Jeffrey Bryant Saturday (born June 18, 1975) 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 and coach 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). He played as a center in the NFL, primarily with the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

. He was a six-time

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

selection, and won a

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

with the Colts. Saturday 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

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels (also Carolina Tar Heels) are the college sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to ...

and was signed by 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 ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

in 1998, but was cut by the team without playing a game. Saturday then signed with Indianapolis, with whom he played 13 seasons, won

Super Bowl XLI Super Bowl XLI was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2006 Indianapolis Colts season, Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2006 Chicago Bears season, Chicag ...

over 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 ...

and was selected to four

All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list t ...

teams and five Pro Bowls. In his final NFL season, he made his sixth Pro Bowl as a member of the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

. Saturday is currently a

sports analyst A sports analyst is a person looking through technical, tactical, physiological, and psychological performance metrics working with the sports coach and sports science team to improve athlete performance. They will often use Video motion analysis ...

for

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 ...

. He was the interim

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

for the Colts for the final eight weeks of the Colts' 2022 season following the firing of

Frank Reich Frank Michael Reich (; ; born December 4, 1961) is an American football coach and former player who is the interim head coach at Stanford University. He played 14 seasons as a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He became a coac ...

Early life

Saturday was born in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

.National Football League, Current Players
Jeff Saturday
Retrieved March 26, 2012. He attended Shamrock High School in

Decatur, Georgia Decatur () is a city and the county seat of DeKalb County, Georgia, DeKalb County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. With a population of 24,928 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, th ...

, in 1993.databaseFootball.com, Players, . Retrieved March 26, 2012. His high school coach Ron Gartrell said in a 2012 ''

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 ...

'' story on Saturday, "Eighty percent of our offense was behind Jeff. On defense we put Jeff on one side and all our other good players on the other side, because teams ran away from Jeff." However, Gartrell could not sell

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

schools on Saturday's abilities; in the same interview, he said that coaches at

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

considered Saturday too short to play in the conference. He received a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

offer from the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...

partly because of Gartrell's friendship with UNC's then-defensive coordinator

Carl Torbush Carl William Torbush Jr. (October 11, 1951 – November 5, 2023) was an American American football and baseball coach. He served as the head football coach at Louisiana Tech University in 1987, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill fro ...

College career

Saturday received an athletic scholarship to attend the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

, where he was a four-year letterman for coach

Mack Brown William Mack Brown (born August 27, 1951) is an American former college football coach. Brown most recently coached at the University of North Carolina, where he had two stints, first from 1988 until 1997, and again from 2019 until his firing ...

North Carolina Tar Heels football The North Carolina Tar Heels football team represents the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the sport of American football or gridiron football. The Tar Heels play in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subd ...

team from 1994 to 1997.
2011 North Carolina Football
', University of North Athletic Department, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, pp. 116, 117, 132, 138, 179 (2011). Retrieved March 26, 2011. As a junior in 1996 and again as a senior in 1997, he was one of the Tar Heels' team captains. He was recognized as a first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) selection at center in 1996 and 1997, and an Academic All-ACC selection in 1997.

Professional career

Baltimore Ravens

According to ''

'', Saturday was ranked as the No. 11 center available in the

1998 NFL draft The 1998 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 draft was held April 18–19, 1998, at the Theater at M ...

. He was described as "somewhat an overachiever, has worked to make himself better," but also as "an undersized guy hosimply has trouble matching up against power NTs that can overwhelm him". He went

undrafted In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

. The

signed him as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

on April 27, 1998, only to waive him on June 12, 1998. He then returned to

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

, and took a job as a manager at an electrical supply store.

Indianapolis Colts

Saturday first came to the attention of the

during the 1998 season, when former college teammate Nate Hobgood-Chittick was on the roster. As Hobgood-Chittick would recall in 2012,

I had no footing at all with that franchise, so I stood outside illPolian's door in my dirty sweats, saying a prayer. I walked in and said, "There's a guy selling electrical supplies in Raleigh right now who whipped all those first-round draft choices at North Carolina every day." Polian looked at me and said, "I love it. Let's get him in here for a workout."

