Against the Odds
Like so many children who grew up playing football, Jeff Christy had a dream of playing in the NFL — only he really meant it.
Christy, a 1987 Freeport graduate, knew it even when he was outmuscled by his older brother Greg — who would also make it to the NFL — and his friends in the backyard playing “Kill The Guy With The Ball.”
To some degree, he knew it whenever his mother pulled out old class projects and books he made in grade school.
“Every one of them said I would play in the NFL. That's my goal,” Christy said.
Christy, 43, would play 10 seasons in the NFL, which included three Pro Bowl appearances as well as a Super Bowl championship as the starting center with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in January of 2003.
However, Christy would have to overcome some obstacles along the way, but not during an amazing career with the Yellowjackets.
The four-year starter, who played fullback, linebacker and kicker, rushed for 2,842 yards, scored 45 touchdowns, set the WPIAL record with 201 points scored in one season and 337 for his career, and also made 340 tackles.
With scholarship offers from Michigan, Ohio State, UCLA and Pittsburgh, Christy settled on Pitt thanks to his “mentor” on his visit, linebacker Jerry Olsavsky, as well as an opportunity to play right away at linebacker or fullback.
Due to injuries, Christy had a chance at middle linebacker and took full advantage and received some Big East kudos.
By his sophomore year, Christy was moved to fullback and punter, where he started, but was soon redshirted.“I went into a spiral,” Christy said. “I got ready, was on the team a month, then sat out the rest of the year.”The following season, Christy had enough.“I was skipping the next year,” Christy said. “It was the first time I had to deal with that great amount of adversity. I had been relegated as a practice dummy.“At the time, my brother was in Buffalo and he had played with the Bills. I had a job lined up and had a place to live.”The night before he was scheduled to leave, Christy had second thoughts.“I called my coach, (recruiting coordinator) Sal Sunseri and asked if I could get back on the team,” Christy said. “I didn't think I gave myself a chance. I didn't want to give up now.“Looking back, I must have talked to my brother or mom and dad and I said maybe I'd give it one more try.”Pitt football coach Paul Hackett said the only place he had available for the 250-, 255-pound Christy was on the offensive line.“I said that was fine and I went into spring drill by redshirt junior year to learn guard. I ended up beating out the starter who had been there for two years. That year I was at right guard.”
Now back with the team, Christy was driven to learn his new position. Having experienced blocking as a fullback, he was asked to block bigger players.“Now I've used terms like you've got to ‘marry' it, learn it, figure out how to do it,” Christy said. “Two weeks before training camp, our offensive line coach said our left tackle, Mike LiVorio, was busted for (a banned substance) and can I play left tackle?“I said, ‘Yeah, I can play, although I never played it before.' Outside of high school, and once I was a center in the NFL, I never played the same position for more than 1½ years,” Christy added.At 6-foot-3, 275-280 pounds, Christy did not meet the standard 6-6, 300-pound left tackles, but knew it was just more he had to learn.“I had to realize that hands, and feet, the position block and staying in front of people,” Christy said. “I had to know that.”When Christy prepared to attend the pre-NFL draft combine, Christy was told he was too small, to bulk up to 295 pounds.“I had to eat more,” Christy said. “When I got to the combine, you walk around like a piece of meat and then they said I was too slow.”The Phoenix (now Arizona) Cardinals drafted Christy in the fourth round, but Christy did not see action that year.
Arizona wanted to re-sign him the following year, but Christy wanted to leave.“I told my agent, Ralph Cindrich, ‘I don't want to stay here.' He told me ‘You don't have a job.' I said ‘Hey, I'll pump gas at 7-11. I don't want to be here.'”Three teams, the Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings and the Green Bay Packers expressed interest in Christy. He went to Detroit, but they didn't offer. Then Minnesota offered a contract but wanted Christy to play center.“I told my agent I never played center,” Christy noted. “He said, ‘Look, Dennis Green wants you at center.' Denny told me all I had to do was snap the ball and run the offense. Everything else will work itself out.”Christy felt that tenacity come back, the chance with a new team — a more competitive team — and a position he could throw himself into — hopefully for good.“I told my girlfriend (Kristen), who would eventually be my wife, that I have to marry this thing.”
