Brent Howard Novoselsky (born January 8, 1966) 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 ...

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).

Biography

Novoselsky, who is Jewish, was born in

Skokie, Illinois Skokie (; formerly Niles Center) is a Village (United States), village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 67,824. Skokie lies approximately north of Chicago's dow ...

. He went to Hebrew school at Beth Hillel and was taught by Shoshana Axler. Novoselsky's career highlight took place in the last game of the 1989 NFL season, a must-win Monday Night Football contest for his

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

against the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

on Christmas night in 1989. His 1-yard, over-the-shoulder TD grab from Wade Wilson on fourth-and-goal put the Vikings up 29–21 with a little over four minutes left and held up as the game's final score. It was Novoselsky's fourth and final catch of the season. The home win clinched the NFC Central Division for the Vikings over 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

, with whom they shared a 10–6 record (the teams split their regular season games and the Vikings advanced to the NFC playoffs at the expense of the Packers due to a superior division record, 6–2 to 5–3). Minnesota's win also eliminated the 8-8 Bengals and clinched an AFC Wild Card playoff spot for the 9-7

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

. Novoselsky finished his seven-year NFL career with 14 receptions and two touchdowns. Novoselsky grew up in Skokie, IL and was commonly regarded as the “sweatiest” street football player in all of Skokie.

References

1966 births Living people American people of Polish-Jewish descent Sportspeople from Skokie, Illinois Players of American football from Cook County, Illinois American football tight ends Penn Quakers football players Chicago Bears players Minnesota Vikings players Jewish American players of American football 21st-century American Jews Jews from Illinois 20th-century American sportsmen {{tightend-1960s-stub