Dan_Neil_(American_football) References

Games played:	108
Games started:	104
Fumbles recovered:	2

Dan Neil
No. 62
Position:	Guard
Personal information
Born:	October 21, 1973 (age 50); Houston, Texas, U.S.
Height:	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:	285 lb (129 kg)
Career information
High school:	Cypress Creek; (Houston, Texas)
College:	Texas
NFL draft:	1997 / Round: 3 / Pick: 67
Career history
	Denver Broncos ( 1997– 2004);
Career highlights and awards
	2× Super Bowl champion ( XXXII, XXXIII); Consensus All-American ( 1996); First-team All-American ( 1995); First-team All- Big 12 ( 1996); 1996 Big 12 Champion; 1995 Southwest Conference Champion; 1994 Sun Bowl Champion;
Career NFL statistics
Games played:
Games played:	108
Games started:	104
Fumbles recovered:	2
	Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Daniel Patrick Neil (born October 21, 1973) is a former American college and professional football guard in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons; and a politician. He played college football for the University of Texas, and earned All-American honors. He was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the third round of the 1997 NFL Draft, and played for the Broncos during his entire pro football career. Neil was a candidate for the Texas House of Representatives in the 2010 general election.

Early years

Neil was born in Houston, Texas. He attended Cypress Creek High School in suburban Houston, where he played high school football for the Cypress Creek Cougars.

College career

He accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Texas at Austin, and played for the Texas Longhorns football team from 1993 to 1996. He was a first team All-American in 1995 and a consensus first-team All-American in 1996. He helped Texas win the last Southwest Conference Championship in 1995 and the first Big 12 one in 1996. In his senior year he was team captain, MVP, a semifinalist for the Lombardi Award and a finalist for the Outland Trophy.

Professional career

The Denver Broncos selected Neil in the third round (67th pick overall) of the 1997 NFL Draft.^[1] He played for the Broncos from 1997 to 2004. After seeing limited playing time as a rookie in 1997, he became a reliable starter on the Broncos' offensive line, starting in 104 of 108 games over the next seven seasons. He was the starter for the Broncos' NFL championship team in Super Bowl XXXIII and was on the team when they won Super Bowl XXXII, though he was inactive throughout most of the season, including the playoffs.^[2] He was a free agent after the 2000 season, but was signed again by the Broncos to a multi-year deal.^[3]

In the 2001 season, he was fined $15,000 for an illegal block that broke the leg of New England's Bryan Cox. No penalty was called on the play, but NFL director of football operations Gene Washington said Neil clipped the New England linebacker "from behind and below the knee."^[4] Cox vowed revenge for the hit, but did not follow through.^[5]

Neil was rarely injured, but missed the last two 2003 regular season games with a thumb injury and the end of the 2004 season, including Denver's playoff game, with knee and stomach injuries.^[6] Following the 2004 season, Neil was released by the Broncos.^[7]

Life after football

In 2010, Neil was the Republican nominee for the 48th District of the Texas House of Representatives. His opponents were Democratic incumbent Donna Howard and Libertarian Ben Easton. The election returns showed Howard winning by 16 votes. Neil challenged the results in the Texas House. A select investigating committee found that although Howard had actually won by only four votes, Neil had not met the burden of proof required to overturn the election. Neil dropped the challenge on March 18, 2011, nearly halfway into the legislative session.^[8] Even with the 12 vote victory that the Secretary of State considers official, it is the closest Texas House race on record.

Prior to pursuing political aspirations, Neil co-hosted The Morning Rush with Erin Hogan on the Austin area ESPN Radio affiliate 104.9 The Horn.

Neil's son David played varsity football at Westlake High School in West Lake Hills, Texas, from 2015 into the 2018–2019 season.

Neil was inducted to the Texas Athletics Hall of Honor in 2008 and nominated to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

References

^ "1997 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
^ "Dan Neil 1997 Game Log". Retrieved 3 May 2023.
^ "Dan Neil Transactions". Retrieved 3 May 2023.
^ "Around the NFL". 2 November 2001. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
^ "Cox Vows Revenge". The Washington Post. 30 October 2001.
^ "Career Rushing Leader Smith to Wait to Decide on His Future in NFL". The Washington Post. 25 December 2003.
^ "THE DOTTED LINE". The Washington Post. 25 February 2005.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-10-12. Retrieved 2011-03-19.{{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title ( link)

External links

Club bio Archived 2005-04-10 at the Wayback Machine

[1] "1997 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2023-03-30.

[2] "Dan Neil 1997 Game Log". Retrieved 3 May 2023.

[3] "Dan Neil Transactions". Retrieved 3 May 2023.

[4] "Around the NFL". 2 November 2001. Retrieved 3 May 2023.

[5] "Cox Vows Revenge". The Washington Post. 30 October 2001.

