Michael Phillip Roan (born August 29, 1972) is a former professional

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 ...

in the

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. He is now a high school teacher, vineyard owner and former football coach.

Amateur Career

A graduate and standout athlete at Iowa City High School, Roan played mostly on the defensive line and fullback during his high school days. He also was named to the Iowa 3A All-State Basketball Team in 1990. He was converted to the tight end position 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 ...

, and was a member of the 1994 Rose Bowl championship squad. A key contributor to the turnaround success of the Badgers under Barry Alvarez, Roan earned acclaim as a bookend tight end that was "big, strong and consistent." Roan earned All-Big Ten honors in both his junior and senior seasons, catching 34 passes for the Badgers in 1993.

NFL Career

A fourth round selection in the

1995 NFL Draft The 1995 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 22–23, 1995 at the Paramount Th ...

, Roan played all six seasons of his NFL career for the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans franchise. Roan was on the Titans roster during their run in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

to the

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. He caught three touchdown passes in his career, all of them during the 1999 season. He also recovered a fumble for a touchdown against the

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in a 23-14 win in Nashville in November 1998. Playing for the special teams shortly after Al Del Greco kicked a go-ahead field goal with three seconds left, Roan recovered the subsequent fumbled kickoff as time expired. Injuries began to pile up by the start of the 2000 season, as a recurring neck problem kept Roan out for all of the Titans' 1999 postseason run. It came to a head in the first week of 2000, when Roan's own teammate broke his leg in a blindside collision against Buffalo.

Post-NFL Career

After retiring from the NFL, Roan moved to Sonoma wine country in California and bought a vineyard in the

Russian River valley The Russian River (Southern Pomo language, Southern Pomo: ''Ashokawna'', es, Río Ruso) is a southward-flowing river that drains of Sonoma County, California, Sonoma and Mendocino County, California, Mendocino counties in Northern California. ...

. Known today as Roan Family, the vineyard's Pinot Noir grapes are sourced by Screen Door Cellars. Roan earned a Master's Degree from the University of San Francisco, as well as a teaching certificate. Starting his education career as a junior varsity coach, Roan eventually became the head varsity football coach at

El Molino High School El Molino High School was a public four-year comprehensive high school located at 7050 Covey Road in Forestville, California, United States. El Molino High School serves the West Sonoma County Union High School District. Matt Dunkle is the princ ...

in Forestville,

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until 2011 (when he brought his team to the playoffs). After the 2011 season, Roan passed the job onto J.V. coach Matt Transue. He currently serves as the physical education teacher and athletic director at West Sonoma County High School in

Sebastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

References

1972 births Living people Sportspeople from Iowa City, Iowa Players of American football from Iowa American football tight ends Wisconsin Badgers football players Houston Oilers players Tennessee Oilers players Tennessee Titans players Iowa City High School alumni {{tightend-1970s-stub