Mark Anthony Anelli (born June 5, 1979) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the College athletics in the United States, athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I ...

. He last played on 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, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

' practice squad in 2007.

Education and career

Anelli attended Addison Trail High school in Addison, Illinois. He was an honor roll student and a letterman in football, basketball and baseball. In football, he was named the Team's Most Valuable Player, an All-Area selection, and named to the All-State Honorable Mention team. In baseball, he was named as an All-Conference & Area selection. In basketball, he was named to All-Conference. Mark Anelli graduated from Addison Trail High School in 1997 and attended the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

, where he graduated with an Agricultural Business degree.

Collegiate career

In 1998, Anelli would join the Wisconsin Badgers football team. He would win the Rose Bowl in 1999 as a freshman, although he only caught 10 passes for 78 yards that season. In 2001, as a senior, he caught 35 passes for 357 yards and 3 touchdowns, playing in 12 games for the Badgers.

Professional career

Mark Anelli was selected in the

2002 NFL draft The 2002 NFL draft was the 67th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted ...

by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the 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 ...

in the 6th round, 201st overall. He bounced around between the active roster and the practice squad before he was waived on August 13, 2003. He then signed a two-year contract with the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

, ending up on the practice squad again, before being released on August 30, 2004. He then 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

practice squad, before being released before the 2004 season ended. In 2005, he signed with the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

, before being sent to

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of the Nati ...

, playing for the Frankfurt Galaxy, before being waived in final roster cuts. In 2006, he was cut by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

in final roster cuts. 2 days later, he was signed to the

practice squad. He was released on August 31, 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anelli, Mark 1979 births American football tight ends Living people San Francisco 49ers players St. Louis Rams players Wisconsin Badgers football players People from Addison, Illinois Players of American football from DuPage County, Illinois