Joe Panos (born Zois Panagiotopoulos on January 24, 1971) 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

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 ...

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

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 ...

and

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 ...

. After Brookfield East High School, 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 ...

at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

, where he was a walk on and later became captain of the 1994 Rose Bowl team.

Career

College

Panos started his college career playing

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

at Division III University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. He transferred to the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

and quickly became a starter. He played in 32 consecutive games.

Awards

*1992 Second-team All-Big Ten *1993 1st team All-Big Ten *1993 2nd Team All-American. *1994 co-captain of the Rose Bowl championship team.

Pro football

Panos was selected by the Eagles with the 77th pick in the third round of the

1994 NFL draft The 1994 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 24–25, 1994, at the Marriott Ma ...

. He played in the NFL for 6 years. During his time with the Philadelphia Eagles and the Buffalo Bills he played in 83 games and he started 56 games. He had 17 penalties over his NFL career. He is now a sports agent with Athletes First, Panos represents former Green Bay Packers quarterback

Aaron Rodgers Aaron Charles Rodgers (born December 2, 1983) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the California Golden Bears foo ...

and linebacker Clay Matthews, among other NFL players.

Personal life

Panos was married to Michelle; together they have 3 kids. George is a scout for Houston, and Alex plays football at St. Thomas University in Minnesota. Their youngest child, Olivia is in college at the University of Wisconsin Madison.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Panos, Joe 1971 births Living people American football offensive guards American football centers Philadelphia Eagles players Buffalo Bills players Wisconsin Badgers football players Wisconsin–Whitewater Warhawks football players Sportspeople from Brookfield, Wisconsin Players of American football from Waukesha County, Wisconsin American sports agents