Jake the Snake's dad knew best

Like a proud father, Steve Plummer sat among college football royalty last week in New York City.

He chatted with celebrities and some of the others being honored that night — Raghib Ismail, Vince Young and Lorenzo White among them. Ismail was a Heisman Trophy winner, the other two a Heisman finalist.

Then he sat with his family and watched his youngest son, Jake, get inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame — only the second Idaho-born athlete to do so — as part of a class of 13 former players — including Ismail, Young and White — and two coaches, which included former Idaho, Washington State and University of Miami coach Dennis Erickson.

“Looking at Jake,” said Steve, who has lived in Coeur d’Alene for the past 37 years, “compared to the rest of the inductees, he’s just a small, thin kid from Idaho that they never thought could play at a Division I school or in the NFL. And I guess he proved everybody wrong.”

IT WAS Steve’s first trip to the Big Apple since 1996, when Jake Plummer capped a memorable four-year career at Arizona State — one where he was minutes from leading the Sun Devils to a national championship — by being honored as a Heisman Award finalist. “Jake the Snake” finished third, behind Florida quarterback Danny Wuerffel and Iowa State running back Troy Davis.

Finishing eighth that year in the Heisman voting was a junior quarterback from Tennessee named Peyton Manning.

Jake Plummer was born in Boise and starred at Capital High, leading the Eagles to a state title as a junior and a title game appearance as a senior. His oldest brother, Brett, and his other brother, Eric, also played football at Capital.

After Arizona State, it was off to the NFL for Jake, six seasons with the Arizona Cardinals and four with the Denver Broncos.

Had Jake and the Broncos beaten the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC championship game at the end of the 2006 season, he would have faced the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl.

He retired in 2007, despite the efforts of then-Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden, who came to Coeur d’Alene in an attempt to talk Jake into joining the Buccaneers.

In retirement, Jake moved for a short time to the Sandpoint area, where Eric and his family live. One of the things he did to keep busy was serving as a volunteer driver for the local Meals on Wheels program. The people who ran the organization had no idea who he was.

Jake has since moved to Boulder, Colo., to be closer to his wife’s family. But he still has a home south of Coeur d’Alene. And years later, when visiting North Idaho staying at the home he frequents in the summer, he can slip into the local grocery store in town with no one recognizing him.

To many, he’s just Jake the humble former quarterback, someone who would rather talk about handball anyway.

“I think having two brothers like Eric and Brett, they beat up on him all the time,” Steve said. “We’re a very competitive family; we always make up competitive games. I taught all three of my boys to play handball when they were very young.

“ … He’s just a very unassuming kid from Idaho.”

BACK WHEN Jake was playing Pop Warner football, Steve remembers watching his son doing it all with his slithering style — throwing touchdown passes, returning punts for TDs, playing defense ...

The summer before Jake’s senior year at Capital, Steve sent him to a football camp at Stanford, where Bill Walsh was head coach at the time. Walsh, who in his previous head coaching job won three Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers, was impressed with Jake’s foot speed, Steve was told.

“I had some friends of mine say, ‘He should check out some local colleges,’” Steve said. “I said, ‘You need to watch Jake ... he could play anyplace.’”

As it turned out, father knew best.

Eric gave Jake the nickname “Jake the Snake,” after happening upon an autobiography of former Oakland Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler, titled “Snake.”

Jake originally gave a verbal commitment to Washington State and coach Mike Price. Iowa coach Hayden Fry was also interested, but eventually settled on another QB.

Then Arizona State coach Bruce Snyder and Sun Devils assistant Bobby Petrino came to Boise to recruit Jake, and offered him a scholarship.

Jake said he needed to check with his dad and brothers first. Jake set up a board and listed the pros and cons of going to WSU and ASU — exposure, stadium, weather in Tempe vs. weather in Pullman ...

Jake signed with ASU.

In the third game of his senior season, Jake guided the Sun Devils to a 19-0 upset of then-No. 1 Nebraska in Tempe, Ariz.

ASU was 11-0 and ranked No. 2 when the Sun Devils took on No. 4 Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. The entire Plummer family was in Pasadena, including Steve’s mother and aunt.

“Jake ran in that touchdown with about 2 minutes left and we thought, ‘Well, they’re national champions,’ and we had happy tears. And then they went into prevent defense and they (the Buckeyes) hit David Boston for a touchdown (and a 20-17 Ohio State victory), and then they were sad tears.”

Steve said he had heard Bill Walsh wanted Jake to be a 49er — he reminded him of some guy named Montana. But someone else was the Niners’ GM at the time, and they took another quarterback, Jim Druckenmiller from Virginia Tech, with the 26th overall pick.

The Arizona Cardinals gladly took Jake at No. 42.

Druckenmiller, taken for his size (6-foot-4, 241 pounds) and strong arm, lasted a total of 6 games in the NFL, passing for 239 yards and one touchdown, with four interceptions.

Meanwhile, Jake (6-2, 212) threw for 29,253 yards and 161 touchdowns in 143 regular-season games.

In 1998, Jake’s second season in the NFL, Arizona beat Dallas in the playoffs for the Cardinals’ first postseason victory since 1947 — the year Steve was born.

Jake led the Broncos to the playoffs in three of his four seasons in Denver.

“Everything worked out, I guess,” Steve said. “He’s had quite a career, and it’s been exciting for the whole family. I just feel very blessed to be a part of it.”

Steve, now 72, taught his three sons how to play handball. He still tries to play when he can, at Peak Fitness in Coeur d’Alene. He started his own lumber business in town in 1999. Now semi-retired, he brokers lumber from his home.

He’s proud of all three of his sons, including the one with the nickname and the accolades.

“He’s provided a lot of entertainment for myself and my family,” Steve said of Jake.

As well as for millions and millions of others.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.