Top-10 co-angler Tim Irwin steps off the gridiron onto the FLW Tour
Tim Irwin knows competition. When the Wal-Mart FLW Tour co-angler fished himself into the final round at the Forrest Wood Open in June, he wasn’t too nervous. He’d been in “big game” situations before.
From 1981-1993, Irwin was a fixture on the offensive line of the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings. In 1994 and 1995, he also played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Miami Dolphins. For 14 years he toiled in the trenches, grinding it out on the gridiron as one of the most reliable workhorses in America’s highest-profile pro sports league.
When pro athletes retire from their respective sports, many of them either fade into obscurity or slip into the broadcast booth. Irwin chose a different route when he retired following the 1995 NFL season. With the urge to compete in professional sports still gnawing at him, Irwin – a longtime bass fisherman – decided to pick up his rod and reel and go fishing.
In 1997, Irwin entered a couple pro bass events on something called the FLW Tour. As the FLW grew and eventually became the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, so did Irwin’s level of competition. By 1999, he was fishing in all six events of the season and doing relatively well, placing in the money on the co-angler side more often than not.
This year, the 2000 FLW season, has been a watershed year for Irwin. Notwithstanding a couple of rocky performances in Biloxi, Miss., and Bentonville, Ark., he placed no worse than 36th the rest of the season. At the Forrest Wood Open in Florence, Ala., in June when he brought in the heaviest co-angler stringer of 13 pounds, 6 ounces on day two, Irwin positioned himself for his career-best, fifth-place finish. The top-five finish also pushed him up in the final tour standings, where he placed eighth in the Co-Angler Division with 211 points and 39 pounds, 13 ounces for the year.
“We had a great day,” Irwin said following his outstanding day-two performance. “Any time you can cull a lot of fish you’ve got to be happy.”
Tackling the Tennessee
Irwin, who hails from Knoxville, Tenn., began fishing at age 3. He grew up in the bass fishing haven of East Tennessee along the Tennessee River and credits his father as his inspiration in the sport.
“We certainly have a history of bass fishing in my family,” he said. “My father would have fished on the pro side of these FLW tournaments if he was still around. All my life, when I wasn’t playing football, I was fishing. The fall was always tougher because I didn’t get to fish.”
He credits his success in Florence to his knowledge of the Tennessee River and points out that some of his fellow anglers who regularly fish his home waters also did well. Quint Bourgeois, also from Knoxville and Irwin’s roommate on the road, came in just behind Irwin in sixth place in the Co-Angler Division, and Arlie Napier (with whom Irwin was paired on day three) of nearby Middlesboro, Ky., competed for the win on the pro side. Napier placed second.
“We have a real strong history of competitive fishing in this area,” Irwin said. “The fishing is not so different down on the Alabama side of the (Tennessee) River.”
A future in fishing
Having gone from the NFL to the FLW, Irwin recognizes the ever-increasing potential of the burgeoning pro bass tour for an angler on the rise. He appreciates the exposure and financial support that Operation Bass Chairman Irwin Jacobs has introduced to the sport.
“I am excited about his interest in the sport of fishing,” he said. “I have the utmost respect for what Irwin’s done for the industry. Who would have thought co-anglers could be fishing for $40,000 with the (comparatively low) entry fees they have to pay.”
If anyone would know about the impact Jacobs has on a sports industry, Irwin would. Jacobs was part owner of the Vikings for a number of years in the `80s when Irwin played. Where he once used to get paid by Jacobs to play football, he now gets paid by him to go fishing. Is it a coincidence, or do the two share common interests?
“I don’t know,” Irwin quipped. “I just know he’s got a great first name.”
He does know what it takes to succeed in the long run, however. As a family man with three children, Irwin received a law degree while still playing pro football and is now a partner at a firm in Knoxville. He is also considering crossing over to the Pro Division for next year’s Wal-Mart FLW Tour, but finding the time and the right sponsorships are his most pressing bass fishing career projects. Though he hasn’t decided yet, he thinks he might be able to parlay his popularity in Minnesota into a lucrative sponsorship.
“As a former NFL pro, it could be a pretty good gimmick for a tour sponsor,” he said. “I know looking at (Minnesota-based) Land O’Lakes or something would probably be my best bet.”
Whatever he decides to do next season, Irwin will be ready for it. As he prepares for the Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship in Shreveport, La., this September, he knows what it will take when the tournament official calls out his boat number: focus, intensity and a drive to compete – just like during his playing days.
As Irwin put it, “The competition of football prepares you for life – as a lawyer as well as a pro fisherman.”