SE: ‘But It Was My Time’ — Newman’s Induction to K-State Athletics HOF Comes as He Retires, Enters Coaching Role
Sep 27, 2018 | Football, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
During a 13-plus minute press conference on September 3, Terence Newman paused for about 10 seconds in the middle of one of his answers. He stared down, his hands on a podium, which held an NFL-labeled microphone on the left and a Minnesota Vikings one on the right, before finishing his answer.
"But it was my time," Newman said, fighting through an obvious wave of emotion.
For many reasons, 2018 will be a milestone year for Newman.
First, the aforementioned press conference was about his retirement as a player after 15 seasons in the NFL, along with his immediate transition into coaching as an assistant for the Vikings. Second, Newman will be inducted into the K-State Athletics Hall of Fame this weekend.
"It's a great honor to be recognized amongst the best of the best in athletics at Kansas State," Newman said to K-State Sports Extra of the hall of fame induction. "It takes a great deal of work to excel at anything you do, so to be recognized as an elite athlete is a great achievement."
The hall of fame honor, coupled with the end of his playing career, created a full-circle type of transition for Newman. K-State, which helped him reach and last in the NFL, was recognizing him with its highest honor as he hung up his cleats permanently.
If nothing else, Newman said it made him reflect.
"During my time in college, I've met some great people and stayed in touch with quite a few. It's cool to see the different paths we have all taken and the lives we live," he said. "I think the discipline I learned while in college helped me play this long.
"College is as hard as you make it. So is life. Nothing comes easy, but if you set goals and put in the work to achieve them, then you will be just fine. That's a big thing I took with me."
At K-State from 1998-2002, Newman became one of the most decorated players in program history.
A four-year letterwinner, his senior season included winning the Jim Thorpe Award, given to the nation's best defensive back, and being named one of five finalists for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, awarded to the country's best defensive player. He also earned consensus All-America honors and was selected as the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2002.
"Knowing athletes, just watching him, the way he ran, the way he jumped, all those things… you could start to see (his potential early) because he got on the field and he was playing some of that redshirt freshman year," former K-State linebacker Mark Simoneau, also in this year's nine-person hall of fame class, said of Newman. "You just knew that athletically he was so gifted. For him, it was just about getting stronger and bigger, and the sky was the limit."
Simoneau, who played at K-State from 1996 to 1999 and played in the NFL from 2000 to 2010, said he remembers one of his coaches with the Atlanta Falcons asking about Newman before the 2003 NFL Draft. The coach, Simoneau said, was concerned about Newman's age — he was 24 years old coming out of K-State.
"Looking back at it later, I'm like, 'I'm pretty sure it wasn't an issue with how old he was because he played forever in the NFL,'" Simoneau laughed. "It's funny that would have been a concern."
Drafted No. 5 overall by the Dallas Cowboys in 2003, Newman defied Father Time for several years.
In 2017, ProFootballReference.com compiled the average career length for each position in the NFL since 2000. For a defensive back, it came out to 3 years and 2 months. Newman, now 40, nearly went five times as long.
"It's been fun to watch his career," Simoneau said of Newman, who played for the Cincinnati Bengals before going to Minnesota. "I really watched in amazement. I can remember when he came to school he was just a skinny kid, but you could tell he was really bouncy, springy, and was going to have a great career. He just got better and better and better every single year he was at K-State."
"The kid was a hard worker," Darren Sproles added of Newman. "Just an all-around great guy."
Newman, put in the K-State Ring of Honor in 2008, played in 221 games in the NFL, including 205 starts. He collected 42 interceptions, which would have been the second-most among active players if he played this season. He returned three of those for touchdowns, also scoring off a fumble recovery. The two-time Pro Bowl pick also recorded more than 700 tackles in his career.
Now, he's helping from the sidelines. It's been a transition that's difficult in some ways and in easy in others.
Being called "Coach Newman," he said, "just doesn't sound right." Helping his teammates and his organization, however, requires the same type of work ethic it did as a player.
"They know what I have brought to the table as a player, and I'm going to bring the same tenacity with helping these guys as well," he said at his September 3 press conference. "I'll work (like) I was going to go out to play but it's more of going to out to teach."
Newman said the decision to retire as a player was easy. It boiled down to the Vikings having a roster filled with young defensive backs. One of them, he said, deserved a roster spot, a chance to establish their own career.
"I played a long time so, at some point, you have to be true to yourself and say, 'Hey, do I want to keep going forward and have a chance to tear up my back, neck or whatever?'" Newman said. "(With) some of the younger talent, obviously you have to either say, 'I'll be selfish and maybe take a roster spot,' or give somebody else an opportunity to live their dream. So, it was pretty easy. Everybody's asking me if I'm OK and I'm, like, 'I'm good. I'm still in football. I still have an opportunity to chase a Super Bowl ring.'"
Asked how his life off the field might change, Newman joked that if the hours are anything like his first day on the job he's not "going to have many friends outside of this building." A few seconds later, he became more serious.
"I feel like having experienced so much stuff and met so many people that, for me, it's not a hard transition," he said. "Some people, they get depressed and have a hard time leaving the game, but I've loved this game since the (first) day I played it."
