Roman Phifer
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Roman Zubinsky Phifer (born March 5, 1968) is a former
American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...
of the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
. Phifer is currently Senior Personnel Executive for the
Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...
. Phifer played for the
New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
, the
New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...
, the
St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arri ...
, and the
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
where he played in 211 NFL games and made 1134 tackles, 882 were solo, 252 assisted, 29 sacks, and 11 interceptions and was a four-time Pro Bowl Alternate. Phifer played football and majored in history at the University of California Los Angeles and is a graduate of
South Mecklenburg High School South Mecklenburg High School is a public secondary school located in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is part of the Charlotte Mecklenburg School District. Locally it is known as "South Meck" (or simply just "South"). Its mascot is the Sabre and ...
in
Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
.


High school career


South Mecklenburg High School

Phifer was a two-time All-Conference selection, earning All-County and
Charlotte Post ''The Charlotte Post'', founded in 1878, is an African American, English language weekly newspaper community based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ''The Charlotte Post'' has been distributed in countries surrounding Mecklenburg and upstate South Caro ...
Athlete of the Year honors as a senior at South Mecklenburg. He was a three-year letterman in football and basketball and also competed in track and field in the high jump (6′6″) and triple jump (44′8″).


College career


UCLA

As a senior at UCLA, Phifer totaled 71 tackles (9 for a loss) 3 interceptions and 3 sacks and was named an honorable mention
All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...
. He missed the 1989 season due to an off-field beating incident along with teammate Damion Lyons. Their prior year, 1988, Phifer was primarily a special teams player, recorded 14 tackles (seven unassisted) on defense. As a Sophomore in 1987 he recorded 27 tackles, including one for a loss. He redshirted his freshman year of 1986.


Professional career


Pre Draft

Pre-draft measurables
Phifer was 6'2" and 230 pounds and bench pressed 380 pounds and ran a 4.73 forty-yard dash. Scouts said, "An underrated outside linebacker who came on strong his senior year. Very good open field tackler with legitimate speed and cover ability, Uses his quickness in rushing the passer."


Rams

He was drafted in the 2nd round (31st overall pick) in the
1991 NFL Draft The 1991 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 21–22, 1991, at the Marriott Mar ...
by the Rams out of
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
. While at UCLA one of his roommates was the late Eric Turner. On July 17, 1991, Phifer signed a 3-year $1.5 million contract with the Rams, including a $450,000 signing bonus. He started as a
rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...
in 1991 until an ankle injury ended his season. He totaled 24 tackles on the season (21 solo). Phifer was a starter for the Rams from 1992–1998. In 1992 Phifer made 66 tackles (51 solo) and defensed six passes. Phifer led the Rams in tackles in 1993 from his "Will'" or outside linebacker position. In the summer of 1994 the restricted free agent Phifer signed a tender-offer of $649,000. However, since Phifer and his agent felt there were no negotiations he was reluctant to sign a further deal. Phifer had another solid season in 1994. However, during the confusion of the Rams moving from Los Angeles to St. Louis, Phifer signed a four-year, $8.5 million contract that includes a $2.5 million signing bonus. He was the Rams' Ed Block Courage Award winner in 1995. He was also a
Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...
alternate in 1995 and led the Rams in tackles 1995 with 125 to go with his 3 sacks, 3 interceptions a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. He again led Rams tackles in 1996 with 122, when he was again voted a Pro Bowl alternate. In his years with the Rams he played under several different defensive coordinators. Under his first coach the Rams featured the
Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...
-style "46" defense that was brought in by recent Tennessee Titans Head coach Jeff Fisher. The next season it changed to a less pressure defense to more of a standard NFL defenses. In 1995 that changed with a new defensive coordinator who introduced the Rams "Jet" defense, where the lineman were in pass rush mode at all times. A couple of years later he began to play in
Bud Carson Leon H. "Bud" Carson (April 28, 1930 – December 7, 2005) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the Georgia Institute of Technology from 1967 to 1971, compiling a record of 27–27. Carson then coa ...
's multiple defenses where Roman was asked to rush the passer more. In the "Jet" defense he was often the only LBer on the field and was asked to cover running backs in coverage and still stop running plays. It was under Carson's defense that Phifer would play the equivalent of a safety on one play and the equivalent of defensive end on another play and a run-stuffing linebacker on another and a pass-cover linebacker as yet a fourth way to play defense. In 1998, he had a career-high 6.5 sacks and 71 tackles with an interception a forced fumble and a fumble recovery on an improving Rams defense, with his career high in sacks being the result of playing standup defensive end some of the snaps.


Jets

The Rams stated they wanted to keep Phifer but reportedly acted too slow to sign Phifer and on March 6, 1999, he signed a 3-year $8.9 million contract with the
New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...
. Less than six days later the Rams signed Patriot linebacker Todd Collins so replace Phifer. Phifer played two seasons for the Jets getting 4.5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles in 1999 along with 2 interceptions and 50 tackles. In 2000, he had 45 tackles and 4 sacks. After the 2000 season the Jets released Phifer in an effort to "revamp the linebacking corps" into a younger group and also to switch from a 3-4 defense to a 4-3, causing Phifer to not be able to earn the approximately $2.5 million due in 2001 of his 3-year contract signed in 1999.


