Jon Melander (born October 5, 1966) 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 ...

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative (Netherlands), Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tende ...

who played four seasons 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

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 ...

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

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 ...

. 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 Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

and was selected in the fifth round of the 1990 NFL draft.

College career

Melander played for the

Golden Gophers from 1986 to 1989, starting as a defensive end before switching to guard just before his junior year. Melander earned a degree in business management with an emphasis in finance from the

Carlson School of Management The Curtis L. Carlson School of Management is the business school of the University of Minnesota, a public research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Carlson School offers undergraduate and graduate degr ...

in 1989. From 2000 to 2004, Melander's nephew, Rian, was an All

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

offensive tackle for the Golden Gophers. His uncle, Raymond, also played football for the Gophers.

Professional career

Melander was selected in the fifth round (113th overall) in the 1990 NFL draft by the

. He played in ten games for the Patriots during the

1991 NFL season The 1991 NFL season was the 72nd regular season of the National Football League (NFL). It was the final season for coach Chuck Noll. The season ended with Super Bowl XXVI when the Washington Redskins defeated the Buffalo Bills, 37–24, at the ...

before signing with the

before the

1992 NFL season The 1992 NFL season was the 73rd regular season of the National Football League (NFL). Due to the damage caused by Hurricane Andrew, the New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins game that was scheduled for September 6 at Joe Robbie Stadium was re ...

. In 1992, Melander played in 15 games for the Bengals and started seven games. Melander signed with the Denver Broncos in the offseason and played in 29 games for the Broncos during the

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

and

1994 NFL season The 1994 NFL season was the 75th regular season of the National Football League (NFL). To honor the NFL's 75th season, a special anniversary logo was designed, and each player wore a patch on their jerseys with this logo throughout the season. ...

s. Melander started 22 games for the Broncos before retiring prior to the 1995 season.

Personal life

Since retiring from football, Melander has worked as a financial consultant in the Twin Cities, specializing in asset management and retirement consulting for high-net-worth clients. In 2004, he was the President of the Minnetonka Rotary Club and is a past Rotary Assistant District Governor. In addition to his career in finance, Jon volunteers his time coaching youth sports. He is also active in many church and community causes, and he remains an active Golden Gophers athletic booster.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Melander, Jon 1966 births American football offensive guards Minnesota Golden Gophers football players New England Patriots players Cincinnati Bengals players Businesspeople from Minnesota Denver Broncos players Living people People from Fridley, Minnesota Sportspeople from Anoka County, Minnesota