Danny O'Neil (born August 4, 1971) 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 wit ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

. O'Neil was a star high school quarterback at Mater Dei in

Orange County, California Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, ...

and was heavily recruited by

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

and USC but chose to play for

Rich Brooks Richard Llewellyn Brooks (born August 20, 1941) is a retired American football player and coach. He was the head coach at the University of OregonMcCann, Michael C. (1995). Oregon Ducks Football: 100 Years of Glory. Eugene, Oregon: McCann Communic ...

at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

. Despite being a four-year starter who set numerous passing records for the Ducks, O'Neil struggled throughout his career in Eugene. However, in 1994 O'Neil led the Ducks to the

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championship and a berth in the 1995 Rose Bowl, Oregon's first since 1958. Though the Ducks lost to #2

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High ...

38–20, O'Neil set Rose Bowl records for most passes completed (41), most attempts (61), most yardage (465), most plays (74), and most total offense (456 yards), and was named the game's co-MVP with Penn State's

Ki-Jana Carter Kenneth Leonard "Ki-Jana" Carter (; born September 12, 1973) is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons. He played college football at Penn State, where he earned consensus All ...

. He was named to the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 2003. O'Neil was named first team all-conference as a senior, leading the Ducks to three pivotal come-from-behind victories; defeating #9 Washington, #11 Arizona, and archrival Oregon State in order to win the Pac-10 Conference championship. He passed for 8,301 yards and 62 touchdowns in his career at Oregon and also led the Ducks to the 1992 Independence Bowl. O'Neil was not drafted into the

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. He played part of one season with the

Anaheim Piranhas The Anaheim Piranhas were a professional arena football team that played in the Arena Football League from 1994 to 1997. They played their home games at Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California. The team was originally known as the Las Vegas Sting, ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

before retiring from football to become a youth

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

. Through the years he founded a church, Calvary Fellowship, in Eugene, OR. There he met his wife, Kim Nguyen/O'Neil. They soon got married and had two kids, Taylor O'Neil (b. 2004) and Danny Rayden O'Neil (b. 2005). He was a pastor in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census ...

, where he has ministered to players from his former team. He currently resides in Eugene, Oregon.

References

Living people Players of American football from Fullerton, California American football quarterbacks Oregon Ducks football players Anaheim Piranhas players American Christian clergy 1971 births {{Quarterback-1970s-stub