Jay Fiedler

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Jay Fiedler
Date of birth December 29, 1971
Place of birth Flag of United States Oceanside, New York
Position(s) Quarterback
College Dartmouth
Statistics
Team(s)
1994-1997
1997
1998
1999
2000-2004
2005
Philadelphia Eagles
Amsterdam Admirals
Minnesota Vikings
Jacksonville Jaguars
Miami Dolphins
New York Jets

Jay Brian Herbert Fiedler (born December 29, 1971) is an American football quarterback, and is currently a free agent.

He was born on Long Island in Oceanside, New York. He is one of the few Jewish players in the NFL, and is also a distant relative of Arthur Fiedler, the long-time conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra

Contents

[edit] High School Years

Fiedler attended Oceanside High School in Oceanside, New York, and won varsity letters as a quarterback in football, a point guard in basketball, and as decathlete in track and field. He was influenced greatly by football coach Frank Luisi, who is also an English teacher at Oceanside High School. Fiedler told ESPN Magazine that his hero growing up was “my coach at Oceanside High School, Frank Luisi,” who “would do anything for us. Coach kept me focused. He still calls after every game.”

[edit] College career

He is an alumnus of Dartmouth College, where he was selected for membership to Beta Theta Pi fraternity.

Fiedler led Dartmouth to a 22-7-1 record from 1991-93, Ivy titles in 1991 (6-0-1) and 1992 (6-1-0), and second place in 1993. He was the Ivy player-of-the-year, All-Ivy League first team, and third team All-America in 1992. In 1993 he engineered comeback victories in four of the Green's last five games, and repeated as All-Ivy League first team quarterback. During three seasons, Fiedler set Dartmouth records for touchdown passes (58), passing yards (6,684) and total offense (7,249 yards).[1]

Jay was named Co-Offensive Player of the Game in the 1994 East-West Shrine Game, played in Tokyo. He received a Scholar-Athlete Award from the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame.

[edit] Pro career

Fiedler had stints with the Philadelphia Eagles (1994-95), Minnesota Vikings (1998), and Jacksonville Jaguars (1999) before finding steady work with the Dolphins (2000-04) beginning in 2000. In between his time with the Eagles and Vikings, Fiedler served as a receivers coach at Hofstra University in 1997 before being signed as a free agent by Minnesota in 1998.

Among active quarterbacks in the NFL, Fiedler owns the fifth-best starting record (minimum 25 starts) with a 37-23 record for a .617 winning percentage mark.

Fiedler's stint with the Miami Dolphins featured satisfactory regular season performance with poor post-season performances. He threw one touchdown and seven interceptions with a record of one win and two losses in post-season play while with the Miami Dolphins.

Fiedler signed with the Jets as an unrestricted free agent on March 11, 2005, as a backup quarterback to Chad Pennington. He suffered an injury on his right shoulder in a game on September 25 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and as a result missed the rest of the season.

Fiedler was released by the Jets on February 22, 2006, and signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who released him in August of that year. Fiedler has a nagging shoulder injury and has been unable to practice.

[edit] Skills

"Shows good ball skills on play-action but small hands lead to problems protecting the ball when hit. He has good timing and touch on underneath throws. He also does a good job of throwing accurately in the short-to-intermediate passing game when on the run. Also, for as intelligent as he is, Fiedler takes too many risks and doesn't show enough caretaker-type qualities. He doesn't always see the whole field. He will telegraph too many of his throws and he has a tendency to throw the ball up for grabs when the pocket collapses around him. He lacks ideal size, has too many passes batted down, and he has trouble seeing the entire field as a drop-back passer from within the pocket."-ESPN website "Scouts Inc."

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Dan Marino
Miami Dolphins Starting Quarterbacks
2000-2003
Succeeded by
Brian Griese (subbing for an injured Fiedler)
Preceded by
Brian Griese (benched for poor play)
Miami Dolphins Starting Quarterbacks
2003-2004
Succeeded by
A.J. Feeley