Jim Knight was a member of the Washington Redskins for two seasons.
Even though Knight never saw any game action as a Redskins equipment manager during the 1989 and 1990 seasons, he was a presence in the locker room.
The players would often leave the locker room with the towels Knight was in charge of washing wrapped around their necks.
Then the towels would sit in the back of the players’ cars until Knight, who is now an assistant equipment manager in charge of 10 sports at the university, took action.
“When they were out at practice was the best time, so I’d go in and take the keys out of their pants and go in their cars,” Knight said.
Eventually, the players became angry, and offensive lineman Russ Grimm got his revenge by cutting the pockets out of all of Knight’s pants at the team facility.
“When we came off the turf from practice and I put my pants on and tried to put my keys in there, they kept dropping through,” Knight said.
Knight responded by setting off the players’ car alarms in the team parking lot toward the end of one practice. Another time, he filled Grimm’s shoes with Italian sausage.
“It was a constant little war we had going on,” Knight said. “It was all in good jest. We just had a lot of fun.”
After two seasons picking up after the famed Redskins “Hogs” offensive line, Knight used the NFL experience to launch a career in an area that Knight says is not only important to a successful Athletics Department, but also a blast to perform. After stops at Lehigh and Boston College, he’s been with the Terps for three years.
“I’ve always enjoyed it,” Knight said from the small Comcast Center office he shares with fellow assistant equipment manager Al Tiffany, a space adjacent to the equipment room that houses boxes of shoes and warm-ups for teams that play their games there. “The thing is, I enjoy working with the student athletes. I think it keeps me young. I’ll be 50 next week. I don’t feel 50, and I don’t think I look 50. xxxxxxxxx
