Marques D. Sullivan (born February 2, 1978 in Chicago, Illinois) is a former professional American football

offensive lineman 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, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

for the

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. ...

, the

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

, the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

and the

Chicago Rush The Chicago Rush were a professional arena football team based in Rosemont, Illinois Rosemont is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Located immediately northwest of Chicago, as of the 2010 census it had a population of 4,20 ...

Early life

Sullivan was a multi-sport athlete at Fenwick High School, lettering in

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 ...

, wrestling, and bowling. In football, Sullivan played on both the

offensive Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

and defensive line. In 1995, Sullivan was one of the top three

in the country achieving All-American and All-State honors helping the Friars reach a 12-1 record. He was named all-state by the '' Chicago Sun-Times'' and the Champaign-Urbana ''News Gazette'', and a high school All-American by ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

''.

College career

Marques was one of the most highly recruited high school

in the country. He decided to accept a scholarship to play

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 ...

for the Illinois Fighting Illini. As a redshirt freshman, Sullivan was an offensive tackle, starting in all eleven games for the Illini. His sophomore year, Sullivan started eleven games at right tackle. His junior year, he started all twelve games at left tackle and was named All- Big Ten second-team. The Illini played in the

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, finishing with an 8-4 season. Sullivan was named to the All-Bowl team after the season. His senior year, he was named first-team '' Playboy'' All American, third-team FWAA All-American, as well as an honorable mention ''Football News'' All-American. He was also named All Big Ten second-team that same year. Sullivan graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in Recreation, Sport and Tourism Management.

Professional career

Sullivan was selected in the fifth round of the

2001 NFL Draft The 2001 NFL Draft was the 66th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting," was held at the ...

by the

. In his rookie season, he played in 12 games and started two games at offensive tackle. Sullivan started 25 games for the Bills for the

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

and

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seasons, blocking for Pro Bowlers Travis Henry and Drew Bledsoe. In 2002, Sullivan was named Most Improved Player by the Buffalo Bills. In

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, he played for the

and the

. Sullivan retired from football in 2007 after playing for the

in the same year. He is involved with many charitable causes in the Chicago area. He served the Director of the Chicago NFL Alumni Football Camp, coaching high school aged children. Sullivan also coached for the Chicago Bears Youth Football Camp coaching children ages 6–13. Sullivan also served the NFL Alumni its executive vice president of the Chicago Chapter and as a vice president of the National Football League Former Player's Association - Chicago Chapter. On July 10, 2008 North Park University announced that Sullivan would be the football team's new offensive line coach.NP football names Sullivan new offensive line coach
- published July 10, 2008 (retrieved July 10, 2008) Sullivan is currently the Vice President of the NFL Retired Players Association - Chicago Chapter. He is also a board member of post-graduate prep school, Midwest Prep Academy.

Personal life

Sullivan is married to former U.S. national level gymnast, Veronica Saldana Sullivan.

References

External links

* http://www.nfl.com/players/playerpage/235166 * http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/players/5592/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Marques 1978 births Living people Players of American football from Chicago American football offensive tackles Illinois Fighting Illini football players Buffalo Bills players New York Giants players New England Patriots players