Aaron Stecker (born November 13, 1975) 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 ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. The ...

. He was signed by 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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 1999. He played college football at

Western Illinois Forgottonia (), also spelled Forgotonia, is the name given to a 16-county region in Western Illinois in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This geographic region forms the distinctive western bulge of Illinois (area west of 90° Longitude West) tha ...

and

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. Stecker also played for the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

, and Atlanta Falcons. He earned a

Super Bowl ring The Super Bowl ring is an award in the National Football League given to the team members of the winning team of the league's annual championship game, the Super Bowl. Since only one Vince Lombardi Trophy is awarded to the team (ownership) its ...

with the Buccaneers in

Super Bowl XXXVII Super Bowl XXXVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Oakland Raiders and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers to decide the National Football League (NFL) cham ...

. Mainly used as a backup for most of his career, Stecker started 14 games during his five years with the Saints, and also often served as a kick returner for both Tampa Bay and New Orleans. On April 20, 2010, Stecker announced that he was retiring from football,Tom Ziemer
"NFL: Stecker retires after 11-year run"
Madison.com, April 15, 2010. although later in 2010, he worked out for, but did not sign with, the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the th ...

Early years

Stecker attended

Ashwaubenon High School Ashwaubenon High School is a public high school located in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin. A community pool and performing arts center are also housed within the school. History In 2008, the school made national and international headlines after it was ...

Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin Ashwaubenon () is a village in Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 16,963 at the 2010 census. A suburb of Green Bay, Ashwaubenon is part of the Green Bay Metropolitan Statistical Area and carries a Green Bay mailin ...

, and was a letterman in football and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

. He led the Ashwaubenon football team to the state championship in 1993. His number, 27, has been retired.

College career

Stecker began his college career at

in 1995. He spent two years with the University of Wisconsin, recording three 100-yard games, a 100-yard kick return for a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Americ ...

, and a 63-yard punt return for a touchdown. In 1997, he transferred to

after the emergence of future Heisman Trophy winner

Ron Dayne Ronald Dayne (born March 14, 1978) is a former professional American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons. Dayne played college football for the University of Wisconsin and won the 1999 Heisma ...

pushed Stecker from his starting role with the Badgers. During the 1997 season, Stecker recorded 2,293 rushing yards en route to winning the

Gateway Football Conference The Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC), formerly the Gateway Football Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivis ...

player of the year award. Stecker finished his career at Western Illinois as the school's all-time leading rusher, with 3,799 yards in just two seasons. This record was broken by Travis Glasford in 2005, and is now held by Herb Donaldson, as of 2008.

Professional career

Chicago Bears

Stecker spent the 1999 training camp with the

; however, he did not make the active roster.

Scottish Claymores

Before the 2000 season, the

allocated Stecker to the Scottish Claymores of

NFL Europe 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 ...

. Stecker led the league in total scrimmage yards through the first two weeks in the season. He wound up garnering Offensive MVP honors.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Early in his career in Tampa Bay, Stecker credits Fred McAfee for bolstering his confidence. During the 2000 season, Stecker began returning kickoffs for the Bucs. During his four years with the team, he became a core special teams player, along with sporadic duty as a pass-catching back. He also won

with the team before leaving after 2003.

New Orleans Saints

Signing with the

before 2004, Stecker became a return man and scat back. Competing with established backs such as

Reggie Bush Reginald Alfred Bush Jr. (born March 2, 1985) is an American former football running back who now serves as an on-air college football analyst for Fox Sports. He played college football at USC, where he earned consensus All-American honors ...

and

Deuce McAllister Dulymus Jenod "Deuce" McAllister (born December 27, 1978) is an American former football running back who played eight seasons for the New Orleans Saints in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Ole Miss and was ...

led to sparse playing time. He was placed on injured reserve during the 2008 season and did not return to the team the following year.

Atlanta Falcons

Stecker was signed by the Atlanta Falcons in the middle the 2009 season, where he played mostly on special teams. He carried the ball five times and caught it five times as well. The Packers also showed interest in Stecker in 2009.

Retirement

In April 2010, Stecker retired. He was tried out by the

later that year but did not garner a contract offer.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

Personal life

Stecker's wife Kara is the daughter of

Diane Hendricks Diane Marie Hendricks (née Smith; born 1947) is an American billionaire businesswoman and film producer from Wisconsin. She is the widow of the late businessman Ken Hendricks. Early life Hendricks was born and raised in Osseo, Wisconsin, the ...

and the late

Ken Hendricks Kenneth A. Hendricks (September 8, 1941 – December 21, 2007) was an American businessman who, along with Diane Hendricks, his business partner and wife, grew a shingle supply company into a $2.6 billion fortune and a spot on the Forbes 400 ...

, founder of

ABC Supply ABC Supply Co., Inc. is a major, private American roofing supply company based in Beloit, Wisconsin. It also sells windows, gutters, and siding for residential and commercial buildings and is the largest roofing and vinyl siding wholesale d ...

. They have two children, daughter,

Skylar Stecker Skylar Star Stecker (born April 24, 2002) is an American singer and actress. In 2015, she released her debut studio album, ''This Is Me''. In March 2019, she independently released her second album, ''Redemption''. Life Born on April 24, 2002, in ...

, and son, Dorsett. Skylar is a singer: by age 12 she had sung the national anthem at

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

, New Orleans Saints,"Former Saints running back Aaron Stecker's daughter to perform national anthem at Friday's game"
,

, August 8, 2013.

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

, and

games.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stecker, Aaron 1975 births Living people Sportspeople from Green Bay, Wisconsin Players of American football from Wisconsin American football running backs Wisconsin Badgers football players Western Illinois Leathernecks football players Chicago Bears players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Scottish Claymores players New Orleans Saints players Atlanta Falcons players People from Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin