cynthia zordich

WALTER JONES AND THE 96 CHECK INITIATIVE

 By Cynthia Zordich, Player Engagement Insider

When Walter Jones first walked onto the practice field – a rookie selected sixth overall in the 1997 NFL draft -- defensive tackle Cortez Kennedy was THE MAN in Seattle.

“As a rookie, you’re just trying to hang with the big boys,” Jones remembered. “Early in camp, all of the veteran linemen were gathered around talking before practice. So, I was there and decided to chime in. As soon as my mouth opened Cortez looked at me and said, ‘Shut up rookie, If I want your two cents, I’ll take it.’”

From that day forward, Jones stood back and watched. Whom he watched most was Kennedy. His mission? To gain his respect. Jones was a quick study and he watched closely how Kennedy played the game, how he practiced, how he spoke to his teammates, the staff, the field crew, the executives – all the same - with respect and a genuine interest in who they were.

“Tez knew everybody, but you had to earn his respect before he let you in,” Jones said. It wasn’t until my third year during one-on-ones. Cortez was still the man. I think there were some whisperings that I was coming into my own. One day he decided to go up against me. After that, we kind of connected. We started talking. It wasn’t about the play – it was that I had earned his respect and after that he treated me like a friend. We were connected from that point on.”

When asked to describe Kennedy, Jones said, “He played the game the way it was supposed to be played.” To Jones, this means with professionalism. To play the game respectfully, to practice passionately, to mentor on and off the field, to care.

The mentor would record 668 tackles, 58 sacks and three interceptions. A two-time Pro Bowl selection and five-time Associated Press All-Pro, Kennedy played 11 seasons for the Seattle Seahawks earning an induction into the Seahawk Ring of Honor in 2006 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2012. The same year, the Seahawks retired his jersey -- number 96.

The student would go on to become a nine-time Pro Bowl selection and six-time Associate Press All-Pro, starting 13 seasons with Seattle. In 2010, the Seahawks would retire Jones’ jersey number 71. and in 2014, he was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Walking into the Hall of Fame that first year, Jones relied on Kennedy to bridge the gap between himself -- a young selection -- and the veteran Hall of Fame players.

“He was a buffer for me being a young player going in to the Hall,” Jones said. He played with a lot of those guys and made it a point to make me comfortable and help me connect with them.”

On May 23, 2017, Kennedy passed away at the age of 48. The idea of returning to Canton for the 2017 induction ceremonies without him made the decision to go difficult for Jones. Walking in without his buffer, he was emotional.

“I walked up to the registration desk and there I saw the number 96 buttons,” Jones said. It felt so good to put one on my yellow jacket - like Cortez was there with me. A lot of people asked what the 96 was for and it gave me a chance to talk about Tez. I realized that I needed to talk about him and that could be why I made that trip after all.”

A dozen or so Hall of Fame players donned the button: Jerome Bettis, John Randle, Richard Dent, Chris Doleman, Joe Green, to name a few. The tribute created a community that opened discussion about their own health. It gave cause to check on each other, ask the good question: Is everything okay?

“What is significant about that,” Jones said, “is that Cortez always called to check on me. Out of the blue he would call and say, ‘Hey Walter, just calling to check on you. No, I don’t need anything - just checking in to make sure all is good.’ That’s how he was with a lot of his teammates and probably everyone he knew.”

Always the mentor, Kennedy is still teaching, and Jones keeps soaking it in. How simple, he thought on his way home from Canton, to pick up the phone and call a friend to check on him.

This September 6th, in paying homage to his teammate, Jones is launching the 96 CHECK initiative. Jones is asking NFL players and families across the league to pick one NFL teammate they have not talked to in a while and check on him on September 6th each year, “To make sure all is good.”

For 96 CHECK, all current and alumni players have to do is check on one player and confirm their check with a post or tweet with the #96CHECK and #NFLBROTHERHOOD hashtags on 9/6/17.

“Of all the things I’ve done in a Seattle uniform, all while under the watchful eye of Cortez – I know that living a life of kindness, a respectful life, is what mattered most to Tez. 96 CHECK gives me the chance to honor his life and shine a light on his caring heart, while looking after players who may have slipped through the cracks.”

