Life after Jazz with Mark Eaton | Rockmonster Unplugged

For those who picture all NBA players as selfish, self-centered, arrogant whiners, let me present an important name for the defense: Mark Eaton.

He’s as well-adjusted as it gets.

In a recent SI.com interview, seen here, the former Jazz center (and team player rep) reveals what it’s like to be a 7-foot-4 citizen, not just a basketball player. Interestingly, he notes that “half the time” when he has his photo taken, the people don’t even know who he is.

“I’m just some tall guy” to get their photo with, he says.

When I’ve spoken at elementary schools and even high schools in recent years, the students mostly know former players like Thurl Bailey and Mark Eaton from their TV work, rather than their playing careers.

Anyway, Eaton goes on in the video to say a trip to the gas station is routine for him but can be “an event for someone else.” I remember him once telling me how it can be disconcerting to simply go to the grocery store and have people checking out what’s in his shopping cart.

As for people asking him how tall he is, I traveled on the same plane as him for several years when he played for the Jazz. To walk behind a player like Eaton was an eye-opener. Hardly anyone walked past without staring. He couldn’t have drawn more attention if he’d been wearing a wizard’s hat and cape.

But Eaton handled it with grace and humor.

The one disappointment I had with the S.I. video was that it didn’t mention his post-basketball success as a restauranteur. That success doesn’t happen accidentally, and it certainly doesn’t draw customers based on name recognition alone. Eaton has become a respected businessman, based on his product, not his name as a player.

Lastly, by looking at the video you can tell he has a bad back; it’s what forced his retirement.

That’s what guarding Hakeem Olajuwon and Shaquille O’Neal can do to you after years of pounding.