Paul Herman Seiler (November 1, 1945 – September 25, 2001) was an American 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 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 (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

who played in the American (AFL) and

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 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 ...

and

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 ...

. Born in Algona, Iowa, Seiler played college football at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

and was a member of the school's 1966 team that won the national championship. After playing for a combined 59 minutes in 1964 and 1965 as a backup, he was Notre Dame's starting right tackle in 1966, his senior year. In the

1967 NFL/AFL draft The 1967 NFL/AFL draft was conducted March 14–15, 1967, at the Gotham Hotel in New York City. It was the first common draft between the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL), part of the AFL–NFL merger agreeme ...

, the Jets selected him with the 12th overall pick. Seiler played in two games for the Jets in the

1967 AFL season The 1967 AFL season was the eighth regular season of the American Football League. The season ended when the Oakland Raiders (13–1) hosted the Houston Oilers (9–4–1) in the AFL championship game on December 31. The Raiders won 40–7 an ...

, but a leg injury led the Jets to put him on a "waived injured list". In 1968, he joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

and did not play that season. Seiler returned to the Jets in 1969, playing in 11 games. After undergoing offseason leg surgery, the Jets released Seiler before the start of the 1970 season. From 1971 to 1973, Seiler played for the Raiders. He played in 26 games, starting once in 1973, his last NFL season. Seiler was married and had one stepson. After his football career, he lived in the West Coast region and eventually became a church minister in California. On September 25, 2001, Seiler died of colon cancer at the age of 55.

References

External links

NFL.com profile
1945 births 2001 deaths 20th-century American sportsmen American football offensive linemen New York Jets players Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Oakland Raiders players People from Algona, Iowa Players of American football from Iowa {{Offensive-lineman-1940s-stub