Joel Clifford Dreessen (born July 26, 1982) 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 ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

. He was selected by the

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 ...

in the sixth round of the

2005 NFL draft The 2005 NFL draft, the 70th in league history, took place on April 23 and 24, 2005 NFL season, 2005. The draft was held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City and was televised for the 26th consecutive year, with coverage on E ...

. 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 Colorado State. Dreessen also played for the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

and

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

Early life

Dreessen was born in Ida Grove,

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, and graduated from Fort Morgan High School in 2000. In 1999, Fort Morgan was the Colorado 3A State champions. Dreessen was also a member of the all-state team in Colorado that year. Dreessen attended

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University Syst ...

. He earned first-team all-conference honors in 2002 and 2004, second-team all-conference in 2003 and was a participant in the 2004 Senior Bowl. He was inducted into the Colorado State University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2021.

Professional career

New York Jets

Dreessen was selected by the

in the sixth round of the

. As a rookie, Dreessen appeared in 14 games and had five receptions for 41 yards. He was later cut by the Jets and spent the 2006 season out of football.

Houston Texans

The Texans signed Dreessen to help with rising injuries on the team. On October 28, 2007, Joel Dreessen caught his first NFL touchdown pass, a 28-yard reception in the fourth quarter from quarterback Sage Rosenfels against the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

at San Diego's

Qualcomm Stadium San Diego Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in San Diego, California, United States. Opened in 1967 as San Diego Stadium; it was renamed Jack Murphy Stadium for sportswriter Jack Murphy (sportswriter), Jack Murphy from 1981 to 1997. From 1997 t ...

. It was Houston's only touchdown in a 35–10 loss. Dreessen had four receptions for 55 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns in 13 games on the season. In the 2008 season, Dreessen finished with 11 receptions for 77 receiving yards in 16 games and three starts. Dreessen re-signed with the Texans in 2009 for a reported three-year, $3.6 million deal. Near the end of the 2009 season, Dreessen had become the starter at tight end due to the injury of Owen Daniels. Dreessen caught the first touchdown pass in the Texans' last game 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 ...

from Matt Schaub. He finished the 2009 season with 26 receptions for 320 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown in 16 games and 11 starts. In Week 11 of the 2010 season, Dreessen had four receptions for 106 yards and a touchdown against the

. In the 2010 season, Dreessen finished with 36 receptions for 518 receiving yards and four receiving touchdowns. In Week 5 of the 2011 season, Dreessen had five receptions for 112 yards and a touchdown against the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

. In the 2011 season, Dreessen finished with 28 receptions for 353 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns.

Denver Broncos

Dreessen signed with the

on March 23, 2012, for three years and $8.5 million. In 2012, he caught 41 receptions for 356 yards as well as five touchdowns while playing in 16 games with 15 starts. Dreesen played in 13 games in the 2013 season, recording seven catches for 47 receiving yards and one touchdown. Dreessen was released by the Broncos on July 22, 2014, after a failed physical.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

External links

Colorado State University Athletics Hall of Fame bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dreessen, Joel 1982 births Living people People from Ida Grove, Iowa Players of American football from Colorado American football tight ends American football long snappers Colorado State Rams football players New York Jets players Houston Texans players 21st-century American sportsmen Denver Broncos players People from Fort Morgan, Colorado