Zimmerman and Jones Share a Lot

by: Michael Steffes

Of course by Jones, I mean Walter Jones. All world left tackle for the Seahawks. And by Zimmerman, I mean Gary Zimmerman the former Vikings and Broncos left tackle who was inducted into Canton today.

Walt and Zimmerman are very comparable players. Zimmerman was knowing as a "dancing bear" as Tim Ryan would say, or a nimble footed pass protector. He was also one of the anchors for the line that allowed Terrel Davis to run wild. In his 12 years in the league he went to 7 Pro Bowls and was 1st team 3 times. He also won a Superbowl in his final year, and then retired.

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Walter has spent 10 years in the league and already has one more Pro Bowl and one more 1st team All-Pro to his credit that Zimmerman, but he also shares something that is not so decorative with Jones; chronic shoulder problems.

I was listening to John Elway on NFL Radio this afternoon while driving, and I was taken by the things he said about Zimmerman. He said that basically, in his last few years Zimmerman could only use one arm. He said his shoulder was so bad he couldn't lift his arm shoulder high, but he got smarter and tougher. He learned how to get leverage with one good arm. He taught himself to be in better positions. This is something that Walter is probably doing as well, unnoticed by most of course.

Both Zimmerman and Jones are thought of as premier tackles in their era. Zimmerman only lasted 12 years with his shoulders. That is about right for Walter too. He has two years in him of top form, assuming he, like Zimmerman is playing smarter. We can only hope for Big Walt's sake that the team makes retiring from chronic shoulder pain easy by giving him a championship like the Broncos did Zimmerman.