Greg Eslinger (born April 23, 1983) is a former American college and 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 ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

. 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 ...

for the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

, received consensus All-American honors, and was recognized as the best college interior lineman and top college center. He was chosen by the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

in the sixth round of the

2006 NFL Draft The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with ad ...

, and was a member of several

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) teams, but never played in a regular season NFL game.

College career

Bismarck, North Dakota Bismarck () is the capital of the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Burleigh County. It is the state's second-most populous city, after Fargo. The city's population was 73,622 in the 2020 census, while its metropolitan popula ...

native, Eslinger attended the

, where he was a four-year starter for the

Minnesota Golden Gophers football The Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represents the University of Minnesota in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Founded in 1882, Minnesota has been a member of the Big Ten Conference since its ince ...

team from 2002 to 2005. He was a three-time first-team All-

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

selection (2003, 2004, 2005) and an unanimous All-American in 2005. As a senior in 2005, he was awarded the

Outland Trophy The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best college football interior lineman in the United States as adjudged by the Football Writers Association of America. It is named after John H. Outland. One of only a few players ever to be named an All-Ame ...

, which is given to

's best interior lineman, as well as the

Dave Rimington Trophy The Dave Rimington Trophy is awarded to the player considered to be the best American football center in college football. Dave Rimington was a center who played at the University of Nebraska from 1979 to 1982. A member of the National College F ...

, awarded to

's top

Awards and honors

* ''

Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

'' Freshman

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n (2002) * Third-team All-American (2003) * First-team All-

(2003–2005) *

FWAA The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

All-American (2004) *

Rimington Trophy The Dave Rimington Trophy is awarded to the player considered to be the best American football center in college football. Dave Rimington was a center who played at the University of Nebraska from 1979 to 1982. A member of the National College F ...

finalist (2004) * Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year (2005) *

Lombardi Award The Rotary Lombardi Award is an award for college football in the United States. Awarded by the Rotary Club of Houston, Texas annually to the college football player "who best embodies the values and spirit of NFL's legendary coach Vince Lombar ...

semifinalist (2005) * Consensus All-American (2005) *

(2005) * Rimington Trophy (2005)

Professional career

The Denver Broncos chose Eslinger in the sixth round (198th overall pick) of the

. He was on their

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 ...

list and did not play during the

2006 NFL season The 2006 NFL season was the 87th regular season of the National Football League. Regular season play was held from September 7 to December 31, 2006. The season began with the reigning Super Bowl XL champion Pittsburgh defeating the Miami in t ...

. Assigned to the Cologne Centurions of the

NFL Europa NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

for 2007, he started at center and earned All-NFL Europa honors. The Broncos moved Eslinger to the practice squad at the beginning of 2007. On Nov. 13, 2007, the Cleveland Browns picked him off the Bronco practice squad. On December 12, 2007, he was released from the Cleveland Browns. On December 20, 2007, he was signed to the Houston Texans practice squad. Eslinger was re-signed to the Bronco practice squad in the 2008 season.

References

External links

NFL Europa profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eslinger, Greg 1983 births Living people All-American college football players American football centers Cologne Centurions (NFL Europe) players Cleveland Browns players Denver Broncos players Houston Texans players Minnesota Golden Gophers football players Sportspeople from Bismarck, North Dakota Players of American football from North Dakota