“It was a 15-hour drive and she spent 14 hours and 45 minutes complaining about it,” Christy said. “She hates it. I'm like, ‘We aren't even there yet.' ”Christy was joined by Frank Cornish for competition for the job. Each received two starts apiece to open the exhibition season with Cornish getting the first two games.Christy outshone Cornish and got the fifth and final exhibition game and would stay for seven seasons. However, Christy knew to be successful he was going to have to play to his strengths.“I was up to 301 pounds in Arizona and I told Kristen ‘I don't feel comfortable. I need to be able to move, be quick.“I got down to the low 260s my first year in Minnesota. I felt comfortable and quick. Now, I just needed to get stronger.”
When Christy found out after seven seasons the Vikings had not planned to bring him back — “We had people over and the ticker on the TV said I was not coming back, my wife bawled” — he had to start looking elsewhere.“I told my agent to call Minnesota back,” Christy said. “I loved it ... but it was the first time I saw the business part of it. This isn't about winning but a financial business decision.”Christy conceded that his replacement with the Vikings was better but had interest from the Philadelphia Eagles and the Buccaneers.He would use the Eagles as leverage to get his deal in Tampa Bay, but had to wonder about payback as the Eagles knocked the Bucs out of the playoffs in consecutive seasons.
However, the third time proved to be the charm as the Bucs knocked off the Eagles in Philadelphia and advanced to the Super Bowl, where the Bucs prevailed 48-21 over the Oakland Raiders.The game would be Christy's final hurrah. With a bonus due March 1, the Bucs released Christy, one of their captains, who would eventually retire following that 2002 season.Christy had come close to the Super Bowl once before, back in 1998 when the Vikings were the highest-scoring offense and went 15-1 before losing a 10-point lead late in the NFC Championship Game before losing in overtime.Winning it all was a great way to wrap up a career.“Once you get to the NFL, you want to make a little money,” Christy acknowledged. “And when you get established, your goals change. It's a job. Along the way, though, you see how few and far between your chances are of winning.”Christy lived his dream of not only playing in the NFL, but winning a Super Bowl championship as well. Although he didn't take the direct path, he overcame a lot of obstacles to get there.
<B>Name: </B>Jeff Christy<B>Age: </B>43<B>Residence: </B>South Buffalo Township<B>Occupation: </B>NFL player, retired<B>Family: </B>Wife Kristen, daughters Nicolette, 14, and Kennedy, 9, and son Mac, 12<B>Volunteering:</B> Offensive line coach with the Freeport varsity football team, track and field assistant at Freeport and a youth baseball league<I>‘When I was drafted, Mel Kiper Jr. said I was the worst pick of the first day. He had everything bad to say about me. I don't know if I was ready for that, having come from Freeport and Pitt to hear everything negative.'</I>
Jeff Christy was born and raised in Freeport and moved back after his playing career was over.He offers a few ideas on how to improve the quality of life in the area.• “My wife Kristen and I want to try and bring business back to Freeport. We love the town. I don't know much about how to do that, but I think it can happen.”• “Volunteer work and getting involved is always great for a community.”• “This is a very blue-collar area ... You don't want to have something handed to you. You want to work for it. Anything worth having is worth working toward.”• “Be there for your kids. I was at hotels on Christmases and I would work on Thanksgivings. I missed the first Halloweens, the first days of school.”
Jeff Christy played 10 seasons as an offensive lineman in the National Football League and played mostly center with the Minnesota Vikings and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after being drafted by the Phoenix Cardinals.The 1987 Freeport graduate was selected for the Pro Bowl three times and won the Super Bowl with the Buccaneers in the 2002-03 season.• “Set goals. From Day 1, I always wanted to play in the NFL. As someone told me ‘Shoot for the moon and you'll end up in the stars.'”• “Don't let anyone tell you you can't achieve those goals. Mel Kiper Jr. told me I'd never play in the NFL. Only take out of criticism what you can use.”• “Be ready to deal with adversity. You never know what life will throw at you. Mr. (Alex) Kramer (an administrative assistant to the Pitt head coach), if you told him you got an F or flunked a study hall, he'd say, ‘Mr. Christy, you don't have a problem. Go across the street to Children's Hospital. Those kids have problems.' He put things in perspective for me and I realized I had it pretty good.”• “Take chances. If you have lofty goals, you can't get there on a flat road. You have to climb some hills. When I left Arizona, I didn't have anything and I took a chance. I realize if a chance comes up, you have to ‘marry' it.”• “You need support from your family and friends. My mom and dad and brother and sister were always very supportive whether it was going to my practices or games.”
