Quentin Jammer Interview

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Jul 6, 2005

Can the Chargers win out? Their corner seems to think so.
by Jon Robinson

November 29, 2005 - When I hear the name Quentin Jammer, I think violence. I think hard hits, receivers down on the turf, Jam flying through the air ready to separate ball from body. He can hit like a linebacker but run with any receiver in the league. He's the type of player who makes receivers grow alligator arms, and his improved play out at corner is one of the reasons the Chargers are making another push toward the postseason.

But Jammer's violent ways don't stop when he leaves the stadium. He picks right back up at home when he picks up his PS2 or Xbox controller.

"I don't play a lot of sports games. I play the crazy games, the violent games," Jammer says with a laugh. "I play Grand Theft Auto, SOCOM, Rainbow Six, and Splinter Cell. I think it's just my nature to be violent. I think football is a sport where what you do on the field is contained violence. Violent videogames are the same thing, it's contained violence. You're not out there really killing people, it's contained in the videogame world."

I recently sat down with Jam to find out more about the man who makes grown receivers and polygons cry, including what it's like to play corner, what it will take for the Chargers to make the playoffs, and the sharks swimming in his house.

IGN Sports: It seems like the Madden Hit Stick was designed for a player like you.

Quentin Jammer: I think it was designed for me, for defensive players. We like to hit people, so anytime you get a chance in the videogame to stick a person and make it look good, that's what I like. I actually go in and save the replays of all my good hits so I can show people.

IGN Sports: What are your favorite hits, both in real life and in Madden? What are the replays you like to watch?

Quentin Jammer: In real life, last year I hit Keary Colbert coming out of the flat in a Cover 2. He ran out to the flat, caught the ball and I leveled him. Needless to say, he dropped the ball. In the videogame, I was playing against Randall Godfrey and I came up as Terrence Kiel and hit his running back. I saved that one on the memory card and make him watch it every once in a while just to remind him of the pain. [laughs]

IGN Sports: How did you get so tough? Did you used to play street football as a kid and tackle fools into cars?

Quentin Jammer: Back in the day, we used to play football in the street. There were no sidelines, so if you were playing in the street, it was touch, but if you ran onto the sidewalk and onto someone's grass, then you could hit him. That was a seriously fun game. I remember when I was in sixth grade, my cousin took me to the next town over and we were playing against guys who were in high school. I remember hitting this guy and I split his head open…it was a pretty hard hit. [laughs] Probably one of my best hits, really. But for a kid in sixth grade to do that to a guy in high school, that let everyone know that I could hit.

IGN Sports: Is corner the toughest position to play in the NFL?

Quentin Jammer: I think physically, cornerback is the toughest position to play. My outlook maybe different than a lot of people, but in my opinion, the toughest positions to play are cornerback and offensive tackle. Offensive tackle is a very hard position to play because you have guys rushing the quarterback who are faster than you, and some are even as big as you, but they can run. Cornerbacks play off of guys who already know what they are going to do. The receiver is running a route and he knows when he is going to break the route off, he knows exactly what he is going to do and how he is going to attack you. As a corner, you don't know where you're going to end up, you just have a plan. Mostly, you're just playing off of what the receiver does, and you're trying to run backwards as fast as the receiver is running forward.

IGN Sports: What's it like to be on an island like that? Against the Jets, the ball was in the air, you were defending the receiver in the end zone, and basically, the game's outcome was up to you.

Quentin Jammer: On that particular play, we rotated the defense to the right, so I had no help. It was just me and the wide receiver out there. That shows the confidence the Chargers have in me to cover the receiver one-on-one with the game on the line. They rotated the defense toward the other corner and there was no help. I just watched the receiver's eyes, and when they light up, that's when you know to turn and swat the ball. You have to react faster than the receiver. When you see him start to make a play, you have to react that much quicker to knock down the ball.

IGN Sports: How prevalent is hand-fighting between corner and receiver?

Quentin Jammer: With the rules enforced now, we're going to get away from all the hand-fighting down the field. They're calling that now, and it still goes on a little bit, and as long as both guys are looking back for the ball, you can do a little bit of hand-fighting without the referees calling it. The key is to look back for the ball first.

IGN Sports: Who are the toughest receivers for you to guard, the bigger receivers like T.O. or the smaller guys like Steve Smith?

Quentin Jammer: It's tougher to guard the smaller, faster guys. The bigger guys don't give you as many moves. It takes the smaller guys less time to make a few moves at the line of scrimmage and get up field, where the bigger guys might just give you one move and go. The smaller guys are always going to be successful, and that's why you see guys like Santana Moss and Steve Smith having so much success. Steve Smith is a different type of small, fast receiver. That guy is ridiculously quick. He's actually one of my favorite players in the NFL today. Him and Chad Johnson are my two favorites on any side of the ball.

IGN Sports: Do you play as them in Madden or do you only use the Chargers?

Quentin Jammer: When I play Madden, I play as the Chargers so I can put myself on different receivers and shut them down. I just love playing games. I have a collection of videogames like you wouldn't believe. I pretty much buy every game, and most of the time I don't even get a chance to try them all. I have so many games that are still in the plastic. My videogame library is probably over 300 games, and that's just PlayStation 2, Xbox and PSP. I actually had to bribe a guy so I could get first on the list for the Xbox 360. [laughs]

IGN Sports: The Chargers are in such a close race for that last Wild Card spot. What do you think you need to do in order to make the playoffs?

Quentin Jammer: I think we need to cut out a lot of the mental mistakes we were making. A lot of those mental mistakes cost us games early on, and you can't make those mistakes when you play so many close games. If we can cut down just one mental mistake per game, I don't think we'll have any more close games. I think we'll win out and make it to the playoffs.

IGN Sports: What's it like playing in the AFC West with all the big rivalries against Oakland, Kansas City, and Denver?

Quentin Jammer: Playing in the AFC West, playing in Oakland, Denver, and Kansas City, the fans are die-hard football fans. Coming from the University of Texas, it's great to see that you still have die-hard football fans that fill up the stadium and try to make it hard for the opposing teams to win in their house.

IGN Sports: Speaking of houses, I hear you have a shark tank in yours.

Quentin Jammer: Yeah, I have an 1,100 gallon salt water tank. Growing up, I always had a small 30-40 gallon tank, but when I made it to the NFL, I figured why not. If you could do it, so be it. And actually, in the next two to three years, I'm building a new house, and I'm going to put in a 3,500 to 5,000 gallon tank.

IGN Sports: You can have kindergarteners tour your house on field trips.

Quentin Jammer: [laughs] I have sharks, eels, fish…but sharks are my favorite.

IGN Sports: Back to Madden, now that you're in the game, what's the biggest thing you want captured in your character?

Quentin Jammer: That I smack people. I don't think the guys who make Madden really know just how fast I am, though. They put my speed at a 93, and that's like a slap in the face to me. I know I'm at least a 96-97. Every year I check the Madden, check my speed, and it's always a 93. Always a slap in the face. That's why I'm boycotting Madden now. I hate 93. It's just not right to see me so slow, so I choose not to see it at all. [laughs]


Oct 14, 2005
Jammer has been playing better as of late. But it would be nice to see him get his 1st INT of the year!