On the latest episode of Listen In With KNN on Fox Sports 1340AM, host Kelsey Nicole Nelson welcomed NFL veteran and SAG-AFTRA Stuntman/Actor Quinn Early to the show.
He was born in West Hempstead, New York and grew up in Great Neck, New York. There, Early attended Great Neck High School where he played football, basketball and ran track. As a result, he was recruited by a couple of schools but decided to go to the University of Iowa.
“I studied commercial art when I went to Iowa. It was a culture shock when I first got there going from New York to Iowa. I made some of the best friends in my lifetime and just had a phenomenal experience. I’m very thankful to be able to go there and be a student-athlete,” Early said.
After his collegiate career ended, he was selected by the San Diego Chargers in the third round of the 1988 NFL Draft. When Early got to the Chargers, they were in the post Air Coryell days (named after former head coach Don Coryell) with Dan Fouts, Charlie Joyner and Kellen Winslow leading the team. The team finished with a 6-10 record in his first three seasons with the team. Then, Early’s fortunes changed in 1991 when he went to the New Orleans Saints. He had the best season of his career in 1995 with 81 catches for 1087 yards and eight touchdowns.
“I absolutely loved playing in New Orleans. I played with Jim Everett and he’s a guy that while with the Rams, played on not-so-great teams despite having great players around him. We just worked really well together and I’m thankful that I had the opportunity to play with him,” he said. “Great organization and I absolutely loved it and I have nothing but great things to say about my great experience there.”
Early played for the Buffalo Bills, which had a passionate fan base called the Bills Mafia.
“Those guys are crazy and they’re out there to support their team. I was fortunate to play with people like Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed, Bruce Smith and Steve Tasker. That was just a great experience for me and to experience that fan base,” he said.
When his 12 year NFL career came to an end, Early got a phone call from his former college teammate Bill Perkins about being a stuntman in his movie. It was an opportunity that he has wanted to do ever since he was a young kid.
“I forgot about that throughout my NFL career and it came flooding back to me when I had this opportunity come my way. He (Perkins) called me one week and said, ‘hey, come be in my movie next weekend.’ The next thing I know, I’m hanging out the back of a truck shooting a machine gun and they paid me for it. I became friends with a stunt coordinator and he gave me the blueprint on how to actually become a stuntman in 2011,” said Early.
Additionally, he is living out another dream as a martial artist. Early has always tried to live his life in a martial way by being a good person, doing the right things, being kind to others and knowing how not to fight. He currently teaches Kung Fu which has helped him in his football career.
“Kung Fu taught me to relax and use relaxed energy as opposed to tense energy in everything that I do. Once I applied that to football, I became better as a football player. Also, I was able to do things now on the football field that I couldn’t do before because my flexibility improved so much. It definitely helped me last as long as I did,” Early said.
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