Dan Irons (born December 31, 1954) is a former American football

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 played for the Texas Tech Red Raiders football team and was recognized as a consensus All-American in 1977.

Early life

Irons was born in Tyler, Texas on December 31, 1954. He is the son of Ed Irons, who played football and basketball at Texas Tech from 1938 to 1942 and was superintendent of

Lubbock Independent School District Lubbock Independent School District was established in 1907. Accredited by the Texas Education Agency, Lubbock ISD is the largest school district that serves the city of Lubbock, Texas (USA). The Lubbock Independent School District covers and ...

. The family later moved to

Lubbock, Texas Lubbock ( ) is the 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of government of Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also the 85th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the northw ...

and Dan graduated from Monterey High School in 1973. At Monterey, he earned all-state honors in both football and basketball.

Playing career

Irons played for the Texas Tech Red Raiders football team under coach

Steve Sloan Stephen Charles Sloan (born August 19, 1944) is a former American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He played college football as a quarterback at the University of Alabama from 1962 to 1965 and then played for two sea ...

during the 1975, 1976 and 1977 seasons. In 1975, as a starter on the offensive line, he helped the Red Raiders lead the Southwest Conference in total yards. He made the All-SWC team in both the 1976 and 1977 seasons. Following his senior year, as a 6-foot, 7-inch, 260-pound tackle, he was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American, having received first-team honors from several publications and organizations including the American Football Coaches Association and United Press International (UPI).''2014 NCAA Football Records Book''
Award Winners
, National Collegiate Athletic Association, Indianapolis, Indiana, pp. 4 & 14 (2014). Retrieved August 28, 2014. Irons was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the 12th round (314th overall selection) of the

1978 NFL Draft The 1978 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 May 2–3, 1978, at the Roosevelt Hote ...

. He was unable to play professionally due to recurring knee problems. In 1999, he was inducted into the Texas Tech University Athletic Hall of Honor with

Curtis Jordan Curtis Wayne Jordan (born January 25, 1954) is a former American football safety in the National Football League (NFL) for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Washington Redskins. He played college football at Texas Tech University and was drafted in ...

Gary Ashby Gary W. Ashby (born 1955) was the head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders baseball team from 1984 to 1986. Ashby's ties with Texas Tech were made long before becoming the head coach. Ashby had a dominant high school career under the highly tou ...

and Jack Alderson. Both Jordan and Ashby attended Monterey High School with Irons.

After football

After leaving Texas Tech, Irons moved to

Midland, Texas Midland is a city in and the county seat of Midland County, Texas, United States. A small part of Midland is in Martin County. At the 2020 census, Midland's population was 132,524. It is the principal city of the Midland, Texas metropolitan ...

and worked in sales of school furniture and supplies. He is the father of Erin Irons, who was a swimmer for Texas Christian University in the early 2000s.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irons, Dan 1954 births Living people American football offensive tackles Texas Tech Red Raiders football players All-American college football players Sportspeople from Tyler, Texas Players of American football from Texas