Christopher William Dalman (born March 15, 1970) 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 ...

player who was an

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

for seven seasons 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 ...

of 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) from 1993 to 2000. He played

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for the

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Early life and college

Dalman was born March 15, 1970, in

Salinas, California Salinas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Salt pan (geology), Salt Flats") is a city in the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Monterey County, California, Monterey County. With a population of 163,542 in the 2020 Census, Salinas is ...

, to William Dalman and Janet (Johnson) Dalman. He was an offensive/

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

for Palma High School in Salinas, graduating in 1988. He was a four-year football letter-winner at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. Dalman is notable in that he is one of the few players to successfully undergo

spinal fusion Spinal fusion, also called spondylodesis or spondylosyndesis, is a surgery performed by Orthopedic surgery#Practice, orthopaedic surgeons or neurosurgeons that joins two or more vertebrae. This procedure can be performed at any level in the spine ...

and return to the playing field, having undergone the surgery between his sophomore and junior years at Stanford. While an undergraduate at Stanford he became a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity. He graduated with a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in Political Science in 1992.

Professional playing career

Drafted in the sixth round (166th overall) in the

1993 NFL draft The 1993 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 25–26, 1993, at the Marriot M ...

by the

, Dalman started 64 games in seven seasons with the 49ers. He first started all 16 regular season games in 1996. He was part of the

Super Bowl XXIX Super Bowl XXIX was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion San Diego Chargers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

Champion team in 1995.

Coaching career

After playing in the

, he went back to Palma in 2001 to become an assistant football coach and English teacher. After a stint as the assistant offensive line coach for 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 ...

from 2005 to 2006, he became the

offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

coach and running game coordinator at

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

until resigning in January 2009 to become varsity offensive line coach at Palma and the Director of Admissions.

Post-football career

Dalman currently is the president of Palma School in

, appointed July 2020. He was most recently assistant principal and dean of students at the school from 2015 to 2020.

Personal life

Dalman is married to Yanne, an elementary school teacher. They have two children, Kate and Drew. Drew played football at Palma School and Stanford University. He was selected by the

in the 4th round of the

2021 NFL draft The 2021 NFL draft was the 86th National Football League draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland, Ohio from April 29 to May ...

. Kate is the operations and recruiting assistant for the Stanford football program.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dalman, Chris 1970 births Living people American football offensive linemen Atlanta Falcons coaches San Francisco 49ers players Stanford Cardinal football coaches Stanford Cardinal football players High school football coaches in California Players of American football from Salinas, California