Ring Is Always on His Mind : Dave Waymer: Country and Western Fan, Super Bowl Obsession

Safety Dave Waymer of the Raiders was viewing a videotape of one of the AFC West rivals when a revelation hit him.

“Honey, come in here and look at this,” Waymer said, summoning his wife, Barbara Jean, who was sleeping in the next room.

Although it was 3 a.m. and the first game was months away, Waymer was preparing for his 14th NFL season.

“My wife really has to keep me under wraps about football because I watch so many films,” Waymer said. “When I woke her up at 3 in the morning to look at the film, she got up. But I caught hell the next morning.

“I probably have more fun playing than anybody else, but I’m so neurotic about it. The only person I’ve ever met as neurotic as me is (retired linebacker) Matt Millen. I take it so seriously that sometimes I drive myself crazy.”

After spending the first 10 seasons of his career in New Orleans, where he played for five head coaches with the Saints, Waymer signed with the San Francisco 49ers as a Plan B free agent in 1990.

Although he led the 49ers in interceptions during his two seasons in San Francisco, the 49ers left him unprotected in Plan B and he signed with the Raiders last spring.

“I told the 49ers that I didn’t plan to leave, but they brought (former Cleveland safety) Thane Gash in and they gave him more money than me,” Waymer said. “They told me that I didn’t have to worry about anything, but I know the words. I have no animosity (toward the 49ers), because I enjoyed playing with those guys. I had a great time playing there, and I was treated very well and I met some wonderful people. But it was business for them and also for me.”

Waymer, 34, said he had planned to retire after this season, but he signed a two-year contract with the Raiders because he believes they are a solid Super Bowl contender.

“I’m very obsessed with this game because I want to win a championship,” he said. “When I was with the 49ers, I was 2 minutes and 30 seconds away from getting to the Super Bowl (when the 49ers lost to the New York Giants in the 1990 NFC championship game). I’m just tired of seeing other people wearing those (Super Bowl) rings. I’ve got to get one. I don’t have one drop of complacent blood in my body.

“I considered a couple other teams, but I enjoy being around a team like the Raiders that has a lot of veterans who know the game. So here I am and here I’ll finish. When you look at the chance to win a Super Bowl and the chance to make your career a little longer, where else would you want to go?

“This is one of the class organizations of the league. These guys play hard, and that’s what I’ve been doing for all of my 13 years in this league and that’s what I’ll continue to do--play as hard as I can every down.”

Waymer never stops talking during practice or games, shouting instructions and words of encouragement to teammates.

“All that (talking) kind of helps me out and keeps me going through practice,” Waymer said. “I don’t try to teach on purpose. When I came into the league I wasn’t fortunate enough to have a guy that had played for 13 years to teach me. If I did have a guy like that, I’d probably have wanted to know as much as I could.”

Raider safety Ronnie Lott, who played with Waymer for a season in San Francisco and has been reunited with him here, said Waymer’s constant chatter stems from his love of the game.

“Some people look at it as annoying,” Lott said. “But when you’ve got somebody like him out there, you’d think young guys would listen. It’s too bad that people can’t learn from that. He’s darn near one of the oldest guys out there, and you think young guys would listen.

“He’s an intense person who loves the game. He enjoys being out here. He has fun with what he’s doing. That’s how you’re supposed to play the game.”

A week after signing with the Raiders, Waymer began preparing for the season. He phoned the Raider office and asked them to send tapes of their AFC opponents to his home in Mooresville, N.C., so he could study them.

“When I called, they didn’t know who I was, but I told them that’d I’d just signed and I wasn’t familiar with Denver, Seattle, San Diego and Kansas City because I’d been in the NFC West for so long,” Waymer said. “I asked them to send me the tapes and I said, ‘Could you please put a little country-western music in the background?’ and they did both.”

The Raiders marvel at Waymer’s work ethic. Although he has intercepted 48 passes in his 13-year career, he works as hard as a rookie trying to make the team.

He stays on the field after practice, doing individual drills to sharpen his intercepting skills. Lying flat on his back, Waymer catches passes from an assistant coach for five minutes. Then he practices catching passes along the sideline and finishes his extra work by hitting a tackling dummy.

“I play scared,” Waymer said. “It’s not because I’m scared of the opponent. I’m scared of letting my teammates down, that’s what I’m afraid of. That’s why I practice and play hard like I do, because I don’t want to let them down. That fear motivates me.”

If Waymer is so obsessed with football, how could he have considered retiring?

“I just had a kid (4-month-old David III),” Waymer said. “For so long, football has been my child. Football is only a child for part of my lifetime, but I’ve got the rest of my life to devote to my son.”