Hunndens Guiseppi "Peppi" Zellner (born March 14, 1975) 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 ...

player 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 the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

and

Arizona 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 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 ...

Fort Valley State University } Fort Valley State University (FVSU, formerly Fort Valley State College and Fort Valley Normal and Industrial School) is a public land-grant historically black university in Fort Valley, Georgia. It is part of the University System of Georgia and ...

Early years

Zellner attended

Mary Persons High School Mary Persons High School is a public 9-12 high school located in Forsyth, Georgia, United States. It is the sole high school of Monroe County Schools. During the 2011–12 school year, 1,181 students were enrolled in the school. There are around ...

, where he

lettered Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

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 ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

. In football, he was an All-Area selection and an All-District selection, and Prep Football Report named him as an All-Dixie selection. After his senior season, he participated in the Florida-Georgia All-Star Game. In

, he was an All-Area selection and played in the North-South All-Star tournament. Although he received a scholarship from the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

, academic problems forced him to join

Georgia Military College Georgia Military College (GMC) is a public military junior college in Milledgeville, Georgia. It is divided into the junior college, a military junior college program, high school, middle school, and elementary school. It was originally known as M ...

. He began as a

strong-side 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, p ...

and was moved to the

defensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

as a sophomore. He registered 129 tackles (33 for loss) and 15 sacks in his two junior college seasons. In 1996, he transferred to

, but eligibility problems limited his playing time to only 3

games, collecting 18 tackles (4 for loss). In 1997, he focused on

, starting at forward (17 out of 26 games), averaging 10.1 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocked shots, while helping the school win its first conference championship since 1969. In 1998, he returned to play football at

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

, posting 60 tackles, 14 tackles for loss (led the team) and 3 sacks. He received All-American and All-Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Zellner was selected by the

in the fourth round (132nd overall) of the

1999 NFL Draft The 1999 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 17–18, 1999, at the Theater at M ...

, after impressing in the

scouting combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Fo ...

, recording the second fastest 40-yard dash time, first in the broad jump and first in the 20-yard dash among

men. As a rookie, he had 10

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

tackles (tied for sixth on the team). Against the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

, he posted his first career sack, while adding a quarterback pressure and 2 tackles. In

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, he played in 12 games, registering 13

tackles (second on the team), 16 defensive tackles, 2 sacks and 3 quarterback pressures. He missed the last 4 games, after being placed on the

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

with a torn left anterior cruciate ligament he suffered during a practice. In

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, a season-ending back injury to

Ebenezer Ekuban Ebenezer Ekuban Jr. (born May 29, 1976) is a former American football defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, Cleveland Browns, and Denver Broncos. He played college football at the University of North Carolina ...

, allowed him to start 15 games at right defensive end, setting career-highs with 46 tackles, 3 sacks (tied for fourth on the team) and 22 quarterback pressures (second on the team). The next year, he only started 2 games and registered 29 tackles. He wasn't re-signed at the end of the season.

Washington Redskins

On May 11,

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, he was signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

to a one-year contract. He recorded 14 tackles and one sack as a backup during the season.

Oakland Raiders

On August 17,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, he signed with the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

as a

. On August 31, he was traded to the

along with

Troy Hambrick Troy Hambrick (born November 6, 1976) is a former American football running back in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals. He played college football at University of South Carolina and Savannah State Universit ...

, in exchange for a sixth round draft choice (#182-

Cedric Houston Cedric Leonard Houston (born June 28, 1982) is a former American football running back of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the New York Jets in the sixth round of the 2005 NFL Draft. He played college football at Tennessee. ...

) in the

2005 NFL Draft The 2005 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 NFL draft, draft was held April 23–24, 2005 NFL seaso ...

Arizona Cardinals

, Zellner replaced an injured Fred Wakefield, playing in all 16 games (14 starts), while registering 35 tackles and 2 sacks. On March 10,

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, he was re-signed. He was released on August 29,

Personal life

In 2002, Zellner was charged with drug possession, however, the charges were later dropped in 2003. He is a cousin of

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

Tra Battle Tra Battle (born January 5, 1985) is a former American football safety in the National Football League for the San Diego Chargers and Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at the University of Georgia. Early years Battle attended Mary Per ...

who also played for the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zellner, Peppi 1975 births Living people People from Forsyth, Georgia Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) American football defensive ends Fort Valley State Wildcats football players Dallas Cowboys players Washington Redskins players Arizona Cardinals players