Daniel Edward Alexander (born March 17, 1978) 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 a fullback 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

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding t ...

and was selected 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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

in the sixth round of the

2001 NFL draft The 2001 NFL draft was the 66th draft annual 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 Th ...

. 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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

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 ...

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 A ...

and

Chicago Rush The Chicago Rush were a professional arena football team based in Rosemont, Illinois. The team was founded in 2001 and played in the Arena Football League's Central Division. The Rush qualified for the playoffs in 11 of 12 AFL seasons, during w ...

Early life and education

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, MO, St. Charles County, Misso ...

and was a

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

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

College career

Alexender attended the

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the M ...

, where he was a four-year

. While there, he rushed for 2,456 yards and 20

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

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 The Doak Walker Award honors the top running back in college football in the United States. Established in 1990, 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 Foot ...

, 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 collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...

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

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

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 in 2022 of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885, by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ' ...

''. 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 college 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 coa ...

. 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) of the

by the

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

Jacksonville Jaguars

Alexander signed with the

where he spent

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

St. Louis Rams

Alexander signed with the

and spent time with them in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

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 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

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

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

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 fo ...

, recording 25 rushing yards and a touchdown and a 24-yard touchdown reception. He was a fullback/

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

during his time in the AFL as the league played under

ironman rules The one-platoon system, also known as "iron man football", is a platoon system, rule-driven substitution pattern in American football whereby the same players were expected to stay on the field for the entire game, playing both offense and defense ...

. 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 (AFL), Eastern Division. ...

. In

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

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

. in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, 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, 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 ...

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 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, 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 The Alabama Vipers were a professional arena football team, that played in the Arena Football League. For most of their history, the Vipers played as the Tennessee Valley Vipers in the now-defunct af2, the minor league for the original Arena Fo ...

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. They have three children Braxton, Kenyan & Ayla.

References

External links

*
Nebraska Cornhuskers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Dan 1978 births Living people People from Wentzville, Missouri Sportspeople from St. Charles County, 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