Pete Metzelaars

NFL player
DateOfBirth=Birth date and age|1960|5|24|mf=y
Birthplace= Three Rivers, Michigan
DateofDeath=
Position=Tight end
College=Wabash
DraftedYear=1982
DraftedRound=3
DraftedPick=75
Stats=Y
DatabaseFootball=METZEPET01
PFR=MetzPe00
years=1982-1984
1985-1994
1995
1996-1997
teams=Seattle Seahawks
Buffalo Bills
Carolina Panthers
Detroit Lions

Peter Henry Metzelaars (born May 24, 1960 in Three Rivers, Michigan) is a former American football tight end who played for the Seattle Seahawks, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, and Detroit Lions in a sixteen year career in the National Football League.

High school and college

He played high school football at Portage Central High School in Portage, Michigan,cite web|url=http://www.wabash.edu/profiles/home.cfm?profile_id=58|title=Profie for Pete Metzelaars|accessdate=2007-07-31] and played college football at Wabash College, graduating from Wabash in 1982. He was coached by Stan Parrish, who was later a head coach at Marshall and Kansas State, as well as an NFL coach for the Super Bowl winning Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

NFL career

He was taken in the 3rd round with the 75th pick by Seattle in the 1982 NFL Draft. He played for three seasons in Seattle before being traded to the Bills in 1985. When Jim Kelly joined the Bills in 1986, Metzelaars became a productive part of the offense. He played with the Bills in their 4 Super Bowl losses from 1990-1994, and scored a touchdown in Super Bowl XXVI. Metzelaars' best season was in 1993, when he caught 68 passes for 609 yards and 4 touchdowns.

He was not re-signed by the Bills after the 1994 season, and played for Carolina for one season, despite signing on for a three year, 2.4 million deal. [cite web|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE2D7113AF93AA35750C0A963958260 |title= SPORTS PEOPLE: FOOTBALL; Two More for Panthers|accessdate=2007-01-02] He then played for the Lions for two seasons before retiring.

Metzelaars finished his 16 NFL seasons with 383 receptions for 3,686 yards and 29 touchdowns in 235 games. At the time of his retirement, his 235 games were the most ever played by a tight end in NFL history.

Post-NFL

After retiring, Metzelaars moved into the coaching ranks as the offensive coordinator at Charlotte Christian School from 1998-2002. In 2003, Metzelaars joined Wingate University as an assistant offensive coach but also served in NFL Europe with Barcelona during the off-season. He also was an intern with the Indianapolis Colts during their 2003 training camp, assisting with the tight ends under Offensive Coordinator Tom Moore. In 2004, Metzalaars joined the Colts staff full-time as the Offensive Quality Control Coach and still holds this position.

References

External links

* [http://pro-football-reference.com/players/MetzPe00.htm Metzelaars' stats]