Quentin Jammer
Encyclopedia
Quentin Tremaine Jammer (born June 19, 1979) is an American football
player who currently plays cornerback
for the San Diego Chargers
of the NFL
.
. In football, he was a two-time All-District safety, cornerback, linebacker, wide receiver, and quarterback as a senior, was the District Defensive MVP. He also won three letters in track and field
, and participated in the long jump, 100 meter dash, and the 200 meter dash.
Longhorn
football team from 1997 to 2001. As a senior, he was named to the first-team All-American squad and received first-team selections to the All-Big 12 Conference
squads his junior and senior years. He was named co-MVP
his senior year and recorded seven interceptions (tied school record) as well as 195 tackles throughout his entire career.
.
(* represents NFL Combine
)
, Jammer said, "All the rule changes for the offense have altered the game. It's turned football into track with pads. Before you know it, the receivers are going to have a free run at you. You can't touch them at all. The rules got me away from my game," Jammer said. "When physical corners start finessing it, that's not their style."
Jammer has also been criticized for his lack of interceptions. In 62 career games leading up to the 2006 season, Jammer had only recorded six interceptions, including just two total in the 2004 and 2005 seasons. When the Chargers extended Jammer's contract during the 2006 offseason, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union Tribune wrote that "... he is widely considered by Chargers fans to be among the team's weak links, mostly for the fact he has just six career interceptions." Acee later wrote of Jammer: "In recent seasons Jammer has been without a doubt the most vilified Charger. It was difficult to tell whether he was disliked (perhaps too mild a term) more for what he did (get called for a lot of penalties) or what he didn't do (make interceptions). It's possible in the past decade there has been only one other Charger (do we really need to say his name?) who drew more wrath from the faithful."
During Jammer's first four years with the Chargers, the team regularly finished at or near the bottom of the league in terms of pass defense. Except for the 2003 season, the team was in the bottom five in terms of pass defense every year from 2002 to 2005. This led many Charger fans to become frustrated with Jammer, as due to his high draft position he became a symbol for the Chargers' failure to assemble a solid secondary. In turn, Jammer was often at odds with fans over their criticisms. In a September 2005 interview, Jammer said of the fans: "Those people are idiots. (They) don't know anything about football...They're not going to bother me." Many fans could often be heard chanting, "Lito, Lito" every time Jammer was beaten by a receiver, a reference to Lito Sheppard
, the two-time Pro-Bowl cornerback of the Philadelphia Eagles
who was taken after Jammer in the 2002 draft.
In recent years, supporters of Jammer noted that the Chargers had a poor pass defense not because of Jammer, but because of their anemic pass rush. But in 2005, the Chargers had one of the top front 7s in the NFL, featuring Pro Bowler and NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award winner Shawne Merriman
and Pro Bowler Jamal Williams
. Despite this fearsome pass rush, the Chargers still finished 28th in the league in pass defense. A reason for this may be that the 3-4 defense, which the Chargers use under Ted Cottrell
, typically has larger, slower players in the front seven than in the respective positions in the 4-3, leaving more pressure on the defensive backs.
During training camp he signed a new five-year contract extension that will run through the 2012 season. The 2006 offseason saw an overhaul of the Chargers' secondary after many disappointing years. The team signed former Carolina Panthers
safety Marlon McCree
as a free agent, and they spent a first round draft choice on cornerback Antonio Cromartie
. McCree's veteran presence had an immediate impact on the secondary, including Jammer, who surpassed his 2005 interception total in only the third game of the season. Although Jammer only recorded one more interception in the remaining 13 games, the 2006 season was his best and most consistent as a pro. Towards the middle of the season, Jammer showed signs of turning into a shutdown cornerback, and QBs rarely threw at him. He closed out the Chargers 21-14 win over Oakland on Nov. 26 with an interception on first play after two-minute warning. He finished the season leading the team in interceptions with 4 and with a career high in tackles helping the Chargers finished 13th in the league in pass defense.
Jammer critics point to the 3rd and 10, long bomb Reche Caldwell
caught in the divisional playoff game against the New England Patriots
as a sign that Jammer is still not meeting expectations. Jammer, in blitz-scheme, short area press coverage, was not able to help the defense recover from an ineffective jailhouse blitz and Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady
comfortably stepped up in the pocket to loft a deep strike to Caldwell. Despite Brady's completion to Caldwell, Jammer had a strong day limiting Patriot receivers, in the 2007 AFC Championship game against the Patriots, he had an outstanding performance, limiting Randy Moss to 1 reception for 12 yards, and intercepting Tom Brady once.
, former Seahawk
Cedric Woodard
, and brother of current Texas Longhorn cornerback Quandre Diggs.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player who currently plays cornerback
Cornerback
A cornerback is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in American and Canadian football. Cornerbacks cover receivers, to defend against pass offenses and make tackles. Other members of the defensive backfield include the safeties and occasionally linebackers. The cornerback position...
for the San Diego Chargers
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
of the NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
.
