Daniel James Feeney (born May 29, 1994) is 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 ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

. 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

Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the demonym for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...

and was selected by the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC W ...

in the third round of the

2017 NFL draft The 2017 NFL draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia f ...

Early life

Feeney was a one-year letterman in

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

and four year

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 ...

for the Carl Sandburg High School Eagles football team, where he was named team MVP in his junior year, playing on both the offensive and defensive lines. Feeney received offers from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

and

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for a region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Generally, it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Peninsula's Lake ...

, but committed to Indiana in the summer of 2011.

College career

Feeney set records in his

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

year in 2012, by starting all 12 games and earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors at right guard, and did not allow a single

sack A sack usually refers to a rectangular-shaped bag. Sack may also refer to: Bags * Flour sack * Gunny sack * Hacky sack, sport * Money sack * Paper sack * Sleeping bag * Stuff sack * Knapsack Other uses * Bed, a slang term * Sack (band), ...

all season. He suffered a Lisfranc fracture during a scrimmage that would cause him to miss the entire 2013 season. Feeney was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

to maintain three years of

eligibility Eligibility may refer to: * The right to run for office (in elections), sometimes called ''passive suffrage'' or ''voting eligibility'' * Desirability as a marriage partner, as in the term ''eligible bachelor'' * Validity for participation, as in ...

. Feeney returned in 2014 to what

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

termed "the B1G's most underrated position group". He started all 12 games in a year where Indiana set program single-season records with 3,163 rushing yards, led by 2,036 yards from

Heisman The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...

candidate

Tevin Coleman Tevin Ford Coleman (born April 16, 1993) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Indiana Hoosiers, earning unanimous All-American honor ...

. Ahead of his redshirt junior season in 2015, Feeney was named to the

Lombardi Award The Rotary Lombardi Award is an award for college football in the United States. Awarded by the Rotary Club of Houston, Texas annually to the college football player "who best embodies the values and spirit of NFL's legendary coach Vince Lombard ...

and

Outland Trophy The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best 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 g ...

watch lists. At the end of the season, Feeney earned consensus first-team

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 from

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the American sports programming division of Paramount Global that is responsible for sports broadcasts carried by its broadcast network CBS and streaming service Paramount+, as well as the operator of its cable channel CBS Sports N ...

, 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 ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

''. Prior to the start of the 2016 season, Feeney announced he would be returning for his senior year. On September 10, 2016, Feeney suffered a concussion while playing against

Ball State Ball State University (Ball State or BSU) is a public university, public research university in Muncie, Indiana, United States. The university has three off-campus centers in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Fort Wayne, and Fishers, Indiana. T ...

. Feeney would be medically cleared to return to action prior to the Hoosiers game against

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

on October 29, 2016. On November 30, 2016, Feeney was named First-team All-Big Ten. At the end of the season, Feeney earned his second All-American Team honors by the Associated Press.

Professional career

Pre-draft

In June 2016, Feeney was labelled the “best interior offensive lineman” prospect in the

by NFL analyst

Lance Zierlein Lance Zierlein is a sports analyst and commentator. He has hosted sports talk shows on KILT 610, KBME 790, KGOW 1560 AM, and KFNC 97.5 FM in Houston, Texas. Career Zierlein graduated from Lamar Consolidated High School in 1988. Following high ...

. After completing his senior season in 2016, Feeney entered the draft and was projected by NFL draft experts and scouts to be a second round pick. He received an invitation to the

NFL combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

and completed all of the required combine and positional drills. On March 31, 2017, he participated at Indiana's

pro day The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

, along with Devine Redding and six other prospects. He opted to only perform positional drills for scouts and team representatives from 27 NFL teams looked on, including offensive line coaches from the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

, and

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

. He was ranked the second best offensive guard prospect in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com,

, and NFL analyst

Mike Mayock Michael Francis Mayock Sr. (born August 14, 1958) is an American former professional football executive and player in the National Football League (NFL). He played as a safety with the New York Giants. After his playing career, he was a draft ...

Los Angeles Chargers

The

selected Feeney in the third round (71st overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft. Feeney was the second guard the Chargers selected in the draft, behind

Forrest Lamp Forrest Noah Lamp (born February 20, 1994) is an American former professional football guard. He played college football at Western Kentucky and was selected by the Los Angeles Chargers in the second round of the 2017 NFL draft, and also played ...

(second round, 38th overall). He was also the fourth offensive guard and the fifth interior offensive lineman selected in the draft. On June 2, 2017, the Los Angeles Chargers signed Feeney to a four-year contract worth $3.7 million, with a $924,632 signing bonus. He competed with Lamp,

Matt Slauson Matthew Benjamin Slauson (born February 18, 1986) is an American former professional football guard. He was selected by the New York Jets in the sixth round of the 2009 NFL draft. He also played for the Chicago Bears, San Diego/Los Angeles Ch ...

, Brett Boyko,

Donavon Clark Donavon Clark (born November 12, 1992) is an American former professional football offensive guard. He played college football at Michigan State. Professional career Clark was selected by the San Diego Chargers in the seventh round with the 224 ...

, and

Kenny Wiggins Kenny Wiggins (born August 8, 1988) is a former American football guard. He was signed by the San Francisco 49ers as an undrafted free agent in 2011. He played college football at Fresno State. Wiggins also played with the Baltimore Ravens and S ...

throughout training camp for a starting guard position. Head coach

Anthony Lynn Anthony Ray Lynn (born December 21, 1968) is an American professional football coach and former running back who is the run game coordinator and running backs coach for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played ...

named Feeney as the back-up right guard to Wiggins, after Lamp tore his ACL and was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

for the season. He made his professional regular season debut during the Chargers' season-opening game, which was a 21–24 loss to the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

. On October 29, Feeney earned his first career start at left guard during a 13–21 loss to the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

after the starter, Slauson, suffered a season-ending biceps injury. Dan ended up starting the rest of the season at left guard, being named to the

PFWA All-Rookie Team Following each National Football League (NFL) season, the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA) compiles an honorary All-Rookie Team to recognize that season's most outstanding rookies at each position as adjudged by sportswriters of the PFWA. T ...

for his efforts. Feeney entered 2018 continuing as the starting left guard, and did so for all 16 regular season games. In the 2019 season, he made his first NFL career fumble recovery in a Week 4 win against the

New York Jets

On March 19, 2021, Feeney signed a one-year contract with the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

. That season, he played in 16 games, while starting in five. On March 16, 2022, he re-signed with the Jets on another one-year deal.

Miami Dolphins

On March 17, 2023, Feeney signed a one-year contract with the

Chicago Bears

On August 29, 2023, the Dolphins traded Feeney to the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

for a 2024 sixth-round pick.

Minnesota Vikings

On March 15, 2024, Feeney signed a one-year deal with the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

Personal life

Feeney is the son of Tony and Kim Feeney, and has a sister, Shannon Feeney. He currently donates to the MS society.

References

External links

Indiana Hoosiers Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Feeney, Dan 1994 births Living people Sportspeople from Orland Park, Illinois Players of American football from Cook County, Illinois American football offensive guards Indiana Hoosiers football players Los Angeles Chargers players New York Jets players Miami Dolphins players Chicago Bears players Minnesota Vikings players