Dan Clement Fike, Jr. (born June 16, 1961) is an American former college and professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was an

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 ...

in 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 ...

(NFL) for eleven seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, and thereafter, he played professionally for the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

, the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

and the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

of the NFL.

Early life

Fike was born in

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...

.Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players
Dan Fike
Retrieved March 23, 2010. He played youth football at the Myrtle Grove association. He attended Pine Forest High School in

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ...

,databaseFootball.com, Players
Dan Fike
. Retrieved March 23, 2011. and played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

for the Pine Forest Eagles.

College career

Fike accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the

in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach

Charley Pell Charles Byron Pell (February 17, 1941 – May 29, 2001) was an American college American football, football player and coach. Pell was an Alabama native and an alumnus of the University of Alabama, where he played college football. He is most ...

Florida Gators football The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of ...

from

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

.
2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 96 & 181 (2011). Retrieved August 28, 2011. While he was an undergraduate, he was a member of Pi Kappa Phi

Fraternity A fraternity (from Latin language, Latin ''wiktionary:frater, frater'': "brother (Christian), brother"; whence, "wiktionary:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal ...

(

Alpha Epsilon Alpha Epsilon () is a scholastic honor society recognizing academic achievement among students in the fields of Agricultural, Food, and Biological Engineering. History Alpha Epsilon Honor Society was founded at the University of Missouri on May ...

Chapter). As a freshman, he lived through the worst season in the history of the Florida football program in 1979,Norm Carlson, ''University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators'', Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia, pp. 95–97 (2007). when the Gators posted an 0–10–1 record. The following season, Fike was part of one of the biggest one-year turn-arounds in Division I football history, when the 1980 Gators finished 8–4 after defeating the Maryland Terrapins in the Tangerine Bowl. He was a second-team All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) selection following his senior season in 1982.

Professional career

After graduating from Florida, Fike was selected in the 1983 USFL Territorial Draft by the Tampa Bay Bandits. The

selected Fike in the tenth round (274th pick overall) of the

1983 NFL Draft The 1983 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 26–27, 1983, at the New York She ...

,National Football League, Draft History
1983
Retrieved June 1, 2010.. After being cut from the NFL's New York Jets, he signed with the Tampa Bay Bandits on November 13, 1984 and played two seasons as their left tackle starting all 36 regular season games and two playoff from 1984 to 1985. When the USFL ceased operations, Fike signed with the NFL Cleveland Browns. His coach while with the Bandits was Steve Spurrier. He signed with the Cleveland Browns in 1985, and earned a position as a regular starter, playing at different times at

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

and

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

, from 1985 to 1992. Fike arrived in Cleveland at an opportune time when the team was experiencing a competitive revival, and was a starter for five consecutive Browns playoff teams (

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

–

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

), including appearances in the three

AFC Championship Game The AFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the American Football Conference (AFC) and one of the two semi-final playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football league in the world. ...

s (1987, 1988, 1990). Fike played his final NFL season for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1993, seeing only limited action in three games.National Football League, Historical Players
Dan Fike
Retrieved March 23, 2011. In his nine-season professional football career, he appeared in 141 games and started 138 of them.

References

Bibliography

* Carlson, Norm, ''University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators'', Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). . * Golenbock, Peter, ''Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory'', Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). . * Hairston, Jack, ''Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told'', Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002). . * McCarthy, Kevin M.,
Fightin' Gators: A History of University of Florida Football
', Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (2000). . * Nash, Noel, ed., ''The Gainesville Sun Presents The Greatest Moments in Florida Gators Football'', Sports Publishing, Inc., Champaign, Illinois (1998). . {{DEFAULTSORT:Fike, Dan 1961 births Living people American football offensive guards American football offensive tackles Cleveland Browns players Florida Gators football players New York Jets players Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of American football from Pensacola, Florida Players of American football from Mobile, Alabama

Early life

College career

Professional career

See also

References

Bibliography