FEATURE
Former NFL QB keeps active with pickleball
Plummer ’ s new passion
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 , he was constantly being chased by defenses .
Now , shortly before turning 50 , Plummer ’ s need to stay active is more a decision that he ’ s making .
His football days are 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 .
These days , the former Pro Bowl quarterback is focused on a new pastime : pickleball .
“ 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 was exposed to pickleball earlier than most people . Nearly 35 years ago , as a high school sophomore , he stayed at a hotel with a rooftop pickleball court .
“ We played it , and I felt 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 that all changed with the explosion of the sport over the last decade . He got reacquainted with it 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 explained . “ I thought , ‘ 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 .”
He even took 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 benefited USA Pickleball Serves , the charitable arm of USA Pickleball .
Plummer is also trying to make a difference in the athletic community as a co-founder of Umbo , a company that designs food and supplements that use mushrooms to give athletes an edge with performance and recovery . “ We ’ ve built our company around performing as athletes and recovering . These organisms [ functional mushrooms ] are a natural way to prepare your body for being active again . 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 . So I have a desire to introduce this game to more guys — and get more guys active .”
That ’ s part of the reason Plummer is so passionate about pickleball — and mushrooms .
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