Ben Nowland (born May 27, 1980, in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

. He played most recently for the

Georgia Force The Georgia Force was an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States (part of suburban Atlanta) that played in the South Division of the American Conference. The team was owned by Doug MacGregor and Donn Je ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

High school years

He attended

Allen D. Nease Senior High School Allen D. Nease High School is a high school in the St. Johns County School District, located in the Nocatee census-designated place - Compare with school zone maps. (with a Ponte Vedra, Florida postal address), in St. Johns County, Florida. It ...

in Ponte Vedra, Florida and was a student and a letterman in football, wrestling, and track & field. In football, he was a three-year starter. In wrestling, he won a Regional Championship as a senior. In track&field, he was a Regional Champion in the shot put and the discus.

College

Nowland played collegiately with

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

. Nowland was a first-team All SEC center in 2002. He was a top 10 finisher for the

Rimington Award The Dave Rimington Trophy is awarded to the player considered to be the best American football Center (American football), center in college football. Dave Rimington was a center who played at the Nebraska Cornhuskers football, University of Nebr ...

which is presented to the Nations best center. Nowland participated in the 2003 Senior Bowl in Mobile, AL. and was awarded with their Sportsmanship Award for the event. Nowland started 35 games in his career at Auburn. Nowland is married to his college girlfriend Hillary, who now works for Auburn. Nowland was in the Walt Disney film "The Game Plan" starring Dewayne "The Rock" Johnson.

Professional

He entered the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

by signing as an

undrafted 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 a ...

with the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

in 2003. Waived by the 49ers in August of that year, he was signed to the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

where he stayed through the 2004 season. In 2003 and 2004 Nowland spent time with the

Frankfurt Galaxy Two American football franchises have been referred to as the Frankfurt Galaxy: * Frankfurt Galaxy (NFL Europe), active in NFL Europe between 1991 and 2007 * Frankfurt Galaxy (ELF) The Frankfurt Galaxy is an American football team in Frankfurt, ...

NFL Europa NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

. In 2005, he was signed by the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

. He began his AFL career with the

in 2005. He joined the Rampage in 2006, but re-signed with the Georgia Force during the 2007 offseason. Nowland retired from football in 2009 and now works as a sales representative.

References

External links

AFL Player Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nowland, Ben 1980 births Living people Players of American football from Jacksonville, Florida American football offensive linemen Auburn Tigers football players Frankfurt Galaxy players Denver Broncos players Georgia Force players Grand Rapids Rampage players