Four years ago, former Redskins great Joe Jacoby went back to college, serving as the offensive line coach at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Va. Then he went back to school.
The message that Jacoby was delivering to his players at Shenandoah — the importance of a college education and getting your degree — was the same message he and his wife Irene gave their girls as they grew up in the Jacoby household.
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It was a message that Jacoby decided to take to heart, going back to school to get his degree at the University of Louisville, the school he left behind when he signed with the Redskins as an undrafted free agent in 1981
Friday night, 30 years after departing Louisville, the 52-year-old received a bachelor of science diploma in workforce leadership in a ceremony at the school.
“It’s something that I’ve been thinking about recently, with my girls in college and then coaching these kids and telling them how important it is that they finish school,” Jacoby said. “It seemed kind of hollow to me, preaching this and not fulfilling my own obligation.
“So I made some calls to Louisville and got the ball rolling,” he said. “I did it all online, over two years, and got it done.
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“I’ve accomplished a lot over the years and have great memories of what we achieved with the Redskins,” Jacoby said. “But this was a different kind of achievement because it is an individual thing.”
He has accomplished much, playing from 1981 to 1993 on four Super Bowl teams — three of them winners — as one of two constants, along with Hall of Fame guard Russ Grimm, on the offensive line of that legendary Hogs unit for all four of those squads.
Jacoby was a four-time Pro Bowl selection and named twice to the Associated Press All-Pro first team. He is one of the 70 greatest Redskins, and should be next up to represent the team in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton. He was named the tackle on the NFL’s 1980 All-Decade Team.
He was one of the best of his time.
But as time passed in his post-playing career, Jacoby saw the personal accomplishment and value of taking care of unfinished business — his college degree from Louisville.
Jacoby still has some goals he wants to reach. He coaches the offensive line at Division III Shenandoah but would like to take it to another level.
“I would love to coach at a bigger level,” he said. “It’s kind of hard to catch on.”
And of course he still pays close attention to the Redskins, particularly after his season is done at Shenandoah.
“They still have a lot of holes to fill,” he said. “It is a slow process.”
But sometimes slow wins the race. Jacoby finally crossed the finish line Friday night, 30 years later.
Examiner columnist Thom Loverro is the co-host of “The Sports Fix” from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on ESPN980 and espn980.com. Contact him at [email protected].