Patriots

The
New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
signed Phifer to a 1-year veteran minimum contract of $520,000. Phifer started 16 games and recorded 93 tackles for the 2001 Super Bowl Champion Patriots. He also had 2 sacks, defensed 5 passes, intercepted a pass, forced 2 fumbles and recovered 2 fumbles. Even more he provided leadership and was essential to the Patriots success. "Roman Phifer is the MVP of the season", said cornerback Terrell Buckley, "He may be overlooked, and he would never campaign for the honor but he deserves it." Phifer making the Super Bowl was one of the side-show stories of Super Bowl week with the St. Louis and the Boston-area papers doing feature stories on Phifer's Rams connection and now playing them in the "big game" He helped the Patriots to win Super Bowl XXXVI and was rewarded on the off season. On June 21, 2002, the Patriots offered Phifer a 3-year $4.5 million contract with $1.8 million in signing bonuses. When the season finally came around in 2002 Phifer made 109 tackles and started 14 games and was again an alternate to the AFC-NFC Pro Bowl. In 2003, he had 100 tackles and batted away 5 passes as the Patriots won
Super Bowl XXXVIII Super Bowl XXXVIII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Carolina Panthers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) c ...
. In the Super Bowl, Phifer made 5 tackles and nearly intercepted a Jake Delhome pass, but it would have been nullified due to a roughing call on tackle Richard Seymour. After the season Phifer was a Pro Bowl Alternate for the fourth time in his career. The 2004 season saw Phifer play a backup role in the Patriot defense. He struggled with an injured calf and his role had diminished as well. He ended the season with 40 tackles, a sack, and interception, a fumble recovery and knocked down two passes as the Patriots won
Super Bowl XXXIX Super Bowl XXXIX was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles to decide the National Football League ( ...
in
Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...
. Phifer's contract expired at the end of the season. He was released on February 27, 2005.


Giants

He had a short stint with the
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
in 2005, signing a veteran-minimum contract that yielded him approximately $150,000 for two weeks work. He came in for one last chance and to bring leadership to the Giants, perhaps similar to what he brought to the Patriots in his 2001 season. In his career, he played in 211 games. 1134 tackles, 882 were solo, 252 assisted, 29 sacks, and 11
interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...
s.


NFL statistics


Coaching career


Broncos

On February 9, 2009, Phifer was hired as the assistant linebackers coach for the
Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...
, assisting linebackers coach
Don Martindale Don "Wink" Martindale (born May 19, 1963) is an American football coach who is the defensive coordinator for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). From 2018 to 2021, he held the same position for the Baltimore Ravens afte ...
. Phifer helped outside linebacker Elvis Dumervil achieve a league-leading and franchise record 17 sacks on the season and Pro Bowl berth, as well as making inside linebacker D.J. Williams a Pro Bowl alternate after ranking 11th in the league with a team-high 122 tackles.


Film producing career


Blood Equity

In 2009 Phifer produced his first documentary film entitled ''Blood Equity'', which covers the lives of several former NFL players, both big stars and rank-and-file players. The film features testimonials from NFL legends like Mike Ditka, Tony Dorsett, Darryl "Moose" Johnston and
Willie Wood William Vernell Wood Sr. (December 23, 1936February 3, 2020) was an American professional football player and coach. He played as a safety with the Green Bay Packers in the National Football League (NFL). Wood was an eight-time Pro Bowler an ...
among others about the hardships and struggles of life after football. "He's like the Godfather of football, and you definitely get that from him when he lights up that cigar. These guys are like brothers, and he's just trying to speak on their behalf", says Rico McClinton of Iron Mike Ditka (McClinton produced the film along with Phifer and Joe Ruggiero). The ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'', in reviewing the documentary stated, "Everybody who plays leaves with something", says retired
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
linebacker
Harry Carson Harry Donald Carson (born November 26, 1953) is a former American football middle linebacker who played his entire professional career for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). Carson was inducted into the College Football Ha ...
in the documentary "Blood Equity" but, sadly, he doesn't mean a glorious pension or athletic pride. He's referring to the physical and mental struggles of ex-football players who feel monetarily neglected by the now $7.1-billion sport and its union when, as studies increasingly show, the game's built-in brutality—and fierce pride in playing injured—leads to a post-career life of constant medical care. . . (Footage of Baltimore Colts legend John Mackey not recognizing family photos is especially heartbreaking.)" Abele, Robert
"'Blood Equity' - The heavy toll of playing pro football". "The Guide" - ''Los Angeles Times'', November 22, 2009.
Retrieved November 22, 2009.
Blood equity is distributed by Walking Shadows and is sold in popular online retailers such as
Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller. It is a Fortune 1000 company and the bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. As of July 7, 2020, the company operates 614 retail stores across all 50 U. ...
,
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...
,
Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
, Alibris, among others. Phifer is hoping that his message reaches those who have rooted for NFL players during their playing years.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Phifer, Roman 1968 births Living people People from Plattsburgh, New York American football outside linebackers University of California, Los Angeles alumni UCLA Bruins football players Los Angeles Rams players St. Louis Rams players New York Jets players New England Patriots players New York Giants players Denver Broncos coaches Ed Block Courage Award recipients