Nick Hardwick (American Football)
Nicholas Adam Hardwick (born September 2, 1981) is an American former professional football player who was a center in the National Football League (NFL), playing his entire 11-year career for the San Diego Chargers. He was selected by the Chargers in the third round of the 2004 NFL Draft, and was named to the Pro Bowl in 2006. He played college football for Purdue. High school career Hardwick attended at Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis, Indiana. Unlike most of his peers, he did not play high school football, having "ditched" the sport in the ninth grade. He was a three-year varsity letterman in wrestling and won a state championship. College career Hardwick was a sophomore economics major at Purdue University when his future San Diego Chargers teammate Drew Brees led the Boilermakers to the 2001 Rose Bowl. Inspired, he joined the football team as a walk-on, initially playing as a defensive tackle. The next year, he became the team’s starting center and ear ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Center (American Football)
Center or Centre (C) is a position in gridiron football. The center is the innermost lineman of the offensive line on a football team's offense. The center is also the player who passes (or "snaps") the ball between his legs to the quarterback at the start of each play. The importance of centers for a football team has increased, due to the re-emergence of 3–4 defenses. According to Baltimore Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome, "you need to have somebody who can neutralize that nose tackle. If you don't, everything can get screwed up. Your running game won't be effective and you'll also have somebody in your quarterback's face on every play." Roles The center's first role is to pass the football to the quarterback. This exchange is called a snap. Most offensive schemes make adjustments based on how the defensive line and linebackers align themselves in relation to the offensive line, and what gaps they line up in. Because the center has an ideal view of the defensive forma ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Drew Brees
Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees is the NFL leader in career completion percentage, and is second in career passing yards, career touchdown passes, career pass attempts, and career pass completions. He also holds the record of consecutive games with a touchdown pass, breaking the feat held by Johnny Unitas for 52 years. Brees played college football at Purdue, where he set the Big Ten Conference records for completions, attempts, and yards. Despite his collegiate success, questions over his height and arm strength caused him to not be selected until the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers. Brees initially struggled before having a breakout season in 2004, earning him Pro Bowl and Comeback Player of the Year honors. Re-signed to a one-year contract, Brees suffer ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kris Dielman
Kristopher M. Dielman (born February 3, 1981) is an American former professional football player who was a guard for the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons. He played college football for Indiana University. The Chargers signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2003, and he played his entire professional career for the Chargers. He was selected to the Pro Bowl four times, and was a member of the Chargers 50th Anniversary Team. High school and college career A graduate of Troy High School in Troy, Ohio, Dielman was an all-state and all-conference linebacker and tight end. He also lettered in basketball. Off the field, Dielman was both homecoming and mid-winter king at Troy High School. After graduating from high school, he enrolled at Indiana University where he played for the Indiana Hoosiers football team. Kris played tight end for Indiana under former San Diego Chargers offensive coordinator Cam Cameron and former Chargers offen ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Free Agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is allowed to solicit offers from other teams. In some circumstances, the free agent's options are limited by league rules. Types Terms Unrestricted free agent Unrestricted free agents are players without a team. They have either been released from their club, had the term of their contract expire without a renewal, or were not chosen in a league's draft of amateur players. These people, generally speaking, are free to entertain offers from all other teams in the player's most recent league and elsewhere and to decide with whom to sign a contract. Players who have been bought out of league standard contracts may have restrictions within that league, such as not being able to sign with the buy-out club for a period of time in the NHL, b ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Injury
An injury is any physiological damage to living tissue caused by immediate physical stress. An injury can occur intentionally or unintentionally and may be caused by blunt trauma, penetrating trauma, burning, toxic exposure, asphyxiation, or overexertion. Injuries can occur in any part of the body, and different symptoms are associated with different injuries. Treatment of a major injury is typically carried out by a health professional and varies greatly depending on the nature of the injury. Traffic collisions are the most common cause of accidental injury and injury-related death among humans. Injuries are distinct from chronic conditions, psychological trauma, infections, or medical procedures, though injury can be a contributing factor to any of these. Several major health organizations have established systems for the classification and description of human injuries. Occurrence Injuries may be intentional or unintentional. Intentional injuries may be acts of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jeff Saturday
