Quinn Meinerz (born November 15, 1998) is an
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
guard
Guard or guards may refer to:
Professional occupations
* Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault
* Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street
* Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning
* Prison ...
for the
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...
of the
National Football League
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 ...
(NFL). 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 ...
at
UW–Whitewater.
Early life and high school
Meinerz grew up in
Hartford, Wisconsin
Hartford is a city in Washington and Dodge counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 14,223. All of this population resided in the Washington County portion of the city. The portion of the city ...
and attended Hartford Union High School, where he was a member of the football, track and field, and wrestling teams. He was named honorable mention All-State as both an offensive and defensive lineman as a senior. Meinerz chose
to play college football at
NCAA Division III
NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their stu ...
Wisconsin–Whitewater over
St. Cloud State
St. Cloud State University (SCSU) is a public university in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Founded in 1869, the university is one of the largest institutions in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. Its enrollment in 2020 was approximate ...
and
Wisconsin–La Crosse.
College career
Meinerz played in two games as a freshman before becoming a starter as a sophomore, when he was named first team All-
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC). Meinerz was named first team All-WIAC and a first team Division III All-American by the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
. The 2020
NCAA Division III
NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their stu ...
football season was canceled due to
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
and he spent the year training at his family's hunting and fishing camp in Ontario. Meinerz played in the
2021 Senior Bowl
The 2021 Senior Bowl was a college football all-star game played on January 30, 2021, at 1:30 p.m. CST, at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, Alabama. The game featured prospects for the 2021 draft of the professional National Football Leag ...
.
Professional career
Meinerz was selected 98th overall in the third round of the
2021 NFL Draft
The 2021 NFL Draft was the 86th National Football League Draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland from April 29 to May 1, 2021 ...
by the
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...
. He was the highest drafted football player in school history and the first since 2007. In Meinerz rookie season on the Broncos, he played in 15 of the 17 regular season games and started every game after Week 9, totaling 9 starts on the season.
References
External links
Wisconsin–Whitewater Warhawks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meinerz, Quinn
1998 births
Living people
American football centers
People from Hartford, Wisconsin
Wisconsin–Whitewater Warhawks football players
Players of American football from Wisconsin
Sportspeople from the Milwaukee metropolitan area
Denver Broncos players