Jeff Saturday

Jeffrey Bryant Saturday (born June 18, 1975) is a former American football center and current sports analyst. He played college football for the University of North Carolina. He was signed by the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 1998, but was cut by the team without playing a game. Saturday then signed with the Indianapolis Colts, with whom he played 13 seasons, won Super Bowl XLI over the Chicago Bears and was selected to four All-Pro teams and five Pro Bowls. In his final NFL season, he made his sixth Pro Bowl as a member of the Green Bay Packers.

Jeff Saturday
Saturday at the 2013 Pro Bowl
No. 63
Position:Center
Personal information
Born: (1975-06-18) June 18, 1975
Atlanta, Georgia
Height:6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:295 lb (134 kg)
Career information
High school:Tucker (GA) Shamrock
College:North Carolina
Undrafted:1998
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Games played:211
Games started:202
Fumbles recovered:9
Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

Early years

Saturday was born in Atlanta, Georgia.[1] He attended Shamrock High School in Decatur, Georgia, in 1993.[2]

His high school coach Ron Gartrell said in a 2012 Sports Illustrated story on Saturday, "Eighty percent of our offense was behind Jeff. On defense we put Jeff on one side and all our other good players on the other side, because teams ran away from Jeff." However, Gartrell could not sell Southeastern Conference schools on Saturday's abilities; in the same interview, he said that coaches at Georgia and Tennessee considered Saturday too short to play in the conference. He received a scholarship offer from the University of North Carolina partly because of Gartrell's friendship with UNC's then-defensive coordinator Carl Torbush.[3]

College career

Saturday received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a four-year letterman for coach Mack Brown's North Carolina Tar Heels football team from 1994 to 1997.[4] As a junior in 1996 and again as a senior in 1997, he was one of the Tar Heels' team captains.[4] He was recognized as a first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) selection at center in 1996 and 1997, and an Academic All-ACC selection in 1997.[4] Saturday's college roommate Nate Hobgood-Chittick, a defensive tackle who would himself play three seasons in the NFL, later said, "Jeff kicked our asses all over the practice field. I could count on one hand the number of times I beat him in a one-on-one drill, and if it happened, I celebrated."[3]

Professional career

Baltimore Ravens

According to Sports Illustrated, Saturday was ranked as the No. 11 center available in the 1998 NFL Draft. He was described as "somewhat an overachiever, has worked to make himself better," but also as "an undersized guy [who] simply has trouble matching up against power NTs that can overwhelm him". He went undrafted, but the Baltimore Ravens signed him as a free agent on April 27, 1998, only to waive him on June 12, 1998. He then returned to Raleigh, North Carolina, and took a job as a manager at an electrical supply store.[3]

Indianapolis Colts
Saturday in 2010

Saturday first came to the attention of the Indianapolis Colts during the 1998 season, when former college teammate Nate Hobgood-Chittick was on the roster. As Hobgood-Chittick would recall in 2012,

I had no footing at all with that franchise, so I stood outside [Bill] Polian's door in my dirty sweats, saying a prayer. I walked in and said, "There's a guy selling electrical supplies in Raleigh right now who whipped all those first-round draft choices at North Carolina every day." Polian looked at me and said, "I love it. Let's get him in here for a workout."[3]

The Colts signed him as a free agent on January 7, 1999. In his rookie season, Saturday backed up starting guard Steve McKinney, and earned his first NFL start at left guard on November 21, 1999, against the Philadelphia Eagles. After only two regular season starts in 1999, Saturday started all 16 regular season games of the 2000 season at center for the Colts, and continued to start every game thereafter—for a total of 85 consecutive games—before sitting out two games with an injury in December 2004. Saturday finished his time with the Colts as the team's starting center for 12 straight seasons, and was the anchor of the Colts' offensive line, which gave up the fewest quarterback sacks among all NFL teams in the 2004, 2005, and 2006 seasons. Saturday attempted a pass once, during a game in 2004, but it fell incomplete.

Though the Colts won at least 10 regular season games for five consecutive years under head coach Tony Dungy, the team could not get to the Super Bowl, losing in the AFC playoffs from 2002 to 2005. In 2006, the Colts went 12–4 in the regular season and earned the third seed in the AFC. On January 21, 2007, Saturday helped the Colts win the AFC Championship Game against the New England Patriots when he recovered a teammate's fumble in the end zone and scored a touchdown. Saturday also provided the key block on the game-winning touchdown run by Joseph Addai, pancaking Vince Wilfork. Peyton Manning, the Colts' quarterback at the time and a longtime friend, claims that Saturday wants this play to be known as "The Block."[5] Two weeks later, Saturday helped the Colts win Super Bowl XLI against the Chicago Bears.

