The Shadow
HOT SPRINGS — John Phillips has played in football stadiums all across the country.
College bowl games? — check.
Playoff match-ups in the National Football League? — yep.
When it comes to the sport, he’s been there and done that.
But what makes the 6-foot-5, 251-pound, 32-year- old even more special to folks in these parts?
John knows where his roots were planted.
And he’s never forgotten that.
Phillips last played in the NFL in 2018. The back half of the season with the Arizona Cardinals.
He’s suited up for five teams in his career — Dallas, San Diego, Denver, New Orleans and the Cardinals.
And his 10 years in the league have earned him a cool $7.91 million.
But holding a conversation with “Hammer” is more like catching up with an old friend than interviewing a successful professional athlete.
“I was blessed to come from Bath County and the family I was raised in,” said Phillips, in a phone interview from his Charlottesville home. “At the end of the day I’m a — I don’t know the proper word. I’m a daggone’ redneck, hillbilly, mountain boy. I appreciate all the support — all the teammates that I have had. The coaches, there are just a lot of people that get you to that level.”
Growing Up
Backyard football, family reunions and even cutting wood — you name it, competitiveness was built early in John Phillips’ DNA.
His brother Jake, his parents, cousins — it’s all a big part of who he is.
“My parents really pushed me, especially my father (Bugs), who really taught me more than anybody about sports,” Phillips said. “My mom (Susan) was always there supporting, and my brother, who I think was one of the best athletes to ever play in that area, pushed me everyday.
“Growing up with my family, my cousins — Kris, Keswick, Craig — my uncle Rock and their kids. Everything that we did, I can relate to helping me in football believe it or not. Whether it be cutting wood, the lessons you learned, the discipline, the manners — yes sir, no sir — that was the kind of place Bath County was when I was growing up. The way we worked, it was all stuff that translated to me throughout my career.”
Bath County High School
By the time, John, Jake and their buddies arrived at Bath County High School, they were already used to winning.
At the youth league level, they had put together an undefeated football season where they had only given up seven points the entire year.
The Chargers had just hired a new football coach — Chris Jones — and Jake, in his freshman season, had quarterbacked a program that was 1-9 in 1999 to a state championship game appearance in 2000.
John was one year behind his older brother, and in 2001, the group routed Sussex Central 53-16 in the state title game at James Madison University.
“That all started in little league honestly,” Phillips said. “We were all taught at a young age the right way to play. I attribute that to my father, he helped coach all the way through. We also had Coach (Steve) Shaver, Coach (Jeff) Strasser and Coach (Jimbo) Tennant. My dad coached us in football, baseball and basketball. That whole group — we learned fundamentals at a young age.
“When we got to high school we had all the tools we needed and when Coach Jones stepped in with his split-back veer — it was pretty awesome with the misdirection and my brother running it. All the pieces kind of fell into place. That was a special group of guys. A lot of good friends there.”
Jones remembers fondly his two years at Bath County and that big freshman that he had to tone down a little bit on the practice field.
“I had to tell him to stop hitting kids in practice,” said Jones, now the head coach at Covington. “That’s something I’ve never had to do before or since. He was hurting people in practice. He wasn’t a typical freshman, that’s for sure.”
Phillips played right tackle and defensive end on the state championship team and moved to tight end as a sophomore.
“Coach (Will) Fields came in and did a good job for us when I was a sophomore,” John said. “We ran more of the option out of the I (formation) with Coach Fields. I think my brother only lost three games as a starting quarterback during that time.”
Phillips put up big-time numbers in his Charger career.
On the gridiron, he was a three-time all-stater, catching 81 passes for 1,659 yards and 16 touchdowns, while defensively, he made 390 tackles, had 42 sacks and 91 tackles for loss.
But Phillips was far from a one-sport wonder.
On the basketball court, he scored 1,077 points, despite missing his entire junior season with a knee injury.
On the baseball diamond, Phillips was a .407 hitter with 25 career home runs and 86 RBI.
How feared was John in the batter’s box?
In two games against James River his senior year, Phillips had eight plate appearances. They resulted in eight intentional walks, including five in the final home game of his career.
Fields remembers vividly the scene after John’s last football game.
It was an 18-14 home Region C playoff loss to Rural Retreat.
“He always ran that hill,” said Fields of the hill from the baseball and football fields at BCHS to the locker rooms and school. “After practices, after games, he took off and ran to the top of the hill every time. The time that I really remember is the time we lost to Rural Retreat his last game.
“We were supposed to win and didn’t play very well,” Fields continued. “Everybody was upset, kind of stunned. And John took off at the end of the game and ran the hill. A lot of guys would have moped up the hill, but that was the difference between him and a lot of other guys.”
The University Of Virginia
John set the record straight to everyone early in the college recruiting process.
He was staying close to home.
“I really liked UNC (North Carolina) honestly,” he said. “I liked the coaches down there. If I was going to play defense, I really liked Virginia Tech and Maryland.”
But it was a trip to Bath County from University of Virginia head coach Al Groh that sealed the deal and made John a Wahoo.
“I tore my knee up as a junior in high school and Coach Groh drove up to Bath County a couple weeks after surgery,” Phillips remembers. “He was like, ‘Hey man, you’re still one of our top guys. We want you. We’re not worried about your knee, we need you at tight end.’ I pretty much committed to him right there.
“Coach Groh told me early on, that if I came there I would play in the NFL,” Phillips added. “So it was kind of a no-brainer for me. I fell in love with the pro-style offense.”
Phillips played in 49 games for the Cavaliers, including a pair of bowl games — the Music City Bowl in Nashville after the 2005 season and the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville after the 2007 season.
He caught 69 passes in his Virginia career, including 48 as a senior when he was a team captain and an All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection.
