Old school: San Francisco's Pro Bowl center describes what it takes to survive in the trenches

Football Digest, Jan, 2004 by Dennis Georgatos

DESCRIBING JEREMY NEWBERRY as a throwback doesn't quite capture the essence of the San Francisco 49ers' rugged Pro Bowl center. It's more like blood and guts with attitude.

In November 2002, Newberry broke a finger on his snapping hand during an overtime loss against the Chargers at San Diego. He skipped the surgery and played on, shrugging off the pain that came with every snap or jolt of the ball. Then he fought through a left ankle injury, with the help of some pain-killing injections, to play in both of the 49ers' postseason games.

Last July, he underwent surgery to remove bone chips in the same ankle. While doctors cleaned out the ankle, they discovered a previously undetected ligament tear. Newberry delayed what would have been season-ending surgery until next year, playing this season out with the torn ankle ligament.

"He's a football player. He's a tough guy. He's a warrior," 49ers coach Dennis Erickson says. "I don't know that there's any other way you could describe it. Some guys can play with injuries and so forth, some can't. That's just how it is."

Through it all, the 6'5", 310-pound Newberry has established himself not only as a premier blocker and signal-caller on the line, but also as a brash, determined, and sometimes mouthy enforcer. It was Newberry who boldly predicted the 49ers would kick the New York Giants' butts before San Francisco's playoff victory last season, though it took a tremendous comeback to do it.

"I would love to play with someone like that," says Jesse Sapolu, the 49ers' standout center in the 1980s and '90s. "He has the tenacity of people I played with, Guy McIntyre and Steve Wallace. The difference is, we were nice guys when we talked. We didn't let it come out until it was time to play the game. Jeremy will tell you what he thinks. And there's nothing wrong with that, as long as you can back it up. So far, I think he's backed it up."

For sure, he's backed it up on the field. Newberry has played in each of the past two Pro Bowls. The sixth-year player has anchored an offensive line that has consistently opened running lanes for the tandem of Garrison Hearst and Kevan Barlow and has helped provide the protection that has allowed Jeff Garcia and Terrell Owens to combine on big plays.

And while this season has been a difficult one for the 49ers, Newberry has, true to form, soldiered on.

Newberry recently sat down with FOOTBALL DIGEST to discuss his philosophy on football and his blossoming career.

FOOTBALL DIGEST: Talk about the sights and sounds that surround you in the trenches. Is it a different world?

JEREMY NEWBERRY: It is. There are people flying around you. There are people falling. There are people getting hit. Some people are screaming--they're yelling or grunting. There's a lot of all that going on. As far as trash-talking, there's a conception that a lot of that stuff goes on before the play. But it happens very rarely. If you do talk, it's usually on your way back to the huddle.

FD: What's the hardest part about playing center in a complex system such as the one used by the 49ers?

JN: Probably just getting myself mentally ready every week. I make all the protection calls and all the run-blocking calls, so I have to be mentally right with everything we've got going and every possibility they can throw at us. I can't be surprised by any look they might give us and not be able to tell the line what to do.

FD: So getting the line alignments is crucial to the success of any given play, whether its a pass or a run, because, as they say, it starts with the line?

JN: You have to have everybody on the right page. And as the center, you're letting everybody know who we're blocking and how we're going to block it. Before a play ever takes place, we've got to know who we're going to block and how we're going to get there. And that's all from communication that takes place before the snap. That's part of me being a center, and that's something I did at Cal, too. So when I got here, the transition was pretty natural.

FD: How physically demanding is your job, and do you need to play with a nasty streak to survive?

JN: You have to be able to play with a great deal of pain if you're going to be playing week in and week out. There's always something. People say they're healthy, but they're never going to be completely healthy until two or three months after the season. Once you get going, you're going to be banged up, whether its a shoulder or a hand or a knee or an ankle or a combination of a couple of them. You've got to be able to play with pain--I think times the biggest thing. If you don't have a high tolerance for pain, you're probably not going to make it.

FD: Last year, you played with a broken finger on your snap hand. This season, you're playing with a torn ligament in your left ankle. Where did you get the mental and physical toughness to get through things like that?

JN: Probably from my father. I remember one example. I broke my wrist in a wrestling match when I was 11 or 12 years old, and my dad was telling me, "You're being a wimp. Get out there and finish the match." He didn't know it was broken at the time, but I was telling him it was killing me. He told me I could worry about it later. With him, you're supposed to play injured. That's the mentality I was brought up on, and I'm still doing it.