Daniel Fells (born September 23, 1983) 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 wi ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

. He played college football at

UC Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

and was signed by the Atlanta Falcons 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 ...

in 2006. Fells was also a member of the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

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 headquar ...

and New England Patriots.

Early years

Fells attended Fullerton Union High School. He was an All-Freeway League performer in football, basketball and baseball and was named All-CIF honors in football and was named team most valuable player. Fells was also All-SoCalHoops D-IIA honorable mention as a senior in basketball. His brother is

Darren Fells Darren Andre Fells (born April 22, 1986) is an American football tight end who is a free agent. He did not play college football, instead playing college basketball at the University of California, Irvine. Prior to his NFL career, he played pro ...

, who plays tight end for the Detroit Lions.

College career

Fells attended

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The inst ...

and joined the team as a wide receiver. Following a position change orchestrated by the coaching staff, Fells made the transition to play tight end and as a senior was a Second-team All-

Great West Football Conference The Great West Conference (GWC) was an NCAA college athletic conference in the continental United States. Originally a football-only league, it became an all-sports entity during the 2008–09 season. The GWC stopped sponsoring football following ...

(GWFC) selection with 10 receptions for 165 yards and one touchdown. In 2004, as a junior, he was a First-team All-GWFC, with 35 receptions for 520 yards and one touchdown. As a member of the UC Davis Aggies in 2003, he won team's award as outstanding sophomore. In 2002, he was on the roster but did not play, and he redshirted in 2001.

Professional career

Atlanta Falcons

Fells was originally signed by the Atlanta Falcons as an

in 2006.

St. Louis Rams

In October 2008, Fells signed a free agent contract with the

. In 2008, he played 12 games with one start and caught seven passes for 81 yards. He was placed on injured reserve on December 21, 2008. In 2009, he came back with 21 catches for 273 yards and three touchdowns. He played in 14 games and started four. Then in 2010, he played in every game and started in seven. He had career high in catches, and receiving yards with rookie

Sam Bradford Samuel Jacob Bradford (born November 8, 1987) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons, most notably with the St. Louis Rams and Minnesota Vikings. He was also a member of the ...

Denver Broncos

Fells signed a one-year contract with the

on July 31, 2011.

New England Patriots

Fells agreed to sign a three-year deal with the New England Patriots on March 19, 2012. On August 30, 2013 Fells was released.

New York Giants

On January 7, 2014, Fells was signed by the New York Giants. On October 5, 2015, the Giants announced that Fells had been dealing with a chronic ankle condition, which was later discovered to be a staphylococcal infection, a discovery made after he had received a

cortisone Cortisone is a pregnene (21-carbon) steroid hormone. It is a naturally-occurring corticosteroid metabolite that is also used as a pharmaceutical prodrug; it is not synthesized in the adrenal glands. Cortisol is converted by the action of the enz ...

injection Injection or injected may refer to: Science and technology * Injective function, a mathematical function mapping distinct arguments to distinct values * Injection (medicine), insertion of liquid into the body with a syringe * Injection, in broadca ...

for his ankle injury. The infection was found to be

methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus Methicillin-resistant ''Staphylococcus aureus'' (MRSA) is a group of Gram-positive bacteria that are genetically distinct from other strains of '' Staphylococcus aureus''. MRSA is responsible for several difficult-to-treat infections in human ...

(MRSA), which is resistant to many antibiotics that are used to treat staph infections. Fells had a high fever upon his arrival on October 2, 2015, at the emergency room, where he had been taken by his wife. Due to the staph infection found in his ankle, he was placed on injured reserve. On October 9, 2015, he was moved from the

intensive care unit 220px, Intensive care unit An intensive care unit (ICU), also known as an intensive therapy unit or intensive treatment unit (ITU) or critical care unit (CCU), is a special department of a hospital or health care facility that provides intensi ...

(ICU) to a private room. On July 26, 2016, Fells announced his retirement from the NFL.

References

External links

UC Davis Aggies bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fells, Daniel 1983 births Living people Players of American football from Anaheim, California American football tight ends American football fullbacks UC Davis Aggies football players Atlanta Falcons players Oakland Raiders players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players St. Louis Rams players Denver Broncos players New England Patriots players New York Giants players Ed Block Courage Award recipients