Derek Fine (born August 24, 1983) 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 ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense (sports), offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide ...

. He was drafted by the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division ...

in the fourth round of the

2008 NFL Draft The 2008 NFL Draft was the 73rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 26 and April 27 ...

. He played college football at

Kansas 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 ...

. Fine has also been a member of the

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 ...

and Houston Texans.

College career

In his junior year at Kansas, Fine received the

Gale Sayers Gale Eugene Sayers (May 30, 1943September 23, 2020) was an American professional football player who was both a halfback and return specialist in the National Football League (NFL). In a relatively brief but highly productive NFL career, Sa ...

Award for the team's most courageous player. He was a team captain in his senior year, in which he caught 46 passes for 394 total receiving yards. He was a part of the Jayhawks team that went 12-1 and won the

2008 Orange Bowl The 2008 FedEx Orange Bowl was a post-season college football bowl game between the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Kansas Jayhawks on January 3, 2008, at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. Spread bettors favored Virginia Tech by three ...

Professional career

Pre-draft

Buffalo Bills

The

selected Fine in the fourth round of the

, with the 132nd overall selection. On November 2, 2008 Fine caught his first pass in the NFL against the New York Jets. The reception was a 9-yard touchdown pass thrown by quarterback

Trent Edwards Trent Addison Edwards (born October 30, 1983) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at Stanford and was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the third round of the 2007 NFL Draft. As a rookie, Edwards took over the st ...

. In 2009, during a game against the New York Jets, Fine was battling Jets linebacker

Marques Murrell Marques Allen Murrell (born March 20, 1985) is a former American football linebacker. He was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 2007. He played college football at Appalachian State. Murrell also played for the New ...

and eventually started a fight with Murrell and Murrell's teammate

James Ihedigbo James Ugochu Ihedigbo ( ; born December 3, 1983) is a former American football safety. He was signed by the New York Jets as an undrafted free agent in 2007. He played college football at Massachusetts. Early years Ihedigbo played at Amherst ...

. This fight led to Ihedigbo being ejected for trying to land a punch on Fine. Fine 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 th ...

on September 22, 2009 and was replaced by

Joe Klopfenstein Joe Klopfenstein (born November 9, 1983) is a former American football tight end. He was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft. He played college football at Colorado. Early years He played high school footbal ...

. He was waived on February 16, 2010.

St. Louis Rams

Fine was claimed off waivers by the

on February 17, 2010. He was waived on March 5, 2010.

Houston Texans

Fine was signed by the Houston Texans on June 16, 2010. On September 5, 2010, Fine was waived by the Houston Texans.

References

External links

*
Buffalo Bills bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fine, Derek 1983 births Living people People from Sallisaw, Oklahoma Players of American football from Oklahoma American football tight ends Kansas Jayhawks football players Buffalo Bills players St. Louis Rams players Houston Texans players