Curtis Dustin Zeigler (born September 27, 1973 in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

) 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 ...

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 ...

for the

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

and the

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

Notre Dame

Dusty Zeigler 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 ...

at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

Buffalo Bills

Zeigler was drafted in the sixth round of the

1996 NFL Draft The 1996 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 20–21, 1996, at the Paramount ...

by the Bills in 1996. He became their starting center as a sophomore in 1997, playing between left offensive guard

Ruben Brown Ruben Parnell Brown (born February 13, 1972) is a former American football guard who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons. He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills 14th overall in the 1995 NFL Draft. He played college footba ...

and right guard

Corbin Lacina Corbin James Lacina (born November 2, 1970) is a former American football offensive lineman and Midwest Emmy award-winning sports broadcaster who played eleven seasons in the National Football League, mainly for the Buffalo Bills and Minnesota ...

, replacing the 11-year incumbent

Kent Hull James Kent Hull (January 13, 1961 – October 18, 2011) was an American football offensive lineman in the National Football League and United States Football League, more precisely a center for the New Jersey Generals of the USFL and Buffalo Bi ...

. That was the final one in

Marv Levy Marvin Daniel Levy (; born August 3, 1925) is an American former football coach and executive who was a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for seventeen seasons. He spent most of his head coaching career with the Buffalo Bills, lea ...

's term as head coach (6-10 won-lost record), replaced the following year by his defensive coordinator,

Wade Phillips Harold Wade Phillips (born June 21, 1947) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach of the Houston Roughnecks of the XFL. He has served as head coach of the Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills, and Dallas Cowboys. He has also ser ...

, who guided the Bills to playoff berths in 1998 and 1999. In 1998, when Zeigler started all 16 games, playing between Brown and

Joe Panos Joe Panos (born Zois Panagiotopoulos on January 24, 1971) is a former American football offensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles and Buffalo Bills. After Brookfield East High School, he played college fo ...

, Buffalo finished in second place in the

AFC East The American Football Conference – Eastern Division or AFC East is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). There are currently four teams that reside in the d ...

and lost a wild-card game to 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 ...

. In 1999, Buffalo also finished in second place in the AFC east, but Zeigler was switched to right guard to make place for

Jerry Ostroski Gerald Ostroski Jr. (born July 12, 1970) is a former American football offensive lineman who played for the Buffalo Bills in the National Football League. College career After a standout high school career at Owen J. Roberts High School, Jerry ...

as the center next to Brown. The Bills lost another wild-card game, this time to the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

New York Giants

Zeigler became a New York Giant in 2000, where he also became the starting center, from 2000 to 2001, starting all 16 games during those two years. In 2000, the Giants won the NFC championship game of the 2000-01 NFL playoffs, but lost

Super Bowl XXXV Super Bowl XXXV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Baltimore Ravens and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...

to the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

with

Kerry Collins Kerry Michael Collins (born December 30, 1972) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. Collins was a member of six NFL teams, most notably the Carolina Panthers, New York Giants, ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

. In 2002, Zeigler started only 2 games, replaced by

Chris Bober Chris Scott Bober ( ; born December 24, 1976) is a former American football guard and center. He was originally signed by the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent in 2000. He played college football at University of Nebraska Omaha, the cit ...

, and never played again.

Post-football

Since retiring from football, Zeigler has become active in politics and was elected as a Republican to be the county commission chairman in Effingham County GA in 2008. In 2012, Zeigler became an offensive line coach for the Savannah Christian Raiders, a high school team competing in the Georgia High School Association (GHSA).

References

1973 births Living people Players of American football from Savannah, Georgia American football centers Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Buffalo Bills players New York Giants players {{Offensive-lineman-1970s-stub

Notre Dame

Buffalo Bills

New York Giants

Post-football

See also

References