Curtis Dustin Zeigler (born September 27, 1973) 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

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 (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

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) for the

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 ...

and the

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

. 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

Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 26 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

Notre Dame

Dusty Zeigler played

at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

Buffalo Bills

Zeigler was selected in the sixth round of the

1996 NFL draft The 1996 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The NFL draft, draft was held April 20–21, 1996 NFL seas ...

by the Bills in 1996. He became their starting center as a sophomore in 1997, playing between left offensive guard

Ruben Brown Ruben Parnell Brown (born February 13, 1972) is an American former professional football player who was a guard for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Pittsburgh Panthers. He was selected by the ...

and right guard

Corbin Lacina Corbin James Lacina (born November 2, 1970) is an American former professional football offensive lineman and Midwest Emmy award-winning sports broadcaster who played eleven seasons in the National Football League (NFL), mainly for the Buffalo B ...

, replacing the 11-year incumbent Kent Hull. That was the final one in

Marv Levy Marvin Daniel Levy (; born August 3, 1925) is an American former football coach and executive who was a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for seventeen seasons. He spent most of his head coaching career with the Buffalo Bills, lea ...

's term as head coach (6-10 won-lost record), replaced the following year by his defensive coordinator,

Wade Phillips Harold Wade Phillips (born June 21, 1947) is a former American football coach. He has served as head coach of the Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills, Dallas Cowboys, Houston Roughnecks and San Antonio Brahmas. He has also served as interim head coa ...

, who guided the Bills to playoff berths in 1998 and 1999. In 1998, when Zeigler started all 16 games, playing between Brown and

Joe Panos Joe Panos (born Zois Panagiotopoulos on January 24, 1971) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a guard (gridiron football), guard in the National Football League (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles and Buf ...

, Buffalo finished in second place in the

AFC East The American Football Conference – Eastern Division or AFC East is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). There are currently four teams that reside in th ...

and lost a wild-card game to the

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 ...

. In 1999, Buffalo also finished in second place in the AFC east, but Zeigler was switched to right guard to make place for

Jerry Ostroski Gerald Ostroski Jr. (born July 12, 1970) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive lineman for the Buffalo Bills in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. Co ...

as the center next to Brown. The Bills lost another wild-card game, this time to 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 ...

New York Giants

Zeigler became a New York Giant in 2000, where he also became the starting center, from 2000 to 2001, starting all 16 games during those two years. In 2000, the Giants won the NFC championship game of the

2000–01 NFL playoffs The National Football League playoffs for the 2000 season began on December 30, 2000. The postseason tournament concluded with the Baltimore Ravens defeating the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV, 34–7, on January 28, 2001, at Raymond James S ...

, but lost

Super Bowl XXXV Super Bowl XXXV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2000 Baltimore Ravens season, Baltimore Ravens and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2000 New York Giants season, New York Giant ...

to the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

with

Kerry Collins Kerry Michael Collins (born December 30, 1972) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. Collins was a member of six NFL teams, most notably the Carolina Panth ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

. In 2002, Zeigler started only 2 games, replaced by Chris Bober, and never played again.

Post-football

Since retiring from football, Zeigler has become active in politics and was elected as a Republican to be the county commission chairman in Effingham County GA in 2008. In 2012, Zeigler became an offensive line coach for the Savannah Christian Raiders, a high school team competing in the Georgia High School Association (GHSA).

References

1973 births Living people Players of American football from Savannah, Georgia American football centers Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Buffalo Bills players New York Giants players 20th-century American sportsmen {{Offensive-lineman-1970s-stub

Notre Dame

Buffalo Bills

New York Giants

Post-football

See also

References