Jeffery Stephen Dugan (born April 8, 1981) 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 ...

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. Like ...

and

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 ...

. He was drafted by 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 expansion ...

in seventh round of

2004 NFL Draft The 2004 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 24–25, 2004 at the Theater at ...

. He 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 ...

for the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

. Before college Dugan attended Central Catholic High School, where NFL quarterbacks

Dan Marino Daniel Constantine Marino Jr. (born September 15, 1961) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons with the Miami Dolphins. After a successful college career at Pittsburgh and be ...

and

Marc Bulger Marc Robert Bulger (; born April 5, 1977) is a retired American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons, primarily with the St. Louis Rams. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the sixth ro ...

attended.

College career

Dugan attended the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of Mary ...

, and he finished his career with 55 receptions for 649 yards (11.8 yards per rec. avg.), and three touchdowns. As a

true freshman Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

, he was named the team's freshman of the year and was a Freshman All-American third-team selection by the Sports Page. After the first game of the year, he took over the starting job. He was second on the team in receptions, with 25. In his sophomore year, he started 10 games and was used primarily as a blocker, but had 7 receptions for 64 yards and a touchdown. In his junior year, he started every game and caught 9 passes for 91 yards and a touchdown and was named

ACC ACC most often refers to: * Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US *American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...

honorable mention. In his senior year in 2003, he caught 14 passes for 175 yards and was named to the All-ACC second-team.

Professional career

Minnesota Vikings

Dugan was selected by the

in the seventh round of the

. In his rookie season, he played in 14 of 16 regular season games, made two starts, and played in two playoff games. Dugan played in the third most games, for Viking rookies that season. Jeff had a career-high three tackles on special teams in a game against Green Bay on November 14, notched a special teams tackle versus Detroit, and made his first career start on Monday Night Football against the Philadelphia Eagles on September 20. Jeff's 2005 season consisted of only one game against the Atlanta Falcons on October 2. He was then listed as inactive for 15 regular season games. Dugan made his first career playoff start versus Green Bay, on January 9, 2005. In 2006, Dugan made his transition from tight end to full back, when Tony Richardson had a season-ending injury. Dugan handled the transition admirably, and assisted Chester Taylor, as he ran for 1,214 yards, which became the fourth highest in Vikings history. Dugan also helped a pair of running backs rush for 100+ yards in the final seven games of the season. Dugan contributed on special teams as well. On September 3, 2011, Dugan was waived by the Minnesota Vikings to make room for the 53 man roster.

Personal

He has been spending his off-season pursuing his

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

at Northwestern's

Kellogg School of Management The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University (also known as Kellogg) is the business school of Northwestern University, a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1908, Kellogg is one of the oldest and most p ...

References

External links