, along with his wife, was also very active in the Green Bay community while they were here."
Timmerman, intense on the field, was so polite off the field he typically thanked the media after interviews.
Until a NFL team calls, Timmerman, who turns 36 Aug. 14, will continue to work and prepare himself for a 13th season. If the right situation doesn't materialize, Timmerman is comfortable with retirement.
"If something doesn't come along I'm interested in, the right place with the right coaches, I'm not going anywhere," Timmerman said. "At this stage in my career, I'm not going to uproot my family and three kids unless it's right.
"I feel it's a no-lose situation for me. If I feel led to go there, I will. If I don't, I won't be bored as I've kept up with several different businesses."
Timmerman said teams he would consider playing for include Seattle, Kansas City, and Green Bay.
"One place I would be excited about going is Green Bay," Timmerman said. "Or a team like coach Holmgren's in Seattle or a team close by like Kansas City, with my old offensive line coach (John Matsko, St. Louis). We'll see what comes along.
"We have a couple teams talking to us right now. But it will probably come down to injuries in training camp, with teams not having the players they thought they'd have."
If Timmerman's NFL career is over, he has no regrets, just fond memories.
"We loved it in Green Bay and we loved it in St. Louis," Timmerman said. "We were treated well in both places and had great friends and neighbors. I've had a great career, and with both my and my wife's families in Iowa, we'll probably one day end up back in Iowa, on the farm."
For Adam Timmerman, it's where it all began - and his faith and family remain the focal points of his life.
Timmerman and his wife, Jana, have been married for 12 years and have three children: Mason, 8, Alexa, 6, and Jada, 20 months. His beloved father passed away in May 1998 after an ATV accident.
"Mason is into baseball and Alex is playing T-ball," he said. "Both are into soccer and it's pretty cool to watch them play. I'm an assistant coach for baseball and it's fun to help out."
Timmerman said he still receives fan mail, about equal amounts from both Green Bay and St. Louis fans.
"I get mail from Packers' fans, even though it's been eight years since I played in Green Bay," Timmerman said.
"When I was with the Rams, we stayed in Appleton when we played the Packers like all the visiting teams do. I talked to a lot of Packer fans, and they say things like we want you back, you should have never left. The Packers have the greatest tradition and best fans in the NFL. They don't forget you in Green Bay."[/b][/u]
He still sports a crew-cut. He believes in good old-fashioned hard work, an ethic learned on his family farm growing up in Cherokee, Iowa. He lives by the values that legendary Green Bay Packers' coach Vince Lombardi stressed:
God, family, and football - in that order.
Adam Timmerman is old school.
Timmerman's father, Larry, was an avid Packer fan, who followed the team since the 1960s glory years. He watched his son develop through high school as a football, basketball, and track star (110 high hurdler) to a NCAA Division II All-American offensive lineman at South Dakota State.
He watched his son get drafted by his favorite professional team, something he might have secretly wished for when toiling side-by-side with Adam and his brother, Larry, on the family's 800-acre soybean and corn farm.
Former general manager Ron Wolf made Timmerman Green Bay's seventh-round selection in the 1995 National Football League draft. And his work ethic and "throw-back" personality quickly made him a favorite of head coach Mike Holmgren and popular with Packer fans.
"We knew we had something special right away," Wolf said. "We had him rated as a fourth-round pick, and when he was still on the board in round seven, we said let's take him. We didn't really need an offensive lineman, but he was available and turned out to be a really good player for us."
The 6-foot-4, 295-pound rookie was just happy to be drafted. Timmerman can laugh now about the moment.
"I was just so glad to be on somebody's board," Timmerman said. "It was a relief, and I was just happy to be drafted. It didn't matter when. I was excited as a first-rounder."
Timmerman not only made the Packer roster, but after being inactive for three regular-season games and seeing special action and spot guard duty in the next 13, he became a starter - out of necessity.
His baptism by fire came in the 1995 NFC playoffs, when a season-ending knee injury to starter Aaron Taylor pressed Timmerman into service. He finished the game against Atlanta at left guard and started his first game against San Francisco the following week, matching up against Bryant Young, one of the league's better defensive linemen at the time.
"He's such a great kid. I go back to when he had to go in against Atlanta when Aaron got hurt and I went up to him on the sideline and his eyes were just like this (bug eyes), and he is always smiling," Holmgren said in a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story in January 1996. "He is very unique for an offensive lineman because none of those guys ever smile."
It would not get any easier against the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship Game, facing Pro Bowl tackle Leon Lett. The Packers led 27-24 in the fourth quarter before Dallas rallied with 14 consecutive points in a 38-27 victory.
"I thought we had a great team in 1995, and I got my second start as a rookie against Dallas in the championship, a game that went down to the wire," Timmerman said. "Even though we lost that game, I'll never forget coming home to thousands of fans waiting for us at the airport."