Cynthia Zordich is the co-author of When The Clock Runs Out and founder of nflthread.net. She is the wife of Former NFL Safety/current UM DB Coach, Michael Zordich, and the mother of Former Fullback Michael Zordich (Carolina Panthers), Former D-1 QB Alex Zordich and Daughter Aidan Zordich (Assistant, Funny or Die).

Walter Jones, who grew up in the heart of Alabama, bypassed the Crimson Tide, Auburn and the entire Southeast Conference to go to school at Florida State because of his loyalty.

That same character trait is still evident in Jones, a 2014 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, and one of the best offensive tackles of his generation, through his 96 CHECK Initiative.

There is a lot to dissect in Jones, the No. 6 overall pick in the 1997 NFL Draft by the Seattle Seahawks, the same team for which he played his entire 13-year career.

Let’s start with how a kid from Alabama ended up in ACC Country at Florida State.

Jones laughs whenever he is asked about it.

“I tell people Florida State’s paycheck was bigger,’’ he said with another laugh. “That’s the joke I always tell people. Some people laugh and some just look at me. Actually I didn’t get recruited much out of high school. I was a year ahead. My senior year was actually my junior year. So I did all I could to graduate. I went to a football camp at Florida State and they got interested in me. They told me if I got the grades, they would offer me a scholarship.’’

Jones had to go to Holmes Community College in Mississippi, under the advice of the Florida State staff, for two years and then he became a Seminole.

Jones played under the legendary Bobby Bowden at FSU and still goes back to the campus to visit with the team. He was there for their homecoming game and win against Wake Forest in October 2018.

AGAIN LOYALTY

When Seattle made him the No. 6 pick in that ’97 Draft he didn’t know what to expect. He certainly wasn’t thinking a former Miami Hurricane would be the guy who would take him under his wing and become a mentor. And he didn’t expect that 13 seasons, all with the Seahawks, would result in seven All-Pro berths, nine Pro Bowls and a first ballot induction into the Hall of Fame. Never did he expect his No. 71 would be retired by the Seattle organization, or quotes like this coming from one of the best pass rushers in the late 1990s, former NFL defensive end Hugh Douglas:

“Walter could move and Walter was strong,’’ said Douglas, who recorded 80 sacks for the Eagles and Jets from 1995- 2004, but none against Jones. “For me as a pass rusher, and as a smaller guy, I would try to beat you with speed, or I would try to beat you with power. And I was pretty good at both. But with Walter, you couldn’t do either one with him, because he was strong and he was quick. Whenever we played them, I’d be like [shoot], this is going to be a long-ass day. People would talk about other tackles, like Orlando Pace, Orlando was good. But he wasn’t Walter. Walter was the best.’’

I went the JUCO route and then once I was at the JUCO, I was being recruited again and Alabama was interested, but my commitment was to Florida State. They were the only one who took interest in me at first, so I committed to them.

Seattle knew it when they made Jones a Top 10 pick.

“I didn’t know until I got picked where I would go or who was going to take me,’’ Jones said. “I really didn’t know. I didn’t have anything. My family didn’t have anything. I was just trying to get into the League. I felt like this was a great opportunity for me to make my move. And for me to get picked as high as I was, like I said, I just wanted to get in the League, because I knew if I got there I was going to do everything to stay there. As it turned out it worked out perfectly.’’

It started with his mentor, Cortez Kennedy, Seattle’s All-Pro defensive tackle and the former ‘Cane from Miami, Florida State’s heated rival.

“He showed me the ropes,’’ Jones said of Kennedy. “Back then it was all about gaining respect. And the older guys, they talked bad to you, treated you bad, but you earned your respect by playing the game. ‘Tez was kind of the ambassador for the Seahawks then. A great player, he was the face of the Seahawks. He took me under his wing, showed me the ropes, and made it better for me and how I wanted to treat people in the Seahawks organization. Cortez did it the right way. He played the game the way it was supposed to be played. I just tried to do the same things.’’

Kennedy was a five-time All-Pro in his 11 seasons with the Seahawks. He was inducted into Canton in 2012, the same year the team retired his No. 96. On May 23, 2017, Kennedy passed away from what was believed to be heart failure at the far too young age of 48.

It was a difficult time for Jones, but one he turned into a great thing, his 96 CHECK Initiative.

In honor of his fallen teammate, Jones came up with his 96 CHECK Initiative. What he wants is for players around the League, current and former, to call on a friend, every September 6 (9-6, or Kennedy’s number with the Seahawks) just to check on them.

