Craig Dahl (born June 17, 1985) 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 ...

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 ...

who played nine seasons in the National Football League. He was signed by the Giants as an

undrafted 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 ...

in 2007. 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 ...

North Dakota State North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota. It was founded as North Dakota Agricultural College in 1890 as t ...

. He earned a

Super Bowl ring The Super Bowl ring is an award in the National Football League given to the team members of the winning team of the league's annual championship game, the Super Bowl. Since only one Vince Lombardi Trophy is awarded to the team (ownership) itsel ...

during his first stint with the Giants in their

Super Bowl XLII Super Bowl XLII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

win against

Tom Brady Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He spent his first 20 seasons with the New England Patriots organization, with which ...

and the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

. Dahl has also played for the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

and the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

Early years

Dahl was a First-team All-state, All-conference and All-city for Mankato East High School. He ran for 3,398 yards and passed for 1,769 yards as a quarterback over his final two years and scored 57 touchdowns. He quarterbacked the team to a runner up finish at the state tournament his junior year. He also competed in basketball and track & field (as a High jumper and long jumper). He holds many football records for the high school as well as many track records. (see below) He Holds the following records in track at Mankato East High School. 38.84 in 300 Hurdles, Long Jump, and Triple Jump As a sophomore, he finished 10th at the state meet in Long Jump. As a Junior he hurdled/jumped at the state meet finishing with the following times and places. 4th in the 110 hurdles running 14.85 3rd in Long Jump with a jump of 22-07.25 As a senior, he hurdled/jumped at the state meet finishing with the following times and places. 5th in the 110 hurdles running 15.02 3rd in the 300 Hurdles running 38.84 3rd in the Long Jump jumping 22-3 4th in the Triple Jump jumping 44-2

College career

Dahl played in 43 games for the Bison and posted 238 tackles (134 solo), 8 passes defensed, 7 interceptions and two sacks. In 2006 As a senior, recorded 61 tackles (32 solo), 2 interceptions and a sack and was First-team All-GWFC. In 2005, he was Second-team All-Great West and had 71 tackles, an interception forced a fumble and blocked a kick. He started in all 11 games at strong safety and led NDSU with 49 solo tackles including one tackle for loss and second overall with 71 total tackles and two pass breakups, one interception, a fumble recovery and one forced fumble. In 2004, as a sophomore, he started all 11 games and was named First-team All-

Great West Football Conference The Great West Conference (GWC) was an NCAA college athletic conference in the continental United States. Originally a football-only league, it became an all-sports entity during the 2008–09 season. The GWC stopped sponsoring football following ...

. In 2003, he played in 10 games and had 24 tackles, and an interception and blocked a kick .

Professional career

Pre-draft

New York Giants

Dahl signed with 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. ...

after playing

North Dakota State University North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota. It was founded as North Dakota Agricultural College in 1890 as t ...

. On September 2, 2007, he was placed on the 53-man roster. Through week 12 of the 2007 season, Dahl had three tackles. One tackle was against his home-state Vikings. On December 8, 2007, Craig made his first NFL start of his career against the Eagles. He had five tackles in the game. He tore his

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...

in a game against the

, and did not play again. Dahl was waived by the Giants in February 2008 after failing a physical. He was re-signed on July 30, 2008, however, Dahl later again in the Giants' third

preseason In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

game tore his ACL. He was placed on

injured reserve 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 ...

ending his season. An

exclusive-rights 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 ...

after the 2008 season, Dahl was not tendered an offer and became an

unrestricted 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 ...

in the 2009 offseason.

St. Louis Rams

Dahl was signed by the

on March 17, 2009. The move reunited him with Rams head coach

Steve Spagnuolo Stephen Christopher Spagnuolo (; born December 21, 1959) is an American football coach who is the defensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He rejoined Andy Reid after being a defensive assistant wit ...

, who was the Giants' defensive coordinator during Dahl's time in New York. The Rams re-signed Dahl on March 7, 2010.

San Francisco 49ers

Dahl signed a three-year deal with the

on March 16, 2013. He was released by the 49ers on September 4, 2015.

Second stint with Giants

Dahl re-signed with the

on September 7, 2015.

NFL statistics

References

External links

San Francisco 49ers profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dahl, Craig 1985 births Living people Sportspeople from Mankato, Minnesota Players of American football from Minnesota American football safeties North Dakota State Bison football players New York Giants players St. Louis Rams players San Francisco 49ers players