Darnell Robert Stapleton (born September 21, 1985) is an offensive line assistant coach for the

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as th ...

football team. 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 ...

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, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numb ...

, Stapleton was the starting right guard on the

Super Bowl XLIII Super Bowl XLIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champions Arizona Cardinals to decide the National Football League (NFL) cham ...

champion

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Stee ...

as they beat the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division, an ...

. He played college football at Rutgers. He was also a member of the

Florida Tuskers Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to t ...

and

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

Early years

Stapleton played football for Union High School. As a senior in 2002, he was a first-team All-

Watchung Conference The Watchung Conference was a high school sports association under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). The conference consisted of eleven public high schools covering Essex County, Hudson County ...

selection, and a first-team all-county selection. His younger brother Desmond played offensive tackle at Rutgers, and signed with the Steelers as an undrafted free agent after the

2012 NFL Draft The 2012 NFL draft was the 77th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players for their rosters. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held ...

College career

Junior college

Stapleton attended

Hudson Valley Community College Hudson Valley Community College is a public community college in Troy, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY). Although about eighty percent of the students are from the Capital District, the remainder are from other pa ...

for two seasons. In 2003, he earned second-team all-league honors. He started 11 games in 2004, and was a first-team All-Northeast Football Conference selection and a preseason

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

Honorable Mention All-American.

Rutgers University

Following junior college, Stapleton enrolled at

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and wa ...

, where he became the team's starting center in spring camps in 2005. He started 12 games on the season. In his senior year, Stapleton started 13 games and was a finalist for the

Rimington Trophy The Dave Rimington Trophy is awarded to the player considered to be the best American football center in college football. Dave Rimington was a center who played at the University of Nebraska from 1979 to 1982. A member of the National Coll ...

, given to the nation's best center. The Rutgers offensive line allowed only eight sacks on the season, the fewest in the nation, while Rutgers running back

Ray Rice Raymell Mourice Rice (born January 22, 1987) is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for six seasons with the Baltimore Ravens. He played college football at Rutgers, where he received first ...

set a

Big East Conference The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

record with 1,794 yards on the season. Stapleton was awarded the David Bender Trophy, given to the team's best offensive lineman.

NFL career

Pittsburgh Steelers

Stapleton was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

following the 2007 NFL Draft. He made the Steelers' 53-man roster in his rookie season but was inactive for every regular season and

playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

game. In 2008, Stapleton was a reserve for the first four games of the season, before starting the final 12 games at right guard in place of an injured Kendall Simmons. He also started the team's three

games, including the

victory over the

. He did not play in the team's first three preseason games in 2009 before being 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 th ...

on August 31, 2009, with a knee injury. He was not offered a tender by the team as a

restricted free agent A restricted free agent (RFA) is a type of free agent in the National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), or National Basketball Association (NBA). Such players have special restrictions on the terms under which they can retain ...

following the season.

Florida Tuskers

Stapleton signed to play with the United Football League's

in July 2010.

New England Patriots

Stapleton signed with the

on August 9, 2010. He was waived on August 11.

Coaching career

New York Sharks

As of 2011 Stapleton is the head coach for the

New York Sharks The New York Sharks were a women's American football team that was based in New York City. Their final season in 2018 was played as a member team of the Women's Football Alliance (WFA). They were the longest running and most winning team in women ...

, a professional women's football team in the

Women's Football Alliance The Women's Football Alliance (WFA) is a professional full-contact Women's American football tackle minor league that began play in 2009. It is the largest 11-on-11 football league for women in the world, and the longest running active women's ...

. The

are the longest running and winningest team in women's football history with 3 conference titles (2002, 2003, 2004 IWFL East), 6 division titles (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 IWFL) and 1 championship title (2002 IWFL).

Montclair Kimberley Cougars

Stapleton coached the offensive and defensive lines at Montclair Kimberly Academy for the 2012 season. The Cougars went 9–2, their best ever record.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights

After his brief stint as head coach of the New York Sharks, Darnell Stapleton returned to Rutgers for the position of offensive assistant in 2012.

Pace University Setters

Stapleton was supposed to be an offensive line coach for the 2014 Setters season, however on July 16, 2014, he announced that he would be joining the

Bucknell University Bucknell University is a private liberal arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, Freeman College of Management, and the College of Engineerin ...

Bison Bison are large bovines in the genus ''Bison'' (Greek: "wild ox" (bison)) within the tribe Bovini. Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American bison, ''B. bison'', found only in North ...

for their 2014 season.

References

External links

Bucknell bioPittsburgh Steelers bioOfficial website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stapleton, Darnell 1985 births Living people People from Union Township, Union County, New Jersey American football offensive guards American football centers Bucknell Bison football coaches Rutgers Scarlet Knights football players Pittsburgh Steelers players Florida Tuskers players New England Patriots players Rutgers Scarlet Knights football coaches Players of American football from Union County, New Jersey Hudson Valley Vikings football players Union High School (New Jersey) alumni