Jon Melander (born October 5, 1966) 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 wi ...

offensive guard 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 in ...

who played four seasons 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 New England Patriots, the Cincinnati Bengals and 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 headquar ...

. He played college football at 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 land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

and was drafted in the fifth round of 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 Mar ...

College career

Melander played for the

Golden Gophers from 1986 to 1989, starting as a defensive end before switching to guard just before his junior year. Melander earned a degree in business management with an emphasis in finance from the

Carlson School of Management The Curtis L. Carlson School of Management is the business school of the University of Minnesota, a public research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Carlson School offers undergraduate and graduat ...

in 1989. From 2000 to 2004, Melander's nephew, Rian, was an 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 ...

offensive tackle for the

Golden Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college athletics, college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 25 (12 men's, 13 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and com ...

. His uncle, Raymond, also played football for the Gophers.

NFL career

Melander was selected in the fifth round (113th overall) in 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 Mar ...

by the New England Patriots. He played in ten games for the Patriots during the

1991 NFL season The 1991 NFL season was the 72nd regular season of the National Football League. It was the final season for coach Chuck Noll. The season ended with Super Bowl XXVI when the Washington Redskins defeated the Buffalo Bills, 37–24, at the Metr ...

before signing with the Cincinnati Bengals before the

1992 NFL season The 1992 NFL season was the 73rd regular season of the National Football League. Due to the damage caused by Hurricane Andrew, the New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins game that was scheduled for September 6 at Joe Robbie Stadium was res ...

. In 1992, Melander played in 15 games for the Bengals and started seven games. Melander signed with the Denver Broncos in the offseason and played in 29 games for the Broncos during the

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 peacefu ...

and 1994 NFL seasons. Melander started 22 games for the Broncos before retiring prior to the 1995 season.

Post-retirement

Since retiring from football, Melander has worked as a

financial consultant A financial adviser or financial advisor is a professional who provides financial services to clients based on their financial situation. In many countries, financial advisors must complete specific training and be registered with a regulatory ...

in the Twin Cities, specializing in asset management and retirement consulting for high-net-worth clients. In 2004, he was the President of the

Minnetonka Minnetonka ( ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. A western suburb of the Twin Cities, Minnetonka is located about west of downtown Minneapolis. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 53,781. Minnetonka is the ...

Rotary Club and is a past Rotary Assistant District Governor. In addition to his career in finance, Jon volunteers his time coaching youth sports. He is also active in many church and community causes, and he remains an active

athletic booster.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Melander, Jon 1966 births American football offensive guards Minnesota Golden Gophers football players New England Patriots players Cincinnati Bengals players Businesspeople from Minnesota Denver Broncos players Living people People from Fridley, Minnesota Sportspeople from Anoka County, Minnesota