Kurt Ploeger (born December 1, 1962) is a former defensive end in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys,

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 club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

and Minnesota Vikings. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Gustavus Adolphus College Gustavus Adolphus College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in St. Peter, Minnesota. It was founded in 1862 by Swedish Americans led by Eric Norelius and is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Gustavus gets its nam ...

Early years

Ploeger attended LeSueur High School, where he practiced

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, basketball, and

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

. He accepted a scholarship from

, where he ran hurdles, before deciding to focus on football. He was named the starter at right defensive tackle as a junior and became a dominant player, finishing with 96 tackles, 7 quarterback sacks, 6 blocked passes, one fumble recovery and a blocked punt. He received NAIA Division II All-American, All-MIAC and All-District 13 honors. Ploeger improved his production as a senior, leading the team with 113 tackles (45 solos and 11 for loss), 8 quarterback sacks, 4 blocked passes, and one fumble recovery. He earned Division III All-American and All- MIAC honors. In 2002, he was inducted into the Gustavus Adolphus College Athletics Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Ploeger was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the sixth round (144th overall) of the

1985 NFL Draft The 1985 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. The draft was held April 30 and May 1, 1985, at the Omni Park Central Hotel in New York City, New York. The league also hel ...

. He was placed on the injured reserve list with a thigh injury in August

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

. On September 1,

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

, he was waived, but was later re-signed on September 9 and played in 3 games, before being released again to make room for

Mike Renfro Michael Ray Renfro (born June 19, 1955) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the Houston Oilers and Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at Texas Christian University. Early years Renfro a ...

, who was activated from the injured reserve list.

Green Bay Packers

He was signed as a free agent by the

on October 13,

. He was cut on October 21.

Buffalo Bills

On December 17,

, he signed with the

. He was waived on August 31,

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

Minnesota Vikings

After the players went on a strike on the third week of the 1987 season, those games were canceled (reducing the 16 game season to 15) and the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

decided that the games would be played with replacement players. Ploeger was signed to be a part of the Minnesota Vikings replacement team. He played in one game, but suffered a career ending back injury.

Personal life

After serving as a church planter in Minnesota for 17 years, He now serves on the staff of the Evangelical Free Church of America in

Mesa, Arizona Mesa ( ) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, Maricopa County, in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is the most populous city in the East Valley (Phoenix metropolitan area), East Valley section of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. It is bordered by ...

. He holds an M.Div. from Bethel Theological Seminary in St. Paul, MN and a B.A. from

. He has been married to his wife Stacy since 1988. They have 2 adult children, Kelsey and Brett (B.J.).

References

External links

Gustavus Adolphus College Hall of Fame bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ploeger, Kurt Living people 1962 births People from Le Sueur, Minnesota Players of American football from Minnesota American football defensive ends American football defensive tackles Gustavus Adolphus College alumni Gustavus Adolphus Golden Gusties football players Dallas Cowboys players Green Bay Packers players Buffalo Bills players Minnesota Vikings players National Football League replacement players