Early years
Quentin Jammer attended Angleton High School in Angleton, TexasAngleton, Texas
Angleton is a city in and the county seat of Brazoria County, Texas, United States, within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. Angleton lies at the intersection of State Highway 288, State Highway 35, and the Union Pacific Railroad. The population was 18,130 at the 2000 census...
. In football, he was a two-time All-District safety, cornerback, linebacker, wide receiver, and quarterback as a senior, was the District Defensive MVP. He also won three letters in track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
, and participated in the long jump, 100 meter dash, and the 200 meter dash.
College career
Quentin Jammer played for The University of TexasUniversity of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
Longhorn
Texas Longhorn Athletics
Texas Longhorns athletics programs include the extramural and intramural sports teams of The University of Texas at Austin. These teams are referred to as the Texas Longhorns , taking their name from the Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and are now the...
football team from 1997 to 2001. As a senior, he was named to the first-team All-American squad and received first-team selections to the All-Big 12 Conference
Big 12 Conference
The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference of ten schools located in the Central United States, with its headquarters located in Las Colinas, a community in the Dallas, Texas suburb of Irving...
squads his junior and senior years. He was named co-MVP
Most Valuable Player
In sports, a Most Valuable Player award is an honor typically bestowed upon the best performing player or players on a specific team, in an entire league, or for a particular contest or series of contests...
his senior year and recorded seven interceptions (tied school record) as well as 195 tackles throughout his entire career.
2002 NFL Draft
Jammer was drafted by the Chargers 5th overall in the 1st round of the 2002 NFL Draft2002 NFL Draft
The 2002 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936. The draft took place April 20–21, 2002 at the theater at...
.
| Pre-draft measureables | ||||||
| Wt | 40 yd 40 yard dash The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL Draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time in the 40 can have a heavy impact on his prospects in college or professional football... |
20 ss 20 yard shuttle The 20-yard shuttle, also simply called the short shuttle, is a test performed by American football athletes at the NFL combine. It is primarily run to evaluate the quickness and change-of-direction ability of players by scouts, particularly for the NFL Draft but also for collegiate recruiting... |
3-cone 3 cone drill The 3 cone drill, or three cone drill, is a test performed by American football athletes at the NFL combine. It is primarily run to evaluate the agility, quickness and fluidity of movement of players by scouts, particularly for the NFL Draft but also for collegiate recruiting... |
Vert Vertical jump A vertical jump or vertical leap is the act of raising one's center of gravity higher in the vertical plane solely with the use of one's own muscles; it is a measure of how high an individual or athlete can elevate off the ground from a standstill.-Types of vertical jump:The vertical jump is... |
BP Bench press The bench press is an exercise of the upper body. For bodybuilding purposes, it is used to stimulate the pectorals, deltoids, and triceps. While on his or her back, the person performing the bench press lowers a weight to the level of the chest, then pushes it back up until the arm is straight... |
Wonderlic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 195 lb | 4.42s | sub-4s | X | 37½" | 17 | X |
NFL Combine
The National Invitational Camp or NFL Scouting Combine, as it is more widely known, is a week-long showcase, occurring every February in Indianapolis, Indiana's Lucas Oil Stadium , where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Football League coaches, general...
)
San Diego Chargers
Due to a holdout to start the 2002 season, Jammer was not ready to make an impact his rookie year and only started 4 games. The following year, in 2003, Jammer started at the Cornerback position, and has ever since. Coming into the NFL, Jammer was touted as being a physical player and a big hitter, rather than a finesse cover cornerback. The transition to the NFL for Jammer was difficult because the physical aggressiveness which brought him so much success in college often resulted in pass interference calls. Jammer led the NFL in pass interferences calls in 2004 with eight. Jammer suffered another setback in his development when the NFL made an officiating point of emphasis in 2004 that penalized defensive players for touching receivers further than 5 yards past the line of scrimmage. In an interview with Rick Gosselin of The Dallas Morning NewsThe Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning News is the major daily newspaper serving the Dallas, Texas area, with a circulation of 264,459 subscribers, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported in September 2010...
, Jammer said, "All the rule changes for the offense have altered the game. It's turned football into track with pads. Before you know it, the receivers are going to have a free run at you. You can't touch them at all. The rules got me away from my game," Jammer said. "When physical corners start finessing it, that's not their style."
Jammer has also been criticized for his lack of interceptions. In 62 career games leading up to the 2006 season, Jammer had only recorded six interceptions, including just two total in the 2004 and 2005 seasons. When the Chargers extended Jammer's contract during the 2006 offseason, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union Tribune wrote that "... he is widely considered by Chargers fans to be among the team's weak links, mostly for the fact he has just six career interceptions." Acee later wrote of Jammer: "In recent seasons Jammer has been without a doubt the most vilified Charger. It was difficult to tell whether he was disliked (perhaps too mild a term) more for what he did (get called for a lot of penalties) or what he didn't do (make interceptions). It's possible in the past decade there has been only one other Charger (do we really need to say his name?) who drew more wrath from the faithful."
