Dave Ahrens (born December 5, 1958) 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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

who played ten seasons 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). The Cedar Falls, Iowa native played college football at the University of Wisconsin.

Early career

Ahrens played high school at Oregon High School in

Oregon, Wisconsin Oregon is a village in Dane County, Wisconsin, Dane County, Wisconsin. As of the census of 2020, the population was 11,179. Oregon is part of the Madison, Wisconsin, Madison Madison, Wisconsin metropolitan area, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The ...

, where he played

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

and

and was named All-State by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

his senior year. Ahrens started out at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

playing fullback but switched to

and was captain and Team MVP of the

1980 Wisconsin Badgers football team The 1980 Wisconsin Badgers football team was an American football team that represented the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the 1980 Big Ten Conference football season. In their third season under head coach Dave McClain, the Badgers fin ...

Professional career

St. Louis Cardinals

Ahrens was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the sixth round (143rd overall) of the

1981 NFL Draft The 1981 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 28–29, 1981, at the New York She ...

. He recorded his only interception his rookie year, which was returned for a touchdown. Ahrens played in all the games and started ten his rookie season, but his playing time diminished and after four years he was traded to the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

for a tenth-round pick in the

1986 NFL Draft The 1986 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 29–30, 1986, at the Marriott Marq ...

Indianapolis Colts

Ahrens was traded to the

before the 1985 season. He did not start a single game in 1985 but had arguably his best NFL season in 1986, starting ten games, and registering two

quarterback sacks In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in the ...

, one of them helping the Colts secure their first win of the year late in the season against the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

Detroit Lions

Ahrens spent 1988 with the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

but only played in half the games and was left unprotected.

Miami Dolphins

Ahrens was signed by the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

before 1989 and recorded one sack with the team. Due to salary concerns, the Dolphins released him but he did sign a Plan B contract.

Seattle Seahawks

Ahrens signed with the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

in free agency before the 1990 season. He was cut during final cuts only to be re-signed by the team. Ahrens was placed on injured reserve following a broken leg against 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 ...

late in the season.

Post-career life

Ahrens spent the 1991 season with the Colts as an assistant coach. He was part of a large group of Colts players named in a 2011 concussion lawsuit against the NFL.

References

St. Louis Cardinals (football) players Indianapolis Colts players Detroit Lions players Miami Dolphins players Seattle Seahawks players Wisconsin Badgers football players 1958 births Living people People from Cedar Falls, Iowa {{Linebacker-1950s-stub