SAN DIEGO - No player in Super Bowl XXXII, perhaps no player in Super Bowl history, has traveled a harder path to the NFL's title game than Denver Broncos backup guard David Diaz-Infante.
San Diego Chargers . . . Los Angeles Rams . . . Out of football for two seasons . . . Frankfurt of the World League . . . San Francisco 49ers . . . Sacramento of the Canadian Football League . . . Denver Broncos.
To say the least, it's been a long, strange road to the NFL's ultimate game for Diaz-Infante, who will turn 34 on March 31 but is still two seasons short of qualifying for his pension.
'One thing I always figured I could do was work harder than anybody else,' said Diaz-Infante, who played in every game and started seven for the Broncos this season. 'How hard you work is really the only thing that you can control. That's what gives you the respect of your teammates and the guys you play against.
'I've been competing since I was 10. I've got good feet and some tenacity. I knew I could play in this league. I can't jump over boxes like some of these guys who are 6-foot-6, but it's hard to measure the size of your heart.'
Diaz-Infante's teammates certainly admire his perseverance.
'Everyone respects how hard David worked to get here,' Pro Bowl offensive tackle Gary Zimmerman said. 'Most people wouldn't have stuck it out the way he did. That's the kind of fighter he is.'
But Diaz-Infante came close to giving up.
'Sometimes I think back and thank God that I never quit,' said Diaz-Infante, who worked at a health club and as a substitute school teacher, coach and insurance salesman when he didn't play football.
'I think about the things I would have missed out on, the people that I wouldn't have met. But one of the blessings of my ups and downs is that I developed myself outside of the game. There won't be a transition to the real world for me after football. I made that transition a long time ago.'
Diaz-Infante almost quit after the Rams cut him the second time. Diaz-Infante injured his ankle playing basketball before training camp, limiting his mobility in practice.
'I was really down on myself,' said Diaz-Infante. 'I thought I had a great opportunity to make the team. I felt like I let my family down. That was really a low point. I thought football was over. I was on my way to Hawaii to rehab my ankle and figure out what I was going to do. Then my buddy, Warren Wheat, got picked up by Seattle. He told me instead of going to Hawaii and spending all my money that I should come to Seattle with him so he wouldn't be alone.'
In Seattle, Diaz-Infante met his wife Audra at a health club. After spending five months in Seattle, Diaz-Infante went back to San Jose State to finish his degree in social science. Then his former college coach, Jack Elway (father of Denver quarterback John Elway), called and offered Diaz-Infante an invitation to play in the World League.
'Jack didn't have to ask me twice,' Diaz-Infante said. 'After two years there, I signed with the 49ers, and then after I was one of their last cuts, they helped me get a job with Sacramento. [Broncos coach] Mike Shanahan had been with the 49ers when I was there, so when he got the job in Denver [in 1995] he called me.'
Twenty months later, Diaz-Infante made his first NFL start at age 32 against John Randle, Minnesota's Pro Bowl defensive tackle. Diaz-Infante won the battle, and Denver pulled out a 21-17 victory.
'David's the oldest young guy in the league,' Broncos offensive line coach Alex Gibbs said. 'That first year he was here I kept noticing how much better David was than some of these high-priced players. David's not that big [6-foot-3, 296 pounds], but he's as tough as nails. He's a very, very smart guy. If he wasn't playing football, he could be very successful in the corporate world.'
And Diaz-Infante certainly appreciates the opportunity he and the Broncos have tomorrow.
'My playing in the Super Bowl just goes to show that if you hang in there long enough, you can do anything you want to do,' Diaz-Infante said. 'It may not seem like you'll ever get there, but you've just got to keep working and allow yourself time to develop. If you quit, your goals will never happen. Sometimes you have to have failure to enjoy success.'
****BOX
DIAZ-INFANTE RESUME
A look at the pro football career of Broncos offensive lineman David Diaz-Infante:
* 1987 - Following an all-conference career at San Jose State, he plays in all three strike games for San Diego.
* 1988-89 - Cut by the Los Angeles Rams during training camp.
* 1990 - Out of football.
* 1991-92 - Plays for Frankfurt of the World League.
* 1993 - Cut by San Francisco in training camp. Plays for Sacramento of the Canadian Football League.
* 1994 - Nominated by Sacramento for CFL Offensive Lineman of the Year.
* 1995 - Stays on Denver's practice squad.
* 1996 - Finally plays again in the NFL, starting twice for the Broncos and taking 40 percent of the offensive snaps.
* 1997 - Plays every game and starts seven.
