Jim Sweeney (American football, born 1962)

James Joseph Sweeney (born August 8, 1962) is a former American football center and guard who played 16 seasons in the National Football League.

Jim Sweeney
No. 53, 66
Position:Center, Guard, Tackle
Personal information
Born: (1962-08-08) August 8, 1962
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Height:6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight:297 lb (135 kg)
Career information
High school:Seton-La Salle (Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania)
College:Pittsburgh
NFL Draft:1984 / Round: 2 / Pick: 37
Career history
As player:
As coach:
Career NFL statistics
Games:228
Games Started:176

Early life and college career

Sweeney was born in Pittsburgh and attended Seton-La Salle Catholic High School in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania.[1][2] At the University of Pittsburgh, Sweeney played all five offensive line positions and tight end for the Pittsburgh Panthers from 1980 to 1983, including two seasnos as starter. As a senior in 1983, Sweeney played at center and guard, and he won second-team All-American honors from The Sporting News.[1] Sweeney graduated from Pittsburgh in 1984 with a B.S. in sociology and administration of justice.[1][3]

Pro playing career

In the 1984 NFL draft, Sweeney was selected in the second round, 37th overall by the New York Jets, where he would play from 1984 to 1994. With the Jets, Sweeney played in 10 games with two starts as a rookie in 1984. In 1985, Sweeney started all 16 games at left guard. In 1986 and 1987, Sweeney was the starting left tackle. From 1988 to 1994, Sweeney started at center for the Jets.[2][1]

Sweeney played for the Seattle Seahawks in 1995, starting all 16 games at center.[2] Sweeney played the final four seasons of his career with his hometown Pittsburgh Steelers from 1996 to 1999, this time mostly off the bench with one start each in 1997 and 1998.[1]

Coaching career

From 2000 to 2002, Sweeney was offensive line coach at Duquesne University under head coach Greg Gattuso.[4] Sweeney later coached at the high school level in the Pittsburgh area, first with Peters Township High School in McMurray as offensive line coach from 2003 to 2006. Sweeney then served as offensive line coach for South Fayette High School from 2007 to 2010, where he was part of the 2010 WPAIL championship team.[5][4]

During the summer of 2010, Sweeney worked for the Arizona Cardinals as the offensive line stand-in coach for Russ Grimm. In 2011, Sweeney participated in the NFL and NCAA coaching internship program at Frostburg State University. Sweeney was offensive line consultant for the Pittsburgh Power of the Arena Football League in 2013.[4]

On January 14, 2014, Sweeney became offensive line coach at Albany, in his second coaching job under Greg Gattuso.[4][3]

References
  1. "Jim Sweeney: Career Highlights". NFL. Archived from the original on August 22, 2000. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
  2. "Jim Sweeney". pro-football-reference. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
  3. "Gattuso Adds Benson, Bernard, Clark, And Sweeney To Football Staff". UAlbanySports.com. SUNY Albany. January 14, 2014. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
  4. "Jim Sweeney Bio". UAlbanySports.com. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
  5. MacKall, Dave (August 26, 2007). "South Fayette coach brings winning home". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.