Ronald Arden Essink (born July 30, 1958) 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 ...

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 the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

. 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 ...

Grand Valley State University Grand Valley State University (GVSU, GV, or Grand Valley) is a public university in Allendale, Michigan. It was established in 1960 as Grand Valley State College. Its main campus is situated on approximately west of Grand Rapids. The universit ...

Early life

Essink attended Zeeland High School, where he played as a

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 ...

. He began practicing

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

as a senior, going undefeated and winning the heavyweight Class B title, which was the school's first state title in any sport. He accepted a football scholarship from

, after the wrestling coach Jim Scott, convinced head coach

Jim Harkema Elson James Harkema (born June 25, 1942) is former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Grand Valley State University (Allendale, Michigan), from 1973 to 1982 and at Eastern Michigan University from 1983 to ...

to make the offer. As a sophomore, he was converted into an

because of an injury to a starter. He would become an

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

and NAIA All-American. As a junior, he helped the team achieve the best record (9–3) in school history and qualify to the playoffs for the first time. They lost against

Elon College Elon University is a private university in Elon, North Carolina. Founded in 1889 as Elon College, Elon is organized into six schools, most of which offer bachelor's degrees and several of which offer master's degrees or professional doctorate d ...

in the semifinals of the NAIA playoffs. He also practiced

, compiling a 91-10 (.901) record. He won national titles in the

and NAIA championships. He received All-American recognition after placing seventh at the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

championships. In 1991, he was inducted into the Grand Valley State University Athletics Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Seattle Seahawks

Essink was selected by the

in the 10th round (265th overall) of the

1980 NFL Draft The 1980 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 29–30, 1980, at the New York She ...

. He became the first Grand Valley player to be drafted by an

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 ...

team. As a rookie, he started 3 games at

left tackle Tackle is a playing position in gridiron football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and defense. In the modern system of specialized units, o ...

, when he passed

Louis Bullard Louis Eugene Bullard (May 6, 1956 - April 18, 2010) was an American football offensive tackle who played three seasons with the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the fifth round of ...

on the depth chart. On November 27, he scored a touchdown on a two-yard pass from

Jim Zorn James Arthur Zorn (born May 10, 1953) is a former American football player and coach. Zorn was a left-handed quarterback, and is best known as the starting quarterback of the Seattle Seahawks for their first eight seasons. He was the quarterback ...

, for the only Seahawks' points in a 7–51 loss against 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 ...

. He was the regular starter at

for the following 5 seasons, until injuries started to limit him. In

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

, rookie

Ron Mattes Ronald Anthony Mattes (born August 8, 1963) is a former American football offensive tackle who played for seven seasons in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the seventh round of the 1985 NFL Draft and also p ...

was named the starter at

and Essink ended up missing the entire season because of elbow injuries. In

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

, he was sidelined with a pulled groin muscle he suffered in the second day of training camp. On August 25, he was traded to the

in exchange for a fifth round draft choice (#120-

Chris Gaines Chris Gaines is a one-off fictional rock persona created as a movie character for Garth Brooks to explore musical styles far removed from his success as a country singer. Initially, Brooks planned to feature the Gaines persona in ''The Lamb'', a ...

Dallas Cowboys

, the

acquired him to be the starting

. On September 1, he announced his retirement from professional football, one week after being traded. He had undergone 6 surgeries on both elbows in the previous two years.

Personal life

After football, he returned to Zeeland High School, to become a teacher and a wrestling coach. He also worked for the Zeeland Street Department.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Essink, Ron 1958 births Living people People from Zeeland, Michigan Sportspeople from Ottawa County, Michigan Players of American football from Michigan American football offensive tackles Grand Valley State Lakers football players Seattle Seahawks players American people of Dutch descent Grand Valley State University alumni