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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Football still a good investment

Surely a joke could be made that had Kurt Schulz focused on soccer and ignored football he wouldn’t be living in Buffalo, N.Y., right now.

He has the same thoughts, but it’s not because Buffalo is a tag line for late night comedians.

In fact, the Yakima native loves Buffalo and not just because his improbable story led to a 10-year career in the National Football league, the first eight with the Buffalo Bills.

“I only played football my junior year. I played soccer (before that),” he said. “It runs through my mind every now and then, what if I would have stuck with soccer? My life would be totally different.”

For starters, Eastern Washington wouldn’t have offered the Eisenhower grad, who broke his leg before his senior year, a scholarship. And he wouldn’t have gone on to intercept 17 passes, set school records for interception return yardage in a game (105) and career (217) and earned various Big Sky Conference and national honors.

“I loved Eastern,” he said as he prepared to return for this weekend’s 100 for 100 Hall of Fame Day celebration. “It was a great place for me. Having played just one year of high school football, I still needed to learn the game. Jerry Graybill (defensive coordinator), Dick Zornes (head coach), the whole experience was great for me.”

Then he was picked by Buffalo in the seventh round of the 1992 NFL draft.

Those Bills were halfway through a four-year run of making it to but losing in the Super Bowl, led by the likes of Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed, Bruce Smith and Cornelius Bennett.

Schulz’s rookie season culminated at the Super Bowl, though he was inactive because of an injury. He was active for Super Bowl XXVIII.

Schulz became a starter in 1995, when he intercepted six passes, the first returned for his only career touchdown, and made second-team All-AFC.

Schulz took the free-agent route to Detroit for the 2000 and 2001 seasons before sitting out 2002 while waiting for a call from a team that needed help. He did get one call, but didn’t like the offer.

“I think I just didn’t want to play,” he admitted. He officially retired in February 2003.

The down time allowed the family to tour the West Coast, kind of a scouting trip in anticipation of retirement.

“We were thinking about moving to the West Coast,” he said. “We vacillated. We forged a lot of good relationships and we always came back to Buffalo.”

Besides, he planned to use his accounting background to become a financial adviser and there is that matter of name recognition.

“It had been 15 years since I lived in Yakima,” he said. “It was a tough decision, but I had become accustomed to this area. We enjoyed it. It has a lot to offer.”

What’s not to like, in addition to his wife being from nearby Lewistown, N.Y.?

The size, 250,000 people, is similar to Spokane. They have a condo at a ski resort, a ski boat on nearby Lake Erie, and Toronto, the fifth-largest metropolitan city on the continent, is 90 minutes away and, “more importantly, it has good people.”

He pointed specifically to schools for his boys, Patrick and Daniel, ages 12 and 10.

Schulz misses the camaraderie of the lockerroom, being outside every day and the physical activity football provided. He replaced it with the challenge of working his way up as a financial adviser and tracking the boys’ activities, which as of yet don’t include football.

“If they’re happy, that’s the most important thing,” he said. “I’d like them to play eventually, but I’m not going to push them.”

He’s also a Bills season ticket holder, does a number of alumni functions and helps players with investments.

“I know I can help these guys,” he said. “They have big targets on them. I played with these guys; it’s a natural transition for me to try to take care of them.”

He uses the same mentality that helped him make it to the top of his previous profession, where being from a small school made him an underdog.

“As soon as you got to practice it didn’t matter,” he said. “Whether you were a Pro Bowler, rookie or from Timbuktu, it’s all about what happens on the field. That’s a pretty decent equalizer. You could be from anywhere. It took me a while to overcome that stigma (mentally). It’s just survival.”

He got his chance and made the most of it.

“Everybody is there because they can play,” he added. “All that matters is if you can take the next step. You have to step up. You’re there because somebody believes in you. A lot of players had a lot more talent than me but didn’t make it, whether it was desire or bad luck. A lot goes into it.”

And that’s no joke.