After not being chosen during the 1997 NFL Draft, Jay Hagood received seemingly more calls from teams wanting to sign the Virginia Tech two-time All-Big East offensive tackle as a free agent than a pizzeria on Super Bowl Sunday.
A few factors played a role in his decision to join the Jets.
"I just thought it was a better situation for me than going to any other team at the time," Hagood said. "They were coming off a 1-15 season and so I thought I'd have a better chance to make the team than I would anywhere else. I felt like I could help out.
"And by knowing that Lamont (Burns) was the only (offensive lineman) draftee that year, it kind of made the decision easy, then trying to go somewhere where there were three, four linemen that had been drafted.
"Plus, who doesn't want to play for a great coach like Bill Parcells?"
A Super Bowl XXI and XXV winner with the Giants who would later be enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, 1997 was also Parcells' first year with the Jets as their head coach and de facto general manager. His reputation, as large as his level of success, preceded him and the rookie knew he had his work cut out for him.
"I first met him when we had the rookie meeting, because back then, that's when the rookies would go for the weekend after the Draft. And I think what I first thought about him, I said, 'Man, he's going to be a tough guy to play for right here,'" Hagood laughed.
"(Offensive line coach) Bill Muir told me what was expected of me as far as coming in as an undrafted free agent, and let me know being that, that puts me as the low man on the totem pole. So I'd have to work twice as hard as anybody else."
And with second-year Jet and tenth-year veteran offensive tackle Jumbo Elliott, who had played three seasons under Parcell with the Giants, taking him under his wing, Hagood did just that.
"He taught me how to be a professional, how to attack every day," he said. "Being prepared the night before by knowing my plays, knowing whatever had been implemented in the playbook. And being one of those guys that paid attention during the meetings, not falling asleep. You know, always doing a little extra, getting out there early.
"Straight to that part, getting out early and working on pass steps, running block steps. And then we would go after practice and condition some more. He was a big inspiration."
And when Hagood learned that the extra work paid off and he made the team, the news didn't come from Parcells, Muir, or even Elliott.
"(Defensive coordinator) Bill Belichick was the first coach I'd seen, and he told me, 'Congratulations.' And my reaction to it was, I was stunned. I had no words," Hagood laughed. "That's what I've learned about a lot of the NFL teams. All coaches are paying attention to everybody. Especially at practice. They're not just looking at a defensive player. They may be looking at a scheme, but they also are checking to see how he stopped that guy on that block? Things like that."
After traveling to Seattle to play in the season opener against the Seahawks, Hagood did not play again until Week 4 when the Jets hosted the Raiders. He then didn't play or was on the team's inactive list for the remainder of the schedule.
"It was very frustrating, and they never gave me a reason," Hagood said. "It was just one of those things where we had a home game [Week 7 against Miami] and I didn't dress. And then from that point, that's when they made me inactive. I don't know what I did wrong to be on the inactive list. Nobody said a word."
After spending some time with Miami and New Orleans, Hagood traveled overseas to play in NFL Europe. He started 10 games at left offensive tackle for Frankfurt in 1999, and helped the Galaxy win the World Bowl. With them again and starting in nine games the following season, he was then with the Berlin Thunder in 2001, starting in 10 games, and again helping win a World Bowl title.
Hagood would then transition from the field to the sideline and eventually to the official's booth.
He began by coaching high school football in Richmond, Virginia, and Greenville, South Carolina, before becoming the offensive line coach for the European League of Football's Cologne Centurions.
"As a former player, you still have that passion and that fire. So you kind of have to feed that fire. I think that's what it was. I guess I played my last snap, but I hadn't actually participated in my last games," Hagood said.
"Then I did personal training for five years. And from there, I went into what I do now, being a replay communicator for the replay official for the Sun Belt Conference.
"My job is basically; I am the commentator for all officials. I go from when the ball is snapped, when it's passed, when it's run, when they're tackled, what yard line the ball is on, what down it is, and if the clock is running.
"So those are the things that I tell the replay official. And then if there's anything that happens on the field, if they are not sure about something, I'll ask the replay official, and then I'll communicate with the on-field officials to answer whatever they're looking for."
Recently finishing his fourth season on the job by working at the Sun Belt Championship Game between James Madison and Troy, what does Hagood enjoy most about what he's doing?
"I think it's being part of the game and making sure the game is played cleanly," he said. "But what I think I enjoy the most is it's still feeding that fire that I have."
Pleased to be a "proud husband, a proud father, and a man of God," Hagood makes his home in Raleigh, North Carolina, with his wife, Staci. They have five children, with the first grandchild on its way.