And Timmerman would never forget winning a Super Bowl title a year later against New England in New Orleans. Or losing Super Bowl XXXII to Denver in San Diego.
"I was so young, an impressionable young player," Timmerman said of the Super Bowl victory. "I was just in my second year. One thing coach Dick Vermeil told me later when I was in St. Louis was the years really fly by - when you're winning.
"As I look back in my career, you reflect more on the tough losses than on the wins. What could I have done better so we could have won that game? We definitely missed an opportunity to win another Supper Bowl against Denver.
"All that work that goes into the season, whether you're an underdog or a favorite. There are no guaranteed victories in the National Football League -that's why you play the games."
Timmerman showcased his abilities as quarterback Brett Favre's protector and his durability by starting 48 consecutive regular-season games and all playoff contests from 1996-'98. That string would grow to more than 175 consecutive games in St. Louis.
The jovial lineman also remembers his teammates and some of the lighter moments in the locker room.
"Our offensive line pulled some pretty good jokes," Timmerman said. "One day I walked out with Marco Rivera's car keys and he had to call his wife. Another time I took stuff out of his locker and put it in his yard. Another time I put a pink slip in his locker, to go see Ron Wolf. Stuff like that."
After the 1998 season, Timmerman became a free-agent, and Wolf could not retain his services.
"The reason I'm probably not in the game any more is because of situations like Adam Timmerman," Wolf said. "One aspect of free agency is you take a guy and develop him into a very good player, and then you face either paying him a lot of money or letting him go.
"But we had to let him go. We didn't want him to leave Green Bay and he didn't want to leave Green Bay. But what can I say? He got an offer he couldn't refuse, that we couldn't match, and he was gone."
Gone to St. Louis, where he helped the Rams to a dramatic 23-16 victory over Tennessee in Super Bowl XXXIV to conclude the 1999 season. St. Louis and Timmerman returned to the Super Bowl two years later and dropped a 20-17 decision to New England.
After earning Pro Bowl honors in 1999 and 2001 and serving as one of the Rams' captains the past several years, Timmerman was released after the 2006 season.
"I've been fortunate, I've played with some great guys," Timmerman said. "Brett Favre, Reggie White, Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Gilbert Brown, Frank Winters, Keith Jackson, Earl Dotson, Torry Holt, Orlando Pace - just a ton of great players and friends."
Lee Remmel, Green Bay team historian, said: "He blocked for three different league MVPs in Brett Favre, Marshall Faulk, and Kurt Warner. Adam Timmerman is a very genial and outgoing fellow, which makes him a rare bird among offensive linemen. He, along with his wife, was also very active in the Green Bay community while they were here."
Timmerman, intense on the field, was so polite off the field he typically thanked the media after interviews.
Until a NFL team calls, Timmerman, who turns 36 Aug. 14, will continue to work and prepare himself for a 13th season. If the right situation doesn't materialize, Timmerman is comfortable with retirement.
"If something doesn't come along I'm interested in, the right place with the right coaches, I'm not going anywhere," Timmerman said. "At this stage in my career, I'm not going to uproot my family and three kids unless it's right.
"I feel it's a no-lose situation for me. If I feel led to go there, I will. If I don't, I won't be bored as I've kept up with several different businesses."
Timmerman said teams he would consider playing for include Seattle, Kansas City, and Green Bay.
"One place I would be excited about going is Green Bay," Timmerman said. "Or a team like coach Holmgren's in Seattle or a team close by like Kansas City, with my old offensive line coach (John Matsko, St. Louis). We'll see what comes along.
"We have a couple teams talking to us right now. But it will probably come down to injuries in training camp, with teams not having the players they thought they'd have."
If Timmerman's NFL career is over, he has no regrets, just fond memories.
"We loved it in Green Bay and we loved it in St. Louis," Timmerman said. "We were treated well in both places and had great friends and neighbors. I've had a great career, and with both my and my wife's families in Iowa, we'll probably one day end up back in Iowa, on the farm."
For Adam Timmerman, it's where it all began - and his faith and family remain the focal points of his life.
Timmerman and his wife, Jana, have been married for 12 years and have three children: Mason, 8, Alexa, 6, and Jada, 20 months. His beloved father passed away in May 1998 after an ATV accident.
"Mason is into baseball and Alex is playing T-ball," he said. "Both are into soccer and it's pretty cool to watch them play. I'm an assistant coach for baseball and it's fun to help out."
Timmerman said he still receives fan mail, about equal amounts from both Green Bay and St. Louis fans.
"I get mail from Packers' fans, even though it's been eight years since I played in Green Bay," Timmerman said.
"When I was with the Rams, we stayed in Appleton when we played the Packers like all the visiting teams do. I talked to a lot of Packer fans, and they say things like we want you back, you should have never left. The Packers have the greatest tradition and best fans in the NFL. They don't forget you in Green Bay."[/b][/u]