During Jammer's first four years with the Chargers, the team regularly finished at or near the bottom of the league in terms of pass defense. Except for the 2003 season, the team was in the bottom five in terms of pass defense every year from 2002 to 2005. This led many Charger fans to become frustrated with Jammer, as due to his high draft position he became a symbol for the Chargers' failure to assemble a solid secondary. In turn, Jammer was often at odds with fans over their criticisms. In a September 2005 interview, Jammer said of the fans: "Those people are idiots. (They) don't know anything about football...They're not going to bother me." Many fans could often be heard chanting, "Lito, Lito" every time Jammer was beaten by a receiver, a reference to Lito Sheppard
Lito Sheppard
Lito Decorian Sheppard is an American football cornerback for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League . He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the first round of the 2002 NFL Draft. He played college football for the University of Florida.Sheppard has also played for the New York...
, the two-time Pro-Bowl cornerback of the Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
who was taken after Jammer in the 2002 draft.
In recent years, supporters of Jammer noted that the Chargers had a poor pass defense not because of Jammer, but because of their anemic pass rush. But in 2005, the Chargers had one of the top front 7s in the NFL, featuring Pro Bowler and NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award winner Shawne Merriman
Shawne Merriman
Shawne DeAndre Merriman is an American football linebacker for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League. He was drafted 12th overall by the San Diego Chargers in the 2005 NFL Draft. On November 2, 2010, the Chargers waived Merriman...
and Pro Bowler Jamal Williams
Jamal Williams
Jamal Williams is an American football nose tackle who is currently a free agent of the National Football League. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the second round of the 1998 Supplemental Draft...
. Despite this fearsome pass rush, the Chargers still finished 28th in the league in pass defense. A reason for this may be that the 3-4 defense, which the Chargers use under Ted Cottrell
Ted Cottrell
Theodore John "Ted" Cottrell is the former head coach for the New York Sentinels of the United Football League...
, typically has larger, slower players in the front seven than in the respective positions in the 4-3, leaving more pressure on the defensive backs.
During training camp he signed a new five-year contract extension that will run through the 2012 season. The 2006 offseason saw an overhaul of the Chargers' secondary after many disappointing years. The team signed former Carolina Panthers
Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are currently members of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Panthers, along with the Jacksonville Jaguars, joined the NFL as expansion...
safety Marlon McCree
Marlon McCree
Marlon Tarron McCree is an American football safety who is currently a free agent, as well as a mentor and coach. He was drafted by the Jaguars in the Seventh round of the 2001 NFL Draft...
as a free agent, and they spent a first round draft choice on cornerback Antonio Cromartie
Antonio Cromartie
Antonio Cromartie is an American football cornerback for the New York Jets of the National Football League. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers 19th overall in the 2006 NFL Draft...
. McCree's veteran presence had an immediate impact on the secondary, including Jammer, who surpassed his 2005 interception total in only the third game of the season. Although Jammer only recorded one more interception in the remaining 13 games, the 2006 season was his best and most consistent as a pro. Towards the middle of the season, Jammer showed signs of turning into a shutdown cornerback, and QBs rarely threw at him. He closed out the Chargers 21-14 win over Oakland on Nov. 26 with an interception on first play after two-minute warning. He finished the season leading the team in interceptions with 4 and with a career high in tackles helping the Chargers finished 13th in the league in pass defense.
Jammer critics point to the 3rd and 10, long bomb Reche Caldwell
Reche Caldwell
Donald Reche Caldwell, Jr. is a former American college and professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League for six seasons in the early 2000s...
caught in the divisional playoff game against the New England Patriots
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
as a sign that Jammer is still not meeting expectations. Jammer, in blitz-scheme, short area press coverage, was not able to help the defense recover from an ineffective jailhouse blitz and Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady
Tom Brady
Thomas Edward Patrick "Tom" Brady, Jr. is an American football quarterback for the New England Patriots of the National Football League . After playing college football at Michigan, Brady was drafted by the Patriots in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft.He has played in four Super Bowls,...
comfortably stepped up in the pocket to loft a deep strike to Caldwell. Despite Brady's completion to Caldwell, Jammer had a strong day limiting Patriot receivers, in the 2007 AFC Championship game against the Patriots, he had an outstanding performance, limiting Randy Moss to 1 reception for 12 yards, and intercepting Tom Brady once.
Personal
Quentin is married to Alicia Jammer, has three sons, and is looking to adopt a baby girl. His cousins are Oakland Raider receiver Johnnie Lee HigginsJohnnie Lee Higgins
Johnnie Lee Higgins is an American football wide receiver who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the third round out of the University of Texas at El Paso in the 2007 NFL Draft.Higgins has also been a member of the Philadelphia Eagles...
, former Seahawk
Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team joined the NFL in 1976 as an expansion team...
Cedric Woodard
Cedric Woodard
Cedric Darnell Woodard is a former American football defensive tackle in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the 6th round of the 2000 NFL Draft. He played college football at Texas.Woodards cousin, Quentin Jammer, plays cornerback for the San Diego Chargers....
, and brother of current Texas Longhorn cornerback Quandre Diggs.
External links
- Quentin Jammer's official site
- Quentin Jammer profile at San Diego ChargersSan Diego ChargersThe San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
- Quentin Jammer Career Stats