Daniel Joseph France (born April 1, 1991) is an

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 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 ...

who is currently a free agent. 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 ...

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

. He was originally signed by the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

as an undrafted free agent in 2014.

High school career

France attended North Royalton High School in North Royalton, Ohio. He was a three-year starter for North Royalton's basketball and football teams. France played both defensive end and tight end for head coach Nick Ciulli and excelled at both positions. He was ranked the nation's #21 strong side defensive end by Rivals.com, OhioVarsity.com's #6 tight end in Ohio, OhioVarsity.com's top blocking tight end in the state, Rivals.com's #22 senior player in Ohio, and the Plain Dealer's #13 senior in the state. France was also voted to Prepstar's and Superprep's All-Midwest teams. He received offers from Michigan State,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The university ...

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

, Northwestern,

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

, and Vanderbilt. On August 4, 2008, he officially committed to Michigan State.

College career

2009

France attended

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

from 2009-2013. He redshirted his first year as a true freshman.

2010

In 2010, he played as a defensive tackle behind

Jerel Worthy Jerel Worthy (born April 26, 1990) is a former American football defensive tackle. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft. He played college football for Michigan State, where he was recognized as a con ...

and Anthony White. He made his collegiate debut in the Spartan's season opener against

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for an arbitrary region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Most narrowly it refers to the Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland, Michigan, Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region a ...

and finished the victory with two tackles, a quarterback hurry, and a pass break-up. He played in seven games during the season. During the team's bowl practices, he began practicing as an offensive lineman.

2011

The following season, France fully transitioned to offensive lineman and was projected as the Spartan's starting left tackle going into preseason camp after impressing his coaches during spring practice. on September 10, 2011, he made his first career start and collegiate debut at left tackle against

Florida Atlantic Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, and satellite campuses in Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, and Fort Pierce. FAU belongs to the 12-cam ...

. He finished his sophomore season with 29 knockdowns and started 13 games.

2012

He remained as Michigan State's starting left tackle to begin his junior season. He started 11 games during the regular season and played in 90% of Michigan State's offensive snaps. He missed the Spartan's annual rivalry game against

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

due to a concussion. He totaled 36 knockdowns during 2012.

2013

After starting the previous two season at offensive tackle, France was switched to an offensive guard during spring practice. He started all 13 games at right guard but missed the Rose Bowl against

due to a lower leg injury. He finished his last season at Michigan State with a career high 69.5 knockdowns, was an All-Big Ten selection by the coaches and media, and was twice voted the Spartan's offensive lineman of the week. He finished his collegiate career with 46 game appearances and 37 starts, 119.5 knockdowns, and 25 dominators. During his time at Michigan State, he blocked for teammates and future NFL players

Kirk Cousins Kirk Daniel Cousins (born August 19, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Michigan State and was drafted by the team then known as the Washingto ...

Le'Veon Bell Le'Veon Andrew Bell Sr. ( ; born February 18, 1992) is an American football running back who is a free agent. He played college football at Michigan State and was drafted 48th overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second round of the 2013 ...

, and

Jeremy Langford Jeremy Langford (born December 6, 1991) is an American football running back who is a free agent. He played college football at Michigan State, and was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the fourth round of the 2015 NFL Draft. Early years Langfor ...

Professional career

France was not invited to the NFL combine but did perform at Michigan State's annual pro day on March 11, 2014.

Cincinnati Bengals

After going undrafted in the

2014 NFL Draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

, France was signed by the

as an undrafted free agent on May 12, 2014. On August 30, 2014, he was waived by the Bengals and was signed to their practice squad the following day. On January 6, 2015, signed a reserve/future contract with the Bengals. On September 5, 2015, France was waived by the Bengals and was signed to their practice squad the next day. He was released by the Bengals on November 30, 2015.

Cleveland Browns

On December 2, 2015, 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 ( ...

signed France to their practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Browns on January 5, 2016. France united with his former Cincinnati Bengals' offensive coordinator

Hue Jackson Hue Jackson (born October 22, 1965) is an American football coach who is the head football coach at Grambling State University. An offensive assistant at both the collegiate and professional levels, he held coordinator positions in the Nationa ...

when he was hired as the Browns' new head coach on January 13, 2016. On September 3, 2016, the Browns waived him as a part of their final roster cuts and he was signed to their practice squad the next day.

Carolina Panthers

On November 29, 2016, France was signed to the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

' active roster from the Browns' practice squad after the Panthers suffered numerous injuries to their offensive linemen, including

Michael Oher Michael Jerome Oher (; né Williams Jr.; born May 28, 1986) is a former American football offensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons, primarily with the Baltimore Ravens. He played college football at t ...

Ryan Kalil Ryan Joseph Kalil (born March 29, 1985) is an American film and television producer and former NFL center. He played college football at USC, where he was a member of two national championship teams, was named a first-team All-American, and won ...

, and

Gino Gradkowski Gino Gradkowski (born November 5, 1988) is a former American football center. He played college football at the University of Delaware. He was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the fourth round of the 2012 NFL Draft. College career Gradkowski ...

. On September 1, 2017, France was placed on injured reserve.

Personal life

He was raised by his parents, John and Judy France, and majored in hospitality business at Michigan State. During high school, France umpired baseball games for 7-8 year old youth games. He is able to kick field goals and has made one from 50-yards. France is also a fan of the

Red Hot Chili Peppers Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea (musician), Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates element ...

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffin family, Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter Griff ...

, and

Forrest Gump ''Forrest Gump'' is a 1994 American comedy-drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Eric Roth. It is based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom and stars Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson and ...

and cites golf as one of his hobbies. He is engaged to be married to his fiancée Kelsey in 2017.

References

External links

Michigan State Spartans bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:France, Dan 1991 births Living people American football offensive tackles Michigan State Spartans football players Cincinnati Bengals players Cleveland Browns players Carolina Panthers players People from Fairview Park, Ohio