Daniel Edward Alexander (born March 17, 1978) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

fullback and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, pl ...

. He was drafted by the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

in the sixth round of the

2001 NFL Draft The 2001 NFL Draft was the 66th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting," was held at the ...

. He played college football at

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the so ...

. Alexander also played for 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 club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

Nashville Kats The Nashville Kats were an Arena Football League team, located in Nashville, Tennessee. They were last coached by Pat Sperduto, who coached the team's original incarnation to two ArenaBowl appearances prior to the original franchise's move to At ...

and

Chicago Rush The Chicago Rush were a professional arena football team based in Rosemont, Illinois. The team played at the Allstate Arena from 2001 to 2013. They were a member of the Central Division of the National Conference of the Arena Football League ...

Early years

Alexander attended

Wentzville Holt High School Wentzville Holt High School (Emil E. Holt Sr. High School, or simply Holt High School) is the oldest of the four high schools in the Wentzville R-IV School District and second oldest high school in St. Charles County, Missouri. With a 2020-21 enro ...

and was a letterman in football,

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

, and

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the short ...

. He won the Missouri state wrestling title at Heavyweight in 1996

College career

Alexender attended Nebraska where he was a four-year letterman. While there, he rushed for 2,456 yards and 20

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Americ ...

s in 38 career games. He was named the Offensive MVP of the 2000 Alamo Bowl after rushing for an Alamo Bowl record 240 yards in a 66-17 win over Northwestern. He was one of eight semifinalists for the 2000

Doak Walker Award Since 1990 the Doak Walker Award honors the top running back in college football in the United States. It is named in honor of Doak Walker, a former running back who played for the SMU Mustangs from 1945 to 1949 and in the National Football Lea ...

, which is given annually to the top college football running back. He was voted First-team All-

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its f ...

as a senior by the conference coaches and Second-team All-Big 12 by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. n ...

and ''

Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the '' Galvest ...

''. he was also named Academic All-Big 12 four times, First-team in 1997, Second-team in 1999 and 2000. He was also the school's first 1,000-yard rusher under Coach

Frank Solich Frank Thomas Solich (born September 8, 1944) is a former American football coach and former player. He is the former head coach at Ohio University, a position he held from 2005 until 2021. From 1998 to 2003, Solich served as the head coach at t ...

. He was also a two-time finalist for the Nebraska Lifter of the Year Award and was the first freshman to win the award in 1997. He was chosen as a team co-captain by his teammates in 2000.

Professional career

Tennessee Titans

Alexander was selected in the sixth round (192nd overall) by the

. He played one season for the Titans before being released.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Alexander signed with the

where he spent

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains independence from Indonesia and ...

St. Louis Rams

Alexander signed with the

and spent time with them in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

Nashville Kats

After being released by the Rams, Alexander signed a three-year contract with the

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

on October 11, 2004. He made his AFL debut January 28,

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

during a road game against the

Columbus Destroyers The Columbus Destroyers were an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in Columbus, Ohio, with home games in Nationwide Arena. The team was founded in as the Buffalo Destroyers, based in Buffalo, New York, and relocated to Columbus in . They fold ...

, recording 25 rushing yards and a touchdown and a 24-yard touchdown reception. Alexander was named to the AFL’s All-Rookie team after rushing for 105 yards and five touchdowns and recording 12.5 tackles in just seven games. After playing in each of the season’s first six games, he was inactive for nine of the final 10 games. He rushed for 35 yards and one touchdown and recorded a career-high 4.5 tackles on the road against the

New York Dragons The New York Dragons were a professional arena football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Dragons participated in the Arena Football League's (AFL) National Conference as a member of the Eastern Division. The team was founded in ...

. In 2006, he was the Kats' leading rusher, for the second-consecutive season, recording 170 yards and eight touchdowns, while recording 13.5 tackles, in nine games. He recorded a season-high four tackles and a forced

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful h ...

in road game against the

Las Vegas Gladiators {{Cat main, Thomas & Mack Center Paradise, Nevada University of Nevada, Las Vegas Wikipedia categories named after buildings and structures in the United States Wikipedia categories named after sports venues ...

. He recorded a season-high 36 yards and a touchdown against the

. in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

, he was voted First-team All-Arena after leading the league with 426 yards rushing and setting a league record with 41 rushing touchdowns in 16 games. His 426 rushing yards are the second highest single season total in league history. He was named Offensive Player of the Game on June 10 after rushing for 51 yards and five touchdowns in Las Vegas. He was voted Offensive Player of the Game on May 19 after rushing for a career-high 71 yards and two touchdowns in a win in Chicago. He also earned Offensive Player of the Game and AFL Offensive Player of the Week honors for his game on April 21 against the

Kansas City Brigade Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the w ...

, rushing for 59 yards and a league record six touchdowns. He carried for 33 yards and five touchdowns and made three receptions for 38 yards in a win over the

Utah Blaze The Utah Blaze was a professional arena football team based in Salt Lake City, Utah and competed in the West Division of the Arena Football League. Home games were played at the EnergySolutions Arena. In 2013, the team did not submit proper do ...

Chicago Rush

On November 27, 2007, Alexander signed a two-year contract with the Chicago Rush. He began his first season with his hometown team ranked 11th in league history in rushing touchdowns with 54, and 16th in rushing yards with 694. In

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

, Alexander carried the ball 70 times for 241 yards and 12 touchdowns. He also recorded 19 tackles, one pass break up, and one fumble recovery.

Alabama Vipers

Alexander was assigned to the Alabama Vipers of the

on December 7, 2009. In the 2010 season opener against the Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings, Alexander rushed for 5 touchdowns on 10 carries, though the Vipers lost the game 48-54.

Personal life

Alexander and his wife, Amy, live in

Thompson's Station, Tennessee Thompson's Station is a town in Williamson County, Tennessee. The population has grown from 2,194 at the 2010 Census to 7,485 in the 2020 Census. Several locations in Thompson's Station listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places inclu ...

. They have three children Braxton, Kenyan & Ayla.

References

External links

Arena Football League bioNebraska Cornhuskers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Dan 1978 births Living people People from Wentzville, Missouri Players of American football from Chicago Players of American football from Missouri American football fullbacks American football linebackers Nebraska Cornhuskers football players Tennessee Titans players Jacksonville Jaguars players St. Louis Rams players Nashville Kats players Chicago Rush players Alabama Vipers players