David Andrew Szott (born December 12, 1967) 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 ...

guard for 14 seasons 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). Szott was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the seventh round of the 1990 NFL draft. Szott played in the NFL for the Chiefs,

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

, and

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 ...

, before retiring from football in February 2004. He remained with the Jets as an offensive line coach and in player development. Szott became the team's chaplain in 2006. Szott 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 ...

at Penn State for legendary football coach

Joe Paterno Joseph Vincent Paterno (; December 21, 1926 – January 22, 2012), sometimes referred to as JoePa, was an American college football player, athletic director, and coach. He was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions football, Penn ...

. Szott grew up in Clifton,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, and was a standout player at Clifton High School in New Jersey. He was also a standout high school wrestler in New Jersey placing fourth in the heavyweight division of the 1986 USA Wrestling Junior Freestyle Tournament. Szott was undefeated until the round robin portion where he was pinned by eventual champion John Matyiko of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. Szott then was pinned by Carl Presley of

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 ...

in the semi-finals and settled for fourth place while losing by fall to Jon Morris of Virginia.

Personal life

His older brother is Kevin Szott,a Paralympic judoka, former

goalball Goalball is a team sport designed specifically for athletes with a visual impairment, vision impairment. Participants compete in teams of three, and try to throw a ball with bells embedded inside it into the opponents' goal. The ball is throw ...

player,

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

thrower and a winner of five

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disability, disabilities. There are Winter Paralympic Games, Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 ...

medals. Szott and his wife, Andrea, have two children, the older, Shane, suffers from

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, spasticity, stiff muscles, Paresis, weak muscles, and tremors. There may b ...

. He is a tireless fundraiser for charitable causes related to the disorder. Josh, the youngest is 20 years old and plays wide receiver for Colgate University.

References

External links

"NY Jets' Dave Szott Honored as 'Hometown Hero'"
United Way Press Release, May 1, 2003 {{DEFAULTSORT:Szott, Dave 1967 births Living people American football offensive guards Clifton High School (New Jersey) alumni Kansas City Chiefs players New York Jets players New York Jets coaches Penn State Nittany Lions football players Sportspeople from Clifton, New Jersey Sportspeople from Passaic, New Jersey Players of American football from Passaic County, New Jersey Washington Redskins players