Jeffrey Allen Christy (born February 3, 1969) 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 ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

for the Arizona Cardinals, the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

, and the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...

Early life

Christy was a starter during all four of his years at the Freeport Senior High School, playing as a fullback,

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, ...

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and punter. During this time, he rushed for 2,842 total yards, made 340 career tackles, and scored 337 points. He also set nine school records, including the most points in a season (208, which was also a state record) and career, most touchdowns in a season (26) and career (45), and most field goals in a season (6). Christy attended the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

, where he received all-

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

first-team honors as a senior. On September 21, 2007, the Freeport Senior High School retired Jeff Christy's number, 40. It was the first ever number retirement in the school's history. Jeff Christy is now married to Kristen, with two daughters, Nicolette and Kennedy and a son, Mac. He currently resides in

Saxonburg, Pennsylvania Saxonburg is a borough in Butler County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area in the western part of the state. It was founded in 1832 by F. Carl Roebling and his younger brother John as a German farming col ...

Professional career

In 1992, Christy was drafted with the 91st overall pick in the 4th round by the

Phoenix Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

. He was cut by the team and would miss the entire 1992 season. He was signed by the Minnesota Vikings in 1993 and played there until 1999. During this span he selected to both the Pro Bowl and All-Pro teams in 1998 and 1999. Christy signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2000. Jeff Christy was filling a major need for Tampa Bay, who was trying to improve an offensive line that ranked 28th of 31 teams that previous season. That season, he was selected to a third Pro Bowl and started every game, including Super Bowl XXXVII against the Oakland Raiders. Throughout his career, Jeff started 139 out of 148 of his games played. In August 2001, Jeff Christy injured his

medial collateral ligament The medial collateral ligament (MCL), or tibial collateral ligament (TCL), is one of the four major ligaments of the knee. It is on the medial (inner) side of the knee joint in humans and other primates. Its primary function is to resist outwar ...

(MCL) and kept him sidelined for three to five weeks. Christy played for the Buccaneers until his retirement in 2003.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christy, Jeff 1969 births Living people People from Harrison Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania American football centers Players of American football from Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Panthers football players Arizona Cardinals players Minnesota Vikings players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players National Conference Pro Bowl players