Jake Plummer Officially Announces Retirement

Denver Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer, who lost his job to rookie Jay Cutler in game 12 of the 2006-07 season, announced his retirement Saturday night. Plummer, on his website, The Jake Plummer Foundation left the following message:

"First, I want to thank my family and close friends for their loyal support all these fun-filled, roller-coaster years," Plummer said in a statement. "Second, I owe all of my greatest achievements in football to the men who stood by my side as my teammates and coaches. Football has been awesome to me in many ways. I leave the game with my health and happiness, and look forward to the future; I've got many rivers to cross."

Retirement rumors began when Plummer was traded Friday from the Broncos to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in return for a mid-round draft pick.

In his four years at Denver, Plummer had an 84.3 passer rating and .722 regular-season winning percentage (39- 15), better career than those of Hall of Famer John Elway (79.8 rating; .643 winning percentage). In the 2005-06 season Plummer led Denver to a 14-2 regular season record and the AFC Championship game where the Broncos were defeated by eventual Super bowl winners the Pittsburgh Steelers. In 1998, Plummer led the Arizona Cardinals to their only playoff appearance since moving to the desert, The Cardinals, led by Plummer upset the Dallas Cowboys in Dallas 20-7 in the wild-card game and lost to Minnesota 41-21 in the divisional playoff game the following week.

"Yes, that's it," Marilyn Plummer, Jake's mother, told The Denver Post when asked Friday if her son had retired. "I thought this would happen from the moment the season ended. He needs a break, but I foresee him doing something else. He's a lot like Pat Tillman. Pat would do something unexpected. Jake used to say, 'I wonder what Pat would have done next.' Jake is a lot like Pat. He has that same rebel soul."

Plummer played 10 seasons in the NFL, six with the Arizona Cardinals and four with the Broncos. He played a total of 136 games and finished his career with 29,253 passing yards. At 32, Plummer was scheduled to make $5.3 million in the coming season.

(also see, "Jake Plummer: My Take")