Gary Plummer (American Football)
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Gary Lee Plummer (born January 26, 1960) is an American former professional
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
player who was a
linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...
in the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
(NFL) and the
United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...
(USFL). He played
college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
for the
California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club te ...
. Plummer was signed by the
San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...
as a free agent in 1986 after playing three years in the USFL. He won a
Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...
with the
San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...
in
Super Bowl XXIX Super Bowl XXIX was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion San Diego Chargers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...
.


College career

Plummer played his first two years of junior-college football at
Ohlone College Ohlone College (Ohlone or OC; ) is a public community college, a member of the California Community College System, with its main campus in Fremont and a second campus in Newark. The Ohlone Community College District serves Fremont, Newark ...
, and then transferred to the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
, where he played
nose tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...
for the Golden Bears.


Professional playing career


Oakland Invaders

After going undrafted in the
1983 NFL draft The 1983 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 26–27, 1983, at the New York Sh ...
, Plummer joined the
Oakland Invaders The Oakland Invaders were a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League (USFL) from 1983 through 1985. Based in Oakland, California, they played at the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum. The team can t ...
of the USFL. He played three years for the team. He played in the 1985 USFL Championship game. He wore #51 with the Invaders.


San Diego Chargers

After the USFL folded in 1985, Plummer was signed by the
San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...
. He became a starter during his first season with the Chargers and started 106 of 119 games during the eight seasons he played there. He finished his career with the Chargers with 792
tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...
, 3.5 sacks, and five
interceptions 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 bu ...
. He scored two touchdowns in his time with the Chargers. His first was a 2-yard pass from Billy Joe Tolliver on October 7, 1990, vs. Pittsburgh. His second came on a 1-yard run vs. Denver on November 11, 1990. While with the Chargers he carried the ball 3 times for 9 yards.


San Francisco 49ers

Before the 1994 season, Plummer signed with the
San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...
. He played his final four seasons of his career with the 49ers and was a member of the 49ers
Super Bowl XXIX Super Bowl XXIX was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion San Diego Chargers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...
victory over the Chargers. After the 1997 season, Plummer retired with 1,029 tackles, 4.5 sacks, and six interceptions.


Broadcasting career

From 1998 until April 2011, Plummer was a
color analyst A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...
for
KNBR KNBR may refer to: * KNBR (AM), a radio station (680 AM) licensed to serve San Francisco, California, United States * KNBR-FM, a radio station (104.5 FM) licensed to serve San Francisco, California {{Call sign disambiguation ...
49ers game broadcasts. He also revealed that he suffered over 2500 concussions in the course of his career. Even when most of them were very mild Grade 1-type, he has been recovering from the cumulative effects.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plummer, Gary 1960 births Living people California Golden Bears football players Oakland Invaders players Ohlone Renegades football players San Diego Chargers players San Francisco 49ers announcers San Francisco 49ers players NFL announcers Sportspeople from Fremont, California Mission San Jose High School alumni Players of American football from Alameda County, California