Jeffrey Bryant Saturday (born June 18, 1975) is an American football coach and former center who is the interim head coach for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of North Carolina. He was signed by the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 1998, but was cut by the team without playing a game. Saturday then signed with the Indianapolis Colts, with whom he played 13 seasons, won Super Bowl XLI over the Chicago Bears and was selected to four All-Pro teams and five Pro Bowls. In his final NFL season, he made his sixth Pro Bowl as a member of the Green Bay Packers. Saturday was formerly a sports analyst for ESPN. Early years Saturday was born in Atlanta, Georgia.National Football League, Current Players Jeff Saturday Retrieved March 26, 2012. He attended Shamrock High School in Decatur, Georgia, in 1993.databaseFootball.com, Players Jeff Saturday. Retrieved March 26, 2012. His high school coach Ron Gartr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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American Football Conference
The American Football Conference (AFC) is one of the two conferences of the National Football League (NFL), the highest professional level of American football in the United States. The AFC and its counterpart, the National Football Conference (NFC), each contain 16 teams with 4 divisions. Both conferences were created as part of the 1970 merger between the National Football League, and the American Football League (AFL). All ten of the AFL teams, and three NFL teams, became members of the new AFC, with the remaining thirteen NFL teams forming the NFC. A series of league expansions and division realignments have occurred since the merger, thus making the current total of 16 teams in each conference. The current AFC champions are the Cincinnati Bengals, who defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2022 AFC Championship Game for their third conference championship, and their first since 1988. Teams Like the NFC, the conference has 16 teams organized into four divisions each wit ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chargers Practice On USS Ronald Reagan 8-11-06 060811-N-4776G-075
The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and play their home games at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, which they share with the Los Angeles Rams. The Chargers were founded in Los Angeles in 1959, and began play in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League (AFL). They spent their first season in Los Angeles before relocating to San Diego in 1961 to become the San Diego Chargers. The team joined the NFL as result of the AFL–NFL merger in 1970. In 2017, the Chargers relocated back to Los Angeles after 56 seasons in San Diego, a year after the Rams had moved back to the city after spending 21 seasons (1995–2015) in St. Louis. The team previously played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum during their first stint in Los Angeles, Balboa Stadium and San Die ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jason Ball (American Football)
Jason Ball (born March 21, 1979) is an American former professional football player who was a center for three seasons with the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the New Hampshire Wildcats from 1998 to 2001. Undrafted in the 2002 NFL Draft The 2002 NFL draft was the 67th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually sinc ..., he signed with the Chargers as a free agent. He played professional football as a center from the Chargers from 2002 to 2004. He appeared in a total of 27 NFL games, 23 of them as a starter. As a rookie in 2002, he was voted as the Chargers' best offensive lineman. References 1979 births Living people Players of American football from Fayetteville, North Carolina American football centers New Hampshire Wildcats football players ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kyle Orton
Kyle Raymond Orton (born November 14, 1982) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football for Purdue, where he started four straight bowl games. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the fourth round of the 2005 NFL Draft. After an injury to Bears starter Rex Grossman, Orton was pressed into service as the starting quarterback during his rookie year, starting the first 14 games of the 2005 season, but was replaced by Grossman for the playoffs that year. Orton did not play at all in 2006, and sparingly in 2007. He regained his starting job from Grossman in 2008, but the team finished a disappointing 9–7 and out of the playoffs. In the offseason of that year, he was traded to the Denver Broncos. Orton started his Broncos career by winning his first six games in the 2009 season, but injuries hobbled him in the second half of the season. Though Orton threw 21 touchdowns and only 12 interceptions, the team finished 8–8 and out of the playoffs. Orton ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1896, it predates the founding of its regulating organization, the NCAA. It is based in the Chicago area in Rosemont, Illinois. For many decades the conference consisted of 10 universities, and it has 14 members and 2 affiliate institutions. The conference competes in the NCAA Division I and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, the highest level of NCAA competition in that sport. Big Ten member institutions are major research universities with large financial endowments and strong academic reputations. Large student enrollment is a hallmark of its universities, as 12 of the 14 members enroll more than 30,000 students. They are largely state public universities; found ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Starting Lineup
In sports, a starting lineup is an official list of the set of players who will participate in the event when the game begins. The players in the starting lineup are commonly referred to as ''starters'', whereas the others are ''substitutes'' or ''bench players''. The starters are commonly the best players on the team at their respective positions. Consequently, there is often a bit of prestige that is associated with being a starter. This is particularly true in sports with limited substitutions, like baseball or association football (soccer). When listing a team's lineup, it is common in some sports to include each player's uniform number and their position, along with their name. Position are often designated by abbreviations that are specific to the sport (for example, in American football; "SS" for strong safety). In both baseball and basketball, it is common for a player's position to be denoted by a number, for example: in baseball scorekeeping the shortstop position is ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |