Jay Fiedler

Infobox NFLretired


|width=
position=Quarterback
number=9, 11
birthdate=birth date and age|1971|12|29
Oceanside, New York
debutyear=1994
finalyear=2005
college=Dartmouth
teams=
* Philadelphia Eagles (1994-1995)
* Amsterdam Admirals (1997)
* Minnesota Vikings (1998)
* Jacksonville Jaguars (1999)
* Miami Dolphins (2000-2004)
* New York Jets (2005)
* Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2006) *:*Offseason and/or practice squad member only
stat1label=TD-INT
stat1value=69-66
stat2label=Yards
stat2value=11,844
stat3label=QB Rating
stat3value=77.1
nfl=FIE053391
highlights=
* 2002 Jewish Sports Hall of Fame Inductee
* 2003 All-Iron Award

Jay Brian Fiedler (born December 29, 1971) is a former American football quarterback in the NFL.

He was born on Long Island in Oceanside, New York. He is a distant relative of Arthur Fiedler, the long-time conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra.

High School Years

Fiedler attended Oceanside High School in Oceanside, New York, and won varsity letters as a quarterback in football, a point guard in basketball, and as decathlete in track and field. He was influenced greatly by football coach Frank Luisi, who is also an English teacher at Oceanside High School. Fiedler told ESPN Magazine that his hero growing up was “my coach at Oceanside High School, Frank Luisi," who “would do anything for us. Coach kept me focused. He still calls after every game.”

College career

He is an alumnus of Dartmouth College, where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity and Dragon Senior Society.

Fiedler led Dartmouth to a 22-7-1 record from 1991-93, Ivy titles in 1991 (6-0-1) and 1992 (6-1-0), and second place in 1993. He was the Ivy player-of-the-year, All-Ivy League first team, and third team All-America in 1992. In 1993 he engineered comeback victories in four of the Green's last five games, and repeated as All-Ivy League first team quarterback. During three seasons, Fiedler set Dartmouth records for touchdown passes (58), passing yards (6,684) and total offense (7,249 yards). [http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:cMemhJpgRmMJ:www.buzzflood.org/index.php%3Fitemid%3D1603+fiedler+dartmouth+football&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us]

Jay was named Co-Offensive Player of the Game in the 1994 East-West Shrine Game. He received a Scholar-Athlete Award from the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame, the Nils V. "Swede" Nelson Award for sportsmanship, and received his degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Pro career

Fiedler had stints with the Philadelphia Eagles (1994-95), Minnesota Vikings (1998), and Jacksonville Jaguars (1999) before finding steady work with the Dolphins (2000-04) beginning in 2000. In between his time with the Eagles and Vikings, Fiedler served as a receivers coach at Hofstra University in 1997 before being signed as a free agent by Minnesota in 1998.

Fiedler's stint with the Miami Dolphins featured three 10+ win seasons in four years, two 11-5 seasons in 2000 & 2001, an AFC East title, and two postseason appearances including a victory for the Miami Dolphins. During these years, the Dolphins' offense lagged notably behind its defense, which featured perennial Pro-Bowlers in linebacker Zach Thomas, defensive end Jason Taylor, and cornerbacks Sam Madison and Patrick Surtain. He sat out for much of the 2003, 2004, and 2005 seasons with injuries.

Fiedler's stint with the Miami Dolphins featured mediocre regular season performances (66 TD passes to 63 interceptions) and poor post-season performances. He threw one touchdown and seven interceptions with a record of one win and two losses in post-season play while with the Miami Dolphins.

Fiedler signed with the Jets as an unrestricted free agent on March 11, 2005, as a backup quarterback to Chad Pennington. He suffered an injury on his right shoulder in a game on September 25 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and as a result missed the rest of the season. Ironically, Pennington's injury earlier in that game would also turn out to be season-ending, despite the fact that Pennington came back into the game to relieve Fiedler.

Fiedler was released by the Jets on February 22, 2006, and signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who released him in August of that year due to injury as Fiedler had a nagging shoulder issue and was unable to practice. Fiedler sat out 2006 rehabilitating his throwing shoulder following his release from Tampa Bay.

Fiedler was set to work out for the Falcons in April 2007, according to his agent Bryan Levy. [http://www.ajc.com/wireless/content/sports/falcons/stories/2007/04/03/0404falcons.html] In addition, the Giants considered signing him but have since signed Anthony Wright. [http://www.nj.com/sports/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1176265541229580.xml&coll=1]

Fiedler played in 76 games with 60 starts and is a 58.7 percent career passer. He has thrown 69 touchdowns and 66 interceptions.

Fiedler says the Dolphins tried to steal signals from the Patriots when he played.

"There were times in games when we knew certain defensive calls from what we were able to gather during the game or our scouts’ eyesight," Fiedler said.

He called knowing defensive signals "a huge advantage". "If the quarterback knows what’s coming, he can dissect it at the line of scrimmage." [ [http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/miamidolphins/entries/2008/05/13/fiedler_bates_speak_on_01_dolp.html?cxntfid=blogs_inside_the_dolphinsFiedler, Bates speak on ‘01 Spygate entanglement] ]

Outside of the NFL

In 2007, Fiedler and Demetrius Ford became co-owners of the CBA basketball expansion team, The East Kentucky Miners, based in Pikeville, Kentucky.

Fiedler, who is Jewish, was inducted into the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2002. At the time of his induction, Fiedler mentioned how strong he is in his faith. Fiedler was one of two active NFL players inducted into the Hall that year, the other being then-Pittsburgh Steelers punter Josh Miller. ESPN personality Chris Berman would also occasionally allude to Fiedler's faith by referring to him as "Fiedler" on the Roof after performing well in games.

References

External links

* [http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/FiedJa00.htm NFL statistics]