“Coach Groh really sold he wanted the NFL prototype player and the NFL system,” John said. “The year we went 9-3, we could have had a really good year. We lost to N.C. State down there in the rain and to Tech at the end of the year. You look at that team, there was only a handful of guys that didn’t play in the NFL, which is kind of crazy when you look back at it.”
Draft Day
It was probably a first.
Dallas Cowboy owner Jerry Jones picking up his phone and calling Bath County, Virginia.
But that was the call John received on a Sunday afternoon in 2009.
The Dallas Cowboys picked Phillips in the 6th round, the 208th overall pick in the draft.
“It was all different back then,” said John. “I remember it was a Sunday. I remember getting up and going to church. My agent was texting me in church. I was like man I’m in a church service.”
Jones called that afternoon.
“I had some family and friends over, pitching horseshoes, just kind of hanging out,” he continued. “I was in my room when Jerry Jones called me. My mom and dad were in the room with me. I actually had a Cowboys sign in my room, some memorabilia stuff. I just pointed to the sign and I let them know the Cowboys were on the phone. It was immediately time to get to work. I think I went and worked out that day. I was ready to go.”
The League
His rookie year, Phillips caught eight passes, including a touchdown throw from Tony Romo that put Dallas on top early in a wild-card playoff win in Philadelphia.
In his nine seasons — he missed the entire 2010 year with a knee injury — Phillips has been targeted with passes 74 times, catching 59 of those for 429 yards.
That ACL injury, one of three to his right knee, in the 2010 Hall of Fame preseason game in Canton changed his career path, Phillips said.
“That was a big turn in my career,” he said. “I was rolling. It was the best camp I had ever had at any level. I couldn’t have had a better camp — catching the ball, playing receiver a lot, moving me around. I was looking for a big year and it was probably going to be a big year for me receiving.”
One play changed things.
“I tore it on kind of fluke play,” Phillips remembers. “I played another series before I just couldn’t play any more. It kind of changed the trajectory of my career. When I came back from that, they said instead of doing all that movement stuff, they were going to bump me up in weight — I was up in like the 270’s for a little bit — that made me more of an on-the-line-blocker. It kind of changed my role, but I’ve been fortunate to bounce back from three ACL tears.”
All three of those tears were contact injuries, two came from trying to run over defenders — once at BCHS and again in the last game of the 2013 season with San Diego.
“I maybe should have hurdled some guys instead of trying to run everybody over,” Phillips said with a laugh.
After finishing the 2018 season with Arizona, Phillips had workouts in 2019 with Kansas City, Tampa Bay and San Francisco among others.
He was offered contracts, but didn’t sign.
“The NFL is just a crazy business man,” Phillips said. “I’ve been on the good side and I’ve been on the bad side and I’ve seen some very shady deals. I was kind of looking for the right opportunity going into year 11. We were trying to get a little more incentives in the contract — signing bonus and what not. But we still thought that I was going to sign on last year. It was actually kind of shocking. It’s weird. It’s kind of the NFL business. It would have been nice to been with Kansas City and win a Super Bowl though.”
The NFL, as with all sports, is in a crazy time right now.
But what would happen if he would get a call for the upcoming season.
“I’m going,” he said simply. “I love it and I miss it. I’ve always loved it and I’ve always had a knack for it. I love the competitiveness and the physicality part of it. You can only do this career for so long. Your body gets beat us so much. We don’t know where it’s going to go with the pandemic. I’ve talked to some guys. I don’t think anybody knows what’s going on right now.”
Family And Faith
Things have changed over the last few years for Phillips.
He married Nikki Krzysik (Phillips) in 2013 and the couple has three children.
Nikki is also an athlete.
She was a University of Virginia soccer player that has played internationally and won a championship with FC?Kansas City in the National Women’s Soccer League in 2014.
“I’m very blessed with my wife and my kids and I love my family,” John said. “And your family always plays into your (football) decisions. I know guys that I’ve played with that can’t walk. They’re in their late 30’s and they can’t play with their kids. All that factors in. I love my family, but I also love to run around hitting people.”
The Phillips family is also strong in their faith.
“We truly believe in Jesus Christ and what he did for us on the cross,” John said. Our faith is at the forefront that’s for sure. Everything all ties in. I tore my ACL three times and I’ve had five knee surgeries where you’re laying there and can’t even walk. You always rely on your faith and God has always gave me a good surgeon. I’ve always looked at the way I work, the way I run sprints as a way of worship. I was running today, and I was thinking, ‘you know what Lord, thanks for healing my knees.’
“I’ve shared this before, a lot of times when I play football, I will say scripture. I remember when I used to run down on kickoffs. I used to be the old-school wedge buster. They don’t even have wedges any more. They used to have the four-man wedge with defensive tackles that weighed 300 pounds. You had to have a wedge buster on kickoffs — it was yours truly that got to go in there and blow it up. It hurt. A lot of times I would say scriptures, scriptures of David, Paul. Hey, I would just try to blow those guys up so they didn’t make a play.”
Whatever the future holds for Phillips, he has outlasted most.
The average career for an offensive linemen in the NFL is about three and a half years. For a receiver, it’s a little over two years.
John has 10 seasons under his belt.
The key to his success.
“Work,” he said simply. “It’s something I learned from my Dad. I always thought I could outwork people. For the NFL, athletically I may be a little limited, but I will outwork you. I will study the playbook. I will master the things that don’t take talent. I just focused on getting better every day and playing well.
“I kind of have a different strength. I grew up cutting wood. I love swinging a maul, I love splitting wood. It gives you just different strength. You see guys that may be able to lift more, but I always felt that if I got my hands on you, if I got a hold of you — you weren’t going anywhere.”
