Brett Christopher Romberg (born October 10, 1979) is a Canadian 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 center 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

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes, known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes, are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...

, earned consensus

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors, and won the

Rimington Trophy 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 ...

. He was signed by the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

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 ...

in 2003, and also played for 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 ...

and 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 ...

Early life

Romberg was born in

Windsor, Ontario Windsor ( ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is situated on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from the U.S city of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Esse ...

, Canada. He started his football career in the ninth grade playing for the Belle River District High School football team.

College career

Romberg attended the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

in the United States, where he played for the

Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...

from 1999 to 2002. As senior in 2002, he was distinguished as the best center in the nation when he was awarded the Dave Rimington Trophy and was recognized as a consensus first-team

at center.''2011 NCAA Football Records Book''
Award Winners
National Collegiate Athletic Association, Indianapolis, Indiana, p. 11 (2011). Retrieved June 23, 2012. With Romberg at center, the Hurricanes won 35 of 37 games, one

BCS National Championship The BCS National Championship Game was a postseason college football bowl game, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), first played in the 1998 college football season as one of four desi ...

(2001), three Big East Conference championships (2000, 2001, 2002), a Sugar Bowl (2001) and a Rose Bowl (2002). Romberg never allowed a

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackle (football move), tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the l ...

at center except against

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl and was part of an offensive line that helped produce three 1,000-yard rushers ( James Jackson, Clinton Portis and

Willis McGahee Willis Andrew McGahee III (born October 21, 1981) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes, earning consensus All-Americ ...

), a

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

(

Ken Dorsey Kenneth Simon Dorsey (born April 22, 1981) is an American professional American football, football Coach (sport), coach and former quarterback who is the passing game specialist for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). Dorse ...

) who set every major Hurricanes career passing record and an offense that averaged more than 465 yards per game for the balance of his three years as the starting center.

Professional career

Romberg was selected by the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

in the 2002 CFL Draft but didn't play there. After a stint with the

, Romberg became the starting center for the

for a brief time in 2006 and 2007, replacing an injured

Andy McCollum Andrew Jon McCollum (born June 2, 1970) is an American former professional football player who was a center for 15 seasons in the National Football League for three teams. He played college football at Toledo Rockets. He was signed by the M ...

, but he was replaced in 2009 by Jason Brown. In 2009, Romberg was a reserve offensive lineman for the Atlanta Falcons. He was released by the Falcons on September 4, 2010. Due to an injury to starting center Todd McClure, the Falcons re-signed Romberg on August 30, 2011. However, he was released during final cuts on September 3 to avoid a guaranteed contract, but was re-signed on September 12 where he remained on the active roster for the remainder of the 2011 season. Romberg finally retired from the National Football League in 2012. Romberg was inducted into the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame in March 2013 for his football accomplishments. He hosted a morning sports show in South Florida (Zaslow/Romberg/Amber show), where he was well known for his impressions of Goran Dragic, and his segments Romdog's Grill and Shout Outs. He left the show in July 2019.

References

External links

Miami Hurricanes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Romberg, Brett 1979 births Living people All-American college football players American football offensive guards American football centers Atlanta Falcons players Players of American football from Ontario Jacksonville Jaguars players Miami Hurricanes football players Canadian football people from Windsor, Ontario St. Louis Rams players