Christopher James Colmer (November 21, 1980 – December 28, 2010) was an American 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 ...

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

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 for 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 ...

Early life

Colmer graduated from Earl L. Vandermeulen High School, located in his hometown of

Port Jefferson, New York Port Jefferson, also known as Port Jeff, is an incorporated village in the town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 7,962 at the time of the 2020 census. Port J ...

. He was named to the All-Long Island squad and the Golden 50 All-State team, where he was a team captain playing tackle. He was also a ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'' honorable mention

All-America 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 ...

College career

Colmer went to college at

North Carolina State North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina sy ...

and was the first person from his high school to earn a Division I

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

in 27 years. In his junior year, he was co-winner of the teams' Jim Richter Award, giving annually by North Carolina State to the team's best offensive lineman. In 2003, he missed his college season due to Parsonage Turner Syndrome.

Professional career

Colmer was selected 91st in the

2005 NFL draft The 2005 NFL draft, the 70th in league history, took place on April 23 and 24, 2005 NFL season, 2005. The draft was held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City and was televised for the 26th consecutive year, with coverage on E ...

. The

received this pick in a trade with the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

. He spent his entire rookie season in 2005 as a gameday inactive. During the 2006 offseason, he suffered another bout of Parsonage–Turner syndrome and spent the entire year on injured reserve. He was released in June 2007 after failing a physical.

Death

Colmer was teaching as a technology teacher at Little Flower U.F.S.D. and coaching at Centereach High School on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

in New York, when he died at the age of thirty on December 28, 2010.

References

External links

ESPN.com statsTampa Bay Buccaneers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colmer, Chris 1980 births 2010 deaths People from Port Jefferson, New York Sportspeople from Brookhaven, New York Players of American football from Suffolk County, New York American football offensive tackles NC State Wolfpack football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players