A big brother defends his younger sibling, no matter what. Who cares if both fellows are grown men, long past the age of fisticuffs on the playground? Even if little bro is an NFL quarterback paid millions of dollars, the big guy has his back.
Forever.
After a passionate defense of Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer, an angry e-mail sent to me arrived at a loud conclusion, punctuated with these fighting words: “Disgusted that I dignified your existence.”
No surprise there. In addition to a great seat at all the big games, one of the many perks of being a sports columnist is the opportunity to be called an idiot by total strangers on a regular basis.
But the signature to this particular angry e-mail raised an eyebrow.
Tapping on a computer keyboard in Idaho, Eric Plummer was looking to settle a score with a smart-aleck newspaper hack.
Eric Plummer is the oldest brother of Denver’s quarterback, who wears No. 16 on the football field, but walks around town with a bull’s-eye on his back.
“I am Jake’s brother,” Eric Plummer said Thursday, shocked to hear my voice on the telephone. “And I did write you.”
Guess blood is thicker than Broncomania.
“When a QB plays good and his team loses, it’s always ‘You’re judged by wins and losses.’ Seems hypocritical that when a QB doesn’t play well, but does enough to get a win, he still gets lambasted. Maybe this is only true in Denver,” Eric Plummer had written last week, with words so intense his e-mail hummed like electricity running through high-voltage wires.
But know what’s crazy?
It’s what Eric Plummer does for a job.
Oh, you’re gonna love this.
The big brother of Denver’s often-lambasted quarterback is a sportswriter.
He works for the Bonner County Daily Bee, which is at least 2,000 miles from The New York Times.
Maybe his paycheck cannot compare to salaries in the Big Apple, but for anybody who loves fresh air, Eric Plummer lives a lot closer to heaven in Sandpoint, Idaho.
“I do the whole kit and caboodle,” said Plummer, who reports stories, snaps photographs and designs the sports pages. He does everything except toss the newspaper on doorsteps.
But of all vocations, why, oh why, did the quarterback’s brother have to become an ink-stained wretch?
In the eyes of Jake the Snake, sportswriters rank somewhere on the evolutionary scale between a slimy amoeba and a slobbering linebacker. Jake Plummer would like them all exiled to Jupiter.
“Writing is something I love to do. I’ve been a roofer. I’ve been a coach. I don’t think my brother cares what I do, one way or another,” said Eric Plummer, at 34 three years older than his famous baby brother.
Jake Plummer often gives props to his two elder siblings, Eric and Brett, for being the most influential people in his athletic career.
Survive the humiliation and bloody noses guaranteed during childhood pick-up games in the driveway, and a little brother earns the eternal devotion of those same raw-boned kids who taught him sports at the school of hard knocks.
“Instead of ripping Jake, have you ever asked why he’s asked to play like Trent Green (of Kansas City)?” Eric suggested when he fired the e-mail between his brother’s inept performance against the Chiefs and superb showing versus New England.
“Jake is one of the best athletes playing quarterback today, and perhaps reining him in and making him afraid to make a mistake is robbing him of the very things that made him a good QB to begin with. (Brett) Favre has thrown a ton of picks his whole career. Why hasn’t (Jake) bootlegged once this year?”
To which I say: Right on, dude.
But you think Mike Shanahan’s ears are burning?
Um, the coach would like to see you in his office, Eric.
And better bring your earplugs. Shanny does not always take kindly to wretches who dare to question his football IQ.
I know. I’ve been there, and have the scars to prove it.
When covering a prep soccer match, Eric Plummer writes it straight, in a no-nonsense, inverted pyramid style. “My mantra is to shed a positive light on local sports,” he said.
In his role as big brother, however, Eric Plummer talks smack, boldly taking on all challengers, and goes so far as to diss my photograph in the The Denver Post.
“You’re not even an ex-jock,” Eric Plummer protested in his correspondence, “and judging from your mug shot, kind of a dorky little guy.”
Hey, he got that right.
Sometimes, the truth hurts.
Maybe Jake Plummer’s big bro has a future in the sportswriting business, after all.
Staff writer Mark Kiszla can be reached at 303-954-1053 or mkiszla@denverpost.com.