“Once I got the news he passed away, I had a lot of news outlets that wanted to interview me,’’ Jones said of how the 96 CHECK Initiative started. “I kind of just wanted to mourn in my own way, but once I got talking the initiative manifested itself. I was telling people that ‘Tez was the kind of guy who would call you any time day or night to see how you were. He’d just say, ‘What’s up?’ and ask how your family is doing. So, I kind of figured I wanted to do something where we would check on the guys who we did battle with all those years. It didn’t matter who, I mean even the guys who were third string, or whatever. Because we were all in it together. So that’s how it came about.’’

Jones began the 96 CHECK Initiative in 2017 and had his second one in 2018. It’s already grown and the Hall of Fame tackle sees it growing more and more every year.

“I have learned that if you’re doing business with someone, and you’re talking business, but if you ask them about their family they don’t know how to answer at first,’’ Jones said. “But it makes them feel good. And they’ll call you back and thank you for asking.’’

Jones’ family is doing well. His twins, son Walterius and daughter Waleria, graduated from high school in 2017. Walterius is a red-shirt freshman at Dakota State College in Madison, South Dakota. And Waleria is taking a gap year before she decides on college in 2019.

Family is just part of what the 96 CHECK Initiative is about. Reaching out to teammates, old friends, just as Kennedy would do to say, ‘What’s up?’ is the cornerstone of it.

Troy Vincent, the six-time Pro Bowl cornerback, who played with the Dolphins, Eagles, Bills and Redskins in his career, took part in the 96 CHECK Initiative.

“From my perspective, no matter how many or how few seasons you played, when we enter the NFL, we become part of a brotherhood unlike any in the world,’’ Vincent, who is now the NFL’s Executive Vice President of Football Operations, said. “And after our playing experience, we need to continue standing together. I’m not going to name who I check in with—there are many. They know who they are. We talk, we listen and we make sure we are good to go. And if there is a deeper struggle, know that confidential support is available 24/7/365 for every member of the NFL brotherhood by calling 800-635-9671.’’

Garry Cobb, a former linebacker for the Lions, Eagles and Cowboys and now a member of the NFL Player Engagement’s transition team, also took part in the Initiative. He called former cornerback, William Gay, who was both his college teammate at Southern Cal and his teammate with the Lions.

“We were teammates for a lot of years,’’ Cobb said. “I don’t want to get into everything we talked about, but it’s like you said, just to say, ‘What’s up?’ It’s a good thing.’’

Jones likes hearing that the word of the Initiative is spreading, and is pleased that teams such as the Seahawks have allowed him to make presentations to their players. It’s only going to get bigger and bigger as word spreads more.

 “I just get numbers and call guys,’’ Jones said. “It’s been cool. The Seahawks and the Hall of Fame have been on board. It was just something I wanted to do and now everybody wants to be a part of it, so it’s pretty cool.

 “I don’t want anything,’’ Jones said of how he begins his conversations with former teammates. “I just want to check on you and see how everything is going. If something is wrong, I can help you or lead you in the right direction.”

 “A lot of us guys have that inner mentality that we’re not going to let you know that we have problems or that we’re in pain. But ever since ‘Tez passed away, if I’m hurting I’ll let people know.’’

 After playing his entire career with the Seahawks, something very few players in today’s NFL, can say, Jones is proud to call Seattle home. He was the Seahawks’ honorary captain before their 43-8 win over Denver in Super Bowl XLVIII. He traveled to London with them for their game against the Raiders in 2018. And he is part of the KING 5’s Seahawks post-game show every Sunday night.

 “I enjoy doing it,’’ Jones said of the postgame show. “It gives me a chance, you know a lot of people say I don’t talk, but it gives me a chance to give my perspective and I think people enjoy that.’’

 Another venture he has taken on is one of photographer. He’s credentialed to shoot games and practices of the Seattle Sounders, the city’s MLS team. In time, he would like to add MLB’s Mariners and his Seahawks to the mix as well.

 “I’m just learning this game,’’ Jones said of soccer. “The Sounders gave me an opportunity to shoot gam.es and practice and it’s been great. I’m still learning it. But I enjoy it. When I was growing up with the kids and stuff, I started taking pictures and this gives me something to do. It’s giving me a chance to see a lot of other things.’’