Michael John Kiselak (born March 9, 1967 in

North Tarrytown, New York Sleepy Hollow is a village in the town of Mount Pleasant, in Westchester County, New York, United States. The village is located on the east bank of the Hudson River, about north of New York City, and is served by the Philipse Manor stop on ...

) is a former American football guard in the Canadian Football League for the Sacramento Gold Miners, San Antonio Texans and Toronto Argonauts. He also was a member of the Dallas Cowboys in the National Football League, San Antonio Riders in the World League of American Football and San Francisco Demons in the XFL. 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 ...

at the University of Maryland.

Early years

Kiselak attended Pine Bush High School, where he played as a two-way player (defensive and

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 ...

). He also practiced baseball. He accepted a football scholarship from the University of Maryland to play under head coach played for Bobby Ross. He began his college career playing on defense as a

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

. As a sophomore, he registered 16 tackles, one interception and one quarterback sack at nose guard. As a junior, he was converted into a guard to improve the offensive line depth and started the last seven games. He was a regular starter as a senior and after his game against Wake Forest University, he was named the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

Offensive Lineman of the Week.

Professional career

Kiselak was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Kansas City Chiefs after the

1990 NFL Draft The 1990 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, 1990, at the Marriott Marq ...

on May 1st, and was waived on August 27. In

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

, he was selected by the San Antonio Riders in the fourth round of the WLAF Draft, playing in the inaugural season of World League of American Football. He started as an

protecting the future Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett. On July 16,

, he signed with the Houston Oilers. He was released on August 19. In

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, he signed with the Riders and was named the starter at

. On June 2,

, he was signed by 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. ...

. He was cut on August 24. On April 7,

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

, he signed with the Sacramento Gold Miners of the CFL, where he was converted into a center. After two years he signed as a free agent with the San Antonio Texans and played with them until the team folded. He was selected by the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the 1996 CFL Dispersal Draft. On April 4,

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, he was traded before the season started to the Toronto Argonauts in exchange for

John Terry. Kiselak played center for the Argonauts, where he protected Doug Flutie and helped the team win two

Grey Cup The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...

s. He was an All-Star and received the CFL's Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award in consecutive years. In

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, he seized the opportunity and moved to the

NFL 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 major ...

to play for the Dallas Cowboys. He made the team as a 31-year-old rookie, after showing he could play three different positions. He passed Clay Shiver on the depth chart, starting the last 7 games at center. 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 ...

, he was placed on the injured reserve list, after suffering a career threatening left knee injury (tore his lateral meniscus, anterior cruciate, medial cruciate and posterior cruciate ligaments) during the first full-team workout on July 30. In 2001, he came back from his knee injury and was selected in the 14th round of the XFL supplemental draft by the San Francisco Demons. He was a starter at center until the league folded.

Personal life

Since 2007, Kiselak has been one of the board of directors for Kids Matters International, a children's charity organization. Where he has helped clothe thousands of children in need through the organizations local outreach called "Around the Block". Michael and his wife since 1992, Kim, have been involved in clothing kids since his playing days in Dallas in 1998. He is also a church minister under Church on the Rock- International and a

motivational speaker A motivational speaker is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. Such speakers may attempt to challenge or transform their audiences. The speech itself is popularly known as a pep talk. Motivational speakers ca ...

References

External links

CFL bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kiselak, Mike 1967 births Living people People from Sleepy Hollow, New York Players of American football from New York (state) American players of Canadian football Canadian football offensive linemen American football centers Maryland Terrapins football players San Antonio Riders players Sacramento Gold Miners players San Antonio Texans players Toronto Argonauts players Dallas Cowboys players San Francisco Demons players American Christian clergy American motivational speakers