[6] "Career Rushing Leader Smith to Wait to Decide on His Future in NFL". The Washington Post. 25 December 2003.

[7] "THE DOTTED LINE". The Washington Post. 25 February 2005.

[8] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-10-12. Retrieved 2011-03-19.{{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title ( link)

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v t e 1996 College Football All-America Team consensus selections
Offense	QB Danny Wuerffel RB Troy Davis RB Byron Hanspard WR Reidel Anthony WR Marcus Harris WR Ike Hilliard TE Tony Gonzalez OL Chris Naeole OL Dan Neil OL Benji Olson OL Orlando Pace OL Juan Roque C Aaron Taylor
Defense	DL Peter Boulware DL Derrick Rodgers DL Mike Vrabel DL Reinard Wilson DL Grant Wistrom LB Canute Curtis LB Pat Fitzgerald LB Jarrett Irons LB Matt Russell DB Dré Bly DB Chris Canty DB Kevin Jackson DB Shawn Springs
Special Teams	K Marc Primanti P Brad Maynard

v t e Denver Broncos Super Bowl XXXII champions
1 Jason Elam 6 Bubby Brister 7 John Elway 8 Jeff Lewis 16 Tom Rouen 20 Tory James 21 Randy Hilliard 22 Vaughn Hebron 23 Darrien Gordon 24 Selwyn Jones 25 Darrius Johnson 26 Tim McKyer 27 Steve Atwater 29 Howard Griffith 30 Terrell Davis ( MVP) 31 Derek Loville 32 Tony Veland 33 Dedrick Dodge 34 Tyrone Braxton 37 Anthony Lynn 39 Ray Crockett 42 Detron Smith 50 Jon Hesse 51 John Mobley 53 Bill Romanowski 56 Keith Burns 57 Allen Aldridge 58 Steve Russ 59 Glenn Cadrez 60 K. C. Jones 62 Dan Neil 63 David Diaz-Infante 65 Gary Zimmerman 66 Tom Nalen 69 Mark Schlereth 70 Jamie Brown 72 Ernest Jones 74 Harry Swayne 75 Brian Habib 77 Tony Jones 78 Matt Lepsis 79 Jumpy Geathers 80 Rod Smith 81 Patrick Jeffers 82 David Gamble 83 Flipper Anderson 84 Shannon Sharpe 85 Willie Green 86 Byron Chamberlain 87 Ed McCaffrey 88 Sir Mawn Wilson 89 Dwayne Carswell 90 Neil Smith 91 Alfred Williams 93 Trevor Pryce 94 Keith Traylor 96 Harald Hasselbach 97 Mike Lodish 98 Maa Tanuvasa 99 David Richie
Head coach: Mike Shanahan
Coaches: Frank Bush Barney Chavous Rick Dennison Ed Donatell George Dyer Alex Gibbs Mike Heimerdinger Gary Kubiak Dwain Painter Brian Pariani Ricky Porter Greg Robinson Rick Smith John Teerlinck Bobby Turner

v t e Denver Broncos Super Bowl XXXIII champions
1 Jason Elam 6 Bubby Brister 7 John Elway ( MVP) 14 Brian Griese 16 Tom Rouen 20 Tory James 21 Darrien Gordon 22 Vaughn Hebron 25 Darrius Johnson 26 Eric Brown 27 Steve Atwater 28 Tito Paul 29 Howard Griffith 30 Terrell Davis 31 Derek Loville 34 Tyrone Braxton 37 Anthony Lynn 39 Ray Crockett 42 Detron Smith 48 George Coghill 51 John Mobley 53 Bill Romanowski 54 Nate Wayne 56 Keith Burns 59 Glenn Cadrez 60 K. C. Jones 62 Dan Neil 63 David Diaz-Infante 66 Tom Nalen 69 Mark Schlereth 70 Trey Teague 72 Ernest Jones 73 Cyron Brown 74 Harry Swayne 77 Tony Jones 78 Matt Lepsis 79 Chris Banks 80 Rod Smith 82 Marcus Nash 83 Justin Armour 84 Shannon Sharpe 85 Willie Green 86 Byron Chamberlain 87 Ed McCaffrey 89 Dwayne Carswell 90 Neil Smith 91 Alfred Williams 93 Trevor Pryce 94 Keith Traylor 95 Marvin Washington 96 Harald Hasselbach 97 Mike Lodish 98 Maa Tanuvasa 99 Seth Joyner
Head coach: Mike Shanahan
Coaches: Frank Bush Barney Chavous Rick Dennison Ed Donatell George Dyer Alex Gibbs Mike Heimerdinger Gary Kubiak Pat McPherson Brian Pariani Ricky Porter Greg Robinson Rick Smith John Teerlinck Bobby Turner