Former UCF LB Plummer finds another chance
Terrance Plummer hasn’t played football in more than three years, and while the window may be closing on the 29-year-old’s career he isn’t willing to walk away from the game yet.
So when he had a chance to step back on the gridiron as a member of the Orlando Guardians in the new XFL league, the former UCF linebacker jumped at the chance.
“Love and the passion for the game, I’ve still got it,” Plummer told the Sentinel. “One day, it will be gone and I will have to fulfill my purpose elsewhere, but I love playing football right now.”
Plummer was a 3-star prospect out of Orange Park when he joined UCF’s 2011 recruiting class.
He stepped into a prominent role in 2012, finishing third in tackles (108). The following season Plummer led the team in tackles (110) as the Knights capped a 12-win season with a victory over No. 6 Baylor in the Fiesta Bowl. He finished with 14 tackles against the Bears.
“What we did in 2013, we were like the first ones to do something major and after that, it’s been nothing but what new heights can we reach,” Plummer said, looking back on his time with the Knights. “It’s beautiful.”
The 6-foot-1, 232-pound linebacker ended his college career with 332 tackles — eighth-most in school history — 30.5 tackles for loss with 6.5 sacks, 4 interceptions and 4 forced fumbles
Plummer went undrafted out of UCF in 2015 but signed with the then-Washington Redskins.
After being cut and re-signed, he appeared in three games before being cut again in October. He signed with the Minnesota Vikings, where he spent time on the reserve and practice squads before being cut in 2016. His next stop would be in the Canadian Football League, where he won a Grey Cup with the Toronto Argonauts in 2017.
He was cut in 2019 and returned to Florida, where he inked a deal with the Orlando Apollos of the Alliance of American Football, only to find out the league folded.
“The same day I signed with the Apollos, the league went under,” Plummer recalled. “I’m getting a physical from the doctor and he said, ‘Man, the league is no longer and you’re going to have to go home.’ ”
A year later, Plummer was selected by the Tampa Bay Vipers of the newly rebooted XFL. Once again, the timing wasn’t on his side as the league shuttered in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Plummer tried to reach out to several CFL teams, but there were health concerns.
“The word was I wasn’t healthy, but I was,” he said. “There was a lot of misinformation about me, which was pretty disheartening. But I’m lionhearted and felt like football was still there for me, and I was healthy enough and still putting the work in.”