Keith Van Horne (born November 6, 1957) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was an

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

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) for 13 seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. 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 Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

and earned All-American honors. Van Horne was selected in the first round 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 ...

, and played professionally for the NFL's

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

Early years

Van Horne was born in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania. He attended Fullerton High School in

Fullerton, California Fullerton ( ) is a city located in northern Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 143,617. Fullerton was founded in 1887. It secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and Sa ...

. His Fullerton football varsity teammates included future NFL

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

tight end

Hoby Brenner Hoby F. J. Brenner (born June 2, 1959) is a former American football tight end who played professionally in the National Football League (NFL) for the New Orleans Saints. High school career Brenner prepped at Fullerton Union High School. His tea ...

College career

He attended the University of Southern California, where he played for the

USC Trojans football The USC Trojans football program represents University of Southern California in the sport of American football. The Trojans compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Pac-12 Con ...

team from 1977 to 1980. He was part of the Trojans 1978 National Championship team. As a senior in 1980, Van Horne was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American.

Professional career

The Chicago Bears selected Van Horne in the first round (11th pick overall) of the

, and he played for the Bears from though . He was a member of the 1985 Chicago Bears team, winners of

Super Bowl XX Super Bowl XX was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Chicago Bears and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...

. In his 13 NFL seasons, he played in 186 games for the Bears, and started 169 of them.

Personal life

Van Horne was married to

Eleanor Mondale Eleanor Jane Mondale Poling (January 19, 1960 – September 17, 2011) was an American radio personality, television host, and actress. Biography Mondale was the only daughter of Joan Mondale and former Vice President Walter Mondale. Her o ...

from 1988 to 1989.Eleanor Mondale Wed in Wisconsin To Keith Van Horne, Football Tackle
''The New York Times'', April 10, 1988 He lives in the Chicago suburb of Riverwoods.

References

External links

* *
KEITH VAN HORNE, Appellee, v. MATTHEW "MANCOW" MULLER (Irma Blanco et al., Appellants)
State of Illinois, December 3, 1998 {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Horne, Keith 1957 births Living people American football offensive tackles Chicago Bears players USC Trojans football players All-American college football players Sportspeople from Fullerton, California Sportspeople from Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania Players of American football from California Ed Block Courage Award recipients