The Colts signed him as a free agent on January 7, 1999. In his

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

season, Saturday backed up starting

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 ...

Steve McKinney, and earned his first NFL start at left guard on November 21, 1999, against 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 ...

. After only two regular season starts in 1999, Saturday started all 16 regular season games of the 2000 season at center for the Colts, and continued to start every game thereafter—for a total of 85 consecutive games—before sitting out two games with an injury in December 2004. Saturday finished his time with the Colts as the team's starting center for 12 straight seasons, and was the anchor of the Colts'

offensive line 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 ( ...

, which gave up the fewest

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackle (football move), tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the l ...

s among all NFL teams in the 2004, 2005, and 2006 seasons. Saturday attempted a pass once, during a game in 2004, but it fell incomplete. Though the Colts won at least 10 regular season games for five consecutive years under

Tony Dungy Anthony Kevin Dungy ( ; born October 6, 1955) is an American former professional football safety and coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts ...

, the team could not get to the

, losing in the AFC playoffs from 2002 to 2005. In 2006, the Colts went 12–4 in the regular season and earned the third seed in the AFC. On January 21, 2007, Saturday helped the Colts win the

AFC Championship Game The AFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the American Football Conference (AFC) and one of the two semifinal NFL playoffs, playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football lea ...

against 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 ...

when he recovered a teammate's fumble in the

end zone The end zone is the scoring area on the field, according to gridiron-based codes of football. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on the opposite side of the field ...

and scored a touchdown. Saturday also provided the key block on the game-winning touchdown run by Joseph Addai, pancaking

Vince Wilfork Vincent Lamar Wilfork (born November 4, 1981) is an American former professional football player who was a nose tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the New England Patriots. He played college football fo ...

Peyton Manning Peyton Williams Manning (born March 24, 1976) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons. Nicknamed "the Sheriff", he spent 14 seasons with the In ...

, the Colts'

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 ...

at the time and a longtime friend, claimed that Saturday wants this play to be known as "The Block." Two weeks later, Saturday helped the Colts win

against the

. On February 26, 2009, Saturday signed a three-year $13.3 million contract with the Colts including a $7.45 million signing bonus. He was ranked 59th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2011. During his time with the Colts, Saturday started 188 of 197 games. He became a

after the 2011 season.

Green Bay Packers

Saturday at the 2013 Pro Bowl Saturday signed a two-year deal with the

for $7.75 million on March 23, 2012. After an up-and-down season, Saturday was benched on December 21, 2012. Despite this, Saturday was later announced as the back-up center for the NFC in the

2013 Pro Bowl The 2013 Pro Bowl was the National Football League (NFL)'s sixty-third annual all-star game which featured players from the 2012 season. It took place at 2:30 pm Hawaii–Aleutian Time ( UTC−10:00; 7:30 pm Eastern Time) on Sunday, Ja ...

. In the Pro Bowl, despite being on opposite teams, Saturday and long-time Colts teammate Peyton Manning shared a final snap.

Retirement

Indianapolis Colts Town Hall May 2019 Jeff Saturday

On January 25, 2013, Saturday announced he would retire following the

Game. On March 7, 2013, Saturday signed a 1-day contract with the Colts to retire with the team with which he spent 13 of his 14 seasons.

Honors and awards

Saturday was voted onto six

teams in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, and

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. For the 2005 and 2007 seasons, he was named to 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 ...

NFL All-Pro First-team. He was selected as Offensive Lineman of the Year by the

National Football League Alumni The NFL Alumni Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization composed of former National Football League (NFL) players, coaches, team staff members, and associate members who work voluntarily to raise funds for youth-oriented causes and engage ...

organization for 2007. Saturday was inducted into the

Indianapolis Colts Ring of Honor The Indianapolis Colts Ring of Honor honors former players, coaches, club officials, and fans who made outstanding contributions to the Indianapolis Colts football organization. Originally a ring around the former RCA Dome in Indianapolis, India ...

during the week 2 game against the New York Jets on September 21, 2015. Saturday was inducted into the

Georgia Sports Hall of Fame Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, in Macon, Georgia, as a member of the 2017 class.