On February 26, 2009, Saturday signed a three-year $13.3 million contract with the Colts including a $7.45 million signing bonus.[6][7]

During his time with the Colts, Saturday started 188 of 197 games. He became a free agent after the 2011 season.

Green Bay Packers

Saturday signed a two-year deal with the Green Bay Packers for $7.75 million on March 23, 2012.[8] After an up-and-down season, Saturday was benched on December 21, 2012.[9] Despite this, Saturday was later announced as the back-up center for the NFC in the 2013 Pro Bowl.[10][11] In the Pro Bowl, despite being on opposite teams, Saturday and long-time Colts teammate Peyton Manning shared one final snap together.[12]

Retirement

On January 25, 2013, Saturday announced he would retire following the 2013 Pro Bowl Game. On March 7, 2013, Saturday signed a 1-day contract with the Colts to retire with the team he spent 13 of his 14 seasons with.[13]

Honors and awards

Saturday was voted onto six Pro Bowl teams in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2012. For the 2005 and 2007 seasons, he was named to the Associated Press NFL All-Pro First Team. He was selected as Offensive Lineman of the Year by the National Football League Alumni organization for 2007.

Saturday was inducted into the Indianapolis Colts Ring of Honor during the week 2 game against the New York Jets on September 21, 2015.[14]

Broadcasting
Saturday (left) and Herm Edwards on NFL Live in 2017

Saturday joined ESPN in 2013 and appears on network programming such as NFL Live and SportsCenter.[15][16]

Personal life

Saturday is a member of the Executive Committee of the National Football League Players' Association, where he was the key negotiator in completing the 2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the NFL and NFLPA.[17] He has three children with wife Karen Saturday: Jeffrey Douglas Saturday, Savannah Faith Saturday, and Joshua Bryant Saturday.

On January 20, 2017, Saturday was named the head coach for the Hebron Christian Academy football team located in Dacula, Georgia.[18]

Saturday is a Christian. Saturday has talked about his faith saying, "My identity is in Christ and the way that I live my life hopefully glorifies Him and gives Him the credit and the glory."[19][20]

References
  1. National Football League, Current Players, Jeff Saturday. Retrieved March 26, 2012.
  2. databaseFootball.com, Players, Jeff Saturday Archived 2012-05-30 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 26, 2012.
  3. Layden, Tim (September 24, 2012). "Calm Amid The Chaos". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 12, 2012.
  4. 2011 North Carolina Football, University of North Athletic Department, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, pp. 116, 117, 132, 138, 179 (2011). Retrieved March 26, 2011.
  5. Center runs interference as QB hypes 'The Block'
  6. Colts, Saturday agree to new contract
  7. Manning speaks, so Saturday stays
  8. Jeff Saturday, Packers reach deal
  9. Kareem Copeland (December 21, 2012). "Jeff Saturday benched by Green Bay Packers". Around the League. NFL.com. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  10. Jeff Saturday, Packers reach deal
  11. "Packers sign former Colts center Saturday to bolster O-line". Green Bay Packers. NFL.com. March 23, 2012. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  12. Kareem Copeland (January 27, 2013). "Jeff Saturday, Peyton Manning share snap at Pro Bowl". Around the League. NFL.com. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  13. "Jeff Saturday signs contract to retire with Indianapolis Colts". ESPB.com. March 7, 2013. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  14. "Colts to induct Jeff Saturday into Ring of Honor".
  15. "Jeff Saturday – NFL Analyst". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  16. Bracht, Mel (July 18, 2013). "Media Notebook". The Oklahoman. Oklahoma City. p. 21. Retrieved October 27, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  17. Colts' Saturday was integral in preserving NFL Sundays
  18. "Hebron Christian Names Former NFL Lineman Jeff Saturday as Head Coach". "GwinnettPrepSports.com". January 20, 2017.
  19. "Former Colt Jeff Saturday Speaks In FW". Archived from the original on 2014-01-05.
  20. "Players Use Faith to Handle Super Bowl Pressure".
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