Ben Nowland (born May 27, 1980) is an American former

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 ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

. 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

Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) a ...

Early life

He attended Allen D. Nease Senior High School in

Ponte Vedra, Florida ''This page is for the inland community in Florida. For the beachfront community, see Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida'' ''For other places, see Pontevedra (disambiguation).'' Ponte Vedra is an unincorporated area in northern St. Johns County, Flori ...

and was a letterman in

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

, and

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

. In football, he was a three-year starter. In wrestling, he won a regional championship as a senior. In track and field, he was a regional champion in the

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

and the discus.

College career

Nowland played collegiately with Auburn. Nowland was a first-team All-SEC center in 2002. He was a top 10 finisher for the

Rimington Award The Dave Rimington Trophy is awarded to the player considered to be the best center in college football. Dave Rimington was a center who played at the University of Nebraska from 1979 to 1982. A member of the National College Football Awards Ass ...

which is presented to the nation's best center. Nowland participated in the 2003 Senior Bowl and was awarded with their sportsmanship award for the event. Nowland started 35 games in his career at Auburn. Nowland is married to his college girlfriend Hillary, who now works for Auburn.

Professional career

He entered 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 ...

by signing as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

with 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 2003. Waived by the 49ers in August of that year, he was signed to the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

where he stayed through the 2004 season. In 2004 and 2005 Nowland spent time with the Frankfurt Galaxy in

NFL Europa 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 developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally founded ...

. In 2005, he was signed by the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

. He began his AFL career with the

Georgia Force The Georgia Force was an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States (part of suburban Atlanta) that played in the South Division of the American Conference. The team was owned by Doug MacGregor and Donn ...

in 2005. He joined the Rampage in 2006, but re-signed with the Georgia Force during the 2007 offseason. Nowland retired from football in 2009 and now works as a sales representative.

References

External links

AFL player stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nowland, Ben 1980 births Living people Players of American football from Jacksonville, Florida American football offensive linemen Auburn Tigers football players Frankfurt Galaxy players Denver Broncos players Georgia Force players Grand Rapids Rampage players