NFL career statistics

Coaching career

Hebron Christian Academy

On January 20, 2017, Saturday was named the head coach of Hebron Christian Academy, in

Dacula, Georgia Dacula ( ) is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, Gwinnett County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, located approximately northeast of Atlanta. The population as of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census was 4,442, and the U.S. ...

. On February 14, 2020, Saturday resigned from the position of head coach at Hebron Christian. During his time there, he went 20–16 while making the playoffs every year, winning three playoff games (including one state quarterfinals appearance in 2019).

Indianapolis Colts

On November 7, 2022, the Indianapolis Colts named Saturday as the team's interim head coach after the team fired

following a 3–5–1 start. The move generated widespread surprise and criticism, notably from former NFL head coach Bill Cowher, and fellow former offensive lineman Joe Thomas, given Saturday's lack of previous coaching experience beyond the high school level and presence of several former NFL head coaches on the staff. Saturday was the first NFL head coach with no prior college or professional coaching experience since

Norm Van Brocklin Norman Mack Van Brocklin (March 15, 1926 – May 2, 1983), nicknamed "the Dutchman", was an American professional football player, coach and executive. He played as a quarterback and punter in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. ...

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 ...

in 1961. Colts owner Jim Irsay defended the move and said that Saturday could potentially remain head coach beyond 2022. General manager Chris Ballard said that the Colts had tried to hire Saturday in 2019 as an offensive line coach and also for a position prior to the 2022 season. Saturday made his head coaching debut against the

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West ...

, which the Colts won, 25–20. On December 17, 2022, Saturday's Colts team lost to the

by a final score of 39–36. The Colts blew a 33-point lead, which surpassed the 1992 Houston Oilers for the largest blown lead in NFL history. Coincidentally, Frank Reich, whom Saturday replaced as Colts head coach, was the quarterback who led the comeback victory 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 ...

over the Oilers. In February 2023, the Colts hired

Shane Steichen Shane Steichen ( ; born May 11, 1985) is an American professional American football, football coach who is the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as an assistant coach for the San Die ...

as their head coach after keeping Saturday as interim and potential head coach for the 2023 season. Saturday has since returned to ESPN.

Head coaching record

NFL

* ''Interim head coach''

High school

Personal life

Saturday is a member of the executive committee of the National Football League Players' Association, where he was the key negotiator in completing the 2011

Collective Bargaining Agreement A collective agreement, collective labour agreement (CLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a written contract negotiated through collective bargaining for employees by one or more trade unions with the management of a company (or with an ...

(CBA) between the NFL and NFLPA. Saturday joined

in 2013 and appeared on network programming such as ''

NFL Live ''NFL Live'' (stylized as ''NFL Live presented by FanDuel Sportsbook'' for sponsorship reasons) is an American National Football League (NFL) studio show, currently airing Monday through Friday at 4:00 p.m ET on sports cable channel ESPN, and ...

'' and ''

SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is an American television sports news broadcasting show broadcast by ESPN. Originally anchored by Chris Berman, George Grande, Greg Gumbel, Lee Leonard, Bob Ley, Sal Marchiano and Lou Palmer, it premiered on Septem ...

''. Saturday's eldest son, Jeffrey, played

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

for the

football team from 2019 to 2022.

References

External links

* * *
Jeff Saturday interview
on

WISH-TV WISH-TV (channel 8) is a television station in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, affiliated with The CW. It is locally owned by Circle City Broadcasting alongside Marion-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WNDY-TV (channel 23) and low-power, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saturday, Jeff 1975 births Living people American Christians American Conference Pro Bowl players American football centers American sports journalists American television sports announcers Baltimore Ravens players ESPN people Green Bay Packers players Indianapolis Colts coaches Indianapolis Colts head coaches Indianapolis Colts players National Conference Pro Bowl players NFL announcers North Carolina Tar Heels football players Players of American football from Decatur, Georgia Players of American football from Atlanta Players of American football from Indianapolis