Then came Newman's 10-second pause.
"But it was my time."
During a 13-plus minute press conference on September 3, Terence Newman paused for about 10 seconds in the middle of one of his answers. He stared down, his hands on a podium, which held an NFL-labeled microphone on the left and a Minnesota Vikings one on the right, before finishing his answer.
"But it was my time," Newman said, fighting through an obvious wave of emotion.
For many reasons, 2018 will be a milestone year for Newman.
First, the aforementioned press conference was about his retirement as a player after 15 seasons in the NFL, along with his immediate transition into coaching as an assistant for the Vikings. Second, Newman will be inducted into the K-State Athletics Hall of Fame this weekend.
"It's a great honor to be recognized amongst the best of the best in athletics at Kansas State," Newman said to K-State Sports Extra of the hall of fame induction. "It takes a great deal of work to excel at anything you do, so to be recognized as an elite athlete is a great achievement."
The hall of fame honor, coupled with the end of his playing career, created a full-circle type of transition for Newman. K-State, which helped him reach and last in the NFL, was recognizing him with its highest honor as he hung up his cleats permanently.
If nothing else, Newman said it made him reflect.
"During my time in college, I've met some great people and stayed in touch with quite a few. It's cool to see the different paths we have all taken and the lives we live," he said. "I think the discipline I learned while in college helped me play this long.
"College is as hard as you make it. So is life. Nothing comes easy, but if you set goals and put in the work to achieve them, then you will be just fine. That's a big thing I took with me."
At K-State from 1998-2002, Newman became one of the most decorated players in program history.
A four-year letterwinner, his senior season included winning the Jim Thorpe Award, given to the nation's best defensive back, and being named one of five finalists for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, awarded to the country's best defensive player. He also earned consensus All-America honors and was selected as the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2002.
"Knowing athletes, just watching him, the way he ran, the way he jumped, all those things… you could start to see (his potential early) because he got on the field and he was playing some of that redshirt freshman year," former K-State linebacker Mark Simoneau, also in this year's nine-person hall of fame class, said of Newman. "You just knew that athletically he was so gifted. For him, it was just about getting stronger and bigger, and the sky was the limit."
Simoneau, who played at K-State from 1996 to 1999 and played in the NFL from 2000 to 2010, said he remembers one of his coaches with the Atlanta Falcons asking about Newman before the 2003 NFL Draft. The coach, Simoneau said, was concerned about Newman's age — he was 24 years old coming out of K-State.
"Looking back at it later, I'm like, 'I'm pretty sure it wasn't an issue with how old he was because he played forever in the NFL,'" Simoneau laughed. "It's funny that would have been a concern."
Drafted No. 5 overall by the Dallas Cowboys in 2003, Newman defied Father Time for several years.
In 2017, ProFootballReference.com compiled the average career length for each position in the NFL since 2000. For a defensive back, it came out to 3 years and 2 months. Newman, now 40, nearly went five times as long.
"It's been fun to watch his career," Simoneau said of Newman, who played for the Cincinnati Bengals before going to Minnesota. "I really watched in amazement. I can remember when he came to school he was just a skinny kid, but you could tell he was really bouncy, springy, and was going to have a great career. He just got better and better and better every single year he was at K-State."
"The kid was a hard worker," Darren Sproles added of Newman. "Just an all-around great guy."
Newman, put in the K-State Ring of Honor in 2008, played in 221 games in the NFL, including 205 starts. He collected 42 interceptions, which would have been the second-most among active players if he played this season. He returned three of those for touchdowns, also scoring off a fumble recovery. The two-time Pro Bowl pick also recorded more than 700 tackles in his career.
Now, he's helping from the sidelines. It's been a transition that's difficult in some ways and in easy in others.
Being called "Coach Newman," he said, "just doesn't sound right." Helping his teammates and his organization, however, requires the same type of work ethic it did as a player.
"They know what I have brought to the table as a player, and I'm going to bring the same tenacity with helping these guys as well," he said at his September 3 press conference. "I'll work (like) I was going to go out to play but it's more of going to out to teach."
Newman said the decision to retire as a player was easy. It boiled down to the Vikings having a roster filled with young defensive backs. One of them, he said, deserved a roster spot, a chance to establish their own career.
"I played a long time so, at some point, you have to be true to yourself and say, 'Hey, do I want to keep going forward and have a chance to tear up my back, neck or whatever?'" Newman said. "(With) some of the younger talent, obviously you have to either say, 'I'll be selfish and maybe take a roster spot,' or give somebody else an opportunity to live their dream. So, it was pretty easy. Everybody's asking me if I'm OK and I'm, like, 'I'm good. I'm still in football. I still have an opportunity to chase a Super Bowl ring.'"
Asked how his life off the field might change, Newman joked that if the hours are anything like his first day on the job he's not "going to have many friends outside of this building." A few seconds later, he became more serious.
"I feel like having experienced so much stuff and met so many people that, for me, it's not a hard transition," he said. "Some people, they get depressed and have a hard time leaving the game, but I've loved this game since the (first) day I played it."
Then came Newman's 10-second pause.
"But it was my time."
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