Robert Brett Zatechka (born December 1, 1971) is a former
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 wit ...
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 numb ...
in 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 ma ...
for 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 divisio ...
. He was born to Douglas and Jane Zatechka in 1971. He was drafted in the fourth round of the
1995 NFL Draft out of the
University of Nebraska. In college, he won both the
Draddy Trophy and a
Walter Byers Scholarship. He was the first Giant draft pick to sign after the 1995 draft.
After his playing days ended, he slimmed down from to before returning to school at
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County, Nebraska, Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. List of ...
's
University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Zatechka graduated medical school in 2004, completed a residency in anesthesia at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in 2008, and is currently practicing in Omaha at OrthoNebraska.
See also
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Colin Allred
Colin Zachary Allred (born April 15, 1983) is an American politician, lawyer, and former professional football player. A member of the Democratic Party, he is the U.S. representative from . The district includes the northeastern corner of Dallas, ...
- former NFL linebacker who became a lawyer and US Representative
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Tommy Casanova - former NFL player who became an ophthalmologist
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Dennis Claridge – former NFL quarterback who became an orthodontist
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Dan Doornink
Daniel Glenn Doornink (born February 1, 1956) is a former professional American football running back in the National Football League who played one season for the New York Giants and seven seasons for the Seattle Seahawks.
Born in Yakima, Washi ...
– former NFL running back who became a medical doctor
*
Laurent Duvernay-Tardif
Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (; born February 11, 1991) is a Canadian football guard for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played university football and attended medical school at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, be ...
– current NFL player who earned a medical degree while playing in the league
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John Frank - Super Bowl winning SF 49er who became a NY City based plastic surgeon
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Joel Makovicka
Joel P. Makovicka (born October 6, 1975) is a former American football fullback who played college football for the Nebraska Cornhuskers and in the NFL for the Arizona Cardinals (1999–2002).
Joel is one of the most decorated fullbacks in Hus ...
– former NFL fullback who became a doctor of physical therapy
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Bill McColl - former NFL player who became an orthopedic surgeon, father of Milt McColl
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Milt McColl
Milton Bird McColl (born August 28, 1959) is an American physician and former football linebacker. He played college football at Stanford University and in the National Football League (NFL) from 1981 to 1988, during which he played for the San ...
- former NFL linebacker who became a medical doctor
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Frank Ryan – former NFL player and mathematician, who maintained an academic career while playing in the league
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Myron Rolle – former NFL defensive back who was also a
Rhodes scholar and is now serving a neurosurgery residency
*
John Urschel
John Cameron Urschel (born June 24, 1991) is a Canadian-American mathematician, former professional American football guard and center and chess player. He played college football at Penn State and was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the ...
– former NFL player and mathematician who was a PhD candidate while playing in the league
*
Byron White - former NFL running back who became a US Supreme Court Justice
References
1971 births
Living people
American football offensive guards
Nebraska Cornhuskers football players
New York Giants players
William V. Campbell Trophy winners
University of Nebraska Medical Center alumni
Sportspeople from Lansing, Michigan
Players of American football from Michigan
Physicians from Nebraska
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