 Adam Timmerman |
ST. LOUIS - There was a free-agent trip to Detroit last offseason, followed by a
training camp visit to Jacksonville. But Adam Timmerman probably knew he
was done as an NFL player when Washington wanted him to visit around Week Six of the regular season.
Timmerman just said no. He didn't want to uproot his wife and three
children from their home in St. Charles County.
After 12 NFL seasons, four Super Bowls, and two Pro Bowls, Timmerman has
made a seamless transition to life after football.
"No more thought of playing," he said emphatically.
He plans to submit his official retirement papers to the NFL in the coming
weeks. Last spring, Timmerman thought he would miss the game once training
camp rolled around. But he didn't. Not even when the 2007 regular season
started.
"Especially as the losses started to mount - 0-3, 0-4, or whatever - I was
like, 'I'm so glad I'm not sitting in those meeting rooms, because I know
how brutal that must be,'" Timmerman said.
The injuries on the Rams' offensive line mounted as quickly as the losses.
Whether it was at the grocery store or running an errand, Timmerman ran
into lots of fans who asked, "Hey, they need you. You going to get over
there? Are they calling?"
Timmerman lives just 15 minutes from Rams Park, but he never got a call
from the club. He wasn't really surprised, given his release from the team
last February. He's not sure if he would have returned anyway.
"It probably depends on when they would've called," he said. "And depends
on how that conversation would've went. I don't know what I would've said.
It was kind of obvious that they needed help on the offensive line."
Timmerman watched some of the Rams' games, particularly when good friend -and fellow "Donut Brother" - Andy McCollum was in the lineup. But it was
tough to watch.
"One game where I was almost embarrassed to be a former Ram was the
Baltimore game, when we couldn't hardly even get a quarterback out on the
field," Timmerman said.
Wide receiver Marques Hagans took the final two snaps at quarterback
because of injuries to Marc Bulger and Gus Frerotte. The Rams were carrying
only two quarterbacks at the time, so there was no one else.
"It just seemed ridiculous to me," Timmerman said. "That had to be hard on
the fans. I know it would've been ripping my heart out if I was on the team
and that was going on. So maybe it was better that I wasn't there."
After four seasons with Green Bay, Timmerman spent the final eight years of
his career with St. Louis. He experienced only two losing seasons as a Ram.
As to what the future holds for the Rams ...
"It seems to me that there just has to be some leadership," Timmerman said.
"Somebody's got to step up and take control of things. It's got to be your
veteran guys. ... It's got to be the guy that's going to say, 'Hey, enough
of this losing.'"
But Timmerman added, "It's hard to change to a winning attitude once you've
had a little streak where you haven't had a lot of success. It's going to
be very hard to turn it around, especially after what I saw at the end of
(2007).
"It seemed to me there was some dissension - I don't know if it was between
players and coaches - but just the way things went down at the end of the
year, it just seemed like they kind of gave it up at the end."
It was almost as if the Rams were playing for a higher draft pick,
Timmerman said.
But those no longer are his concerns. These days, he's busy changing
diapers - he has a 2-year-old daughter - and coaching son Mason's flag
football team.
Timmerman is down to a svelte 260 pounds. He's taking flying
lessons, remains active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and has a
couple of business interests that take up some - but not too much - of his
time. His wife even enjoys having him around.
"I keep joking with her, 'You just think you have a live-in nanny,'"
Timmerman said.