Danny O'Neil is a former American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 quarterback

Quarterback

Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...

.

O'Neil grew up in Orange County, California

Orange County, California

Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...

 before attending the University of Oregon

University of Oregon

-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...

 and becoming the starting

Starting lineup

A starting lineup in sports is an official list of the set of players who will actively participate in the event when the game begins. The players in the starting lineup are commonly referred to as starters, whereas the others are substitutes or bench players.The starters are commonly the best...

 quarterback for the Oregon Ducks football

Oregon Ducks football

The Oregon Ducks football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the University of Oregon located in the U.S. state of Oregon. The team competes at the NCAA Division I level in the Football Bowl Subdivision and is a member of the Pacific-12 Conference. Known as the Ducks, the...

 team. In 1994, O'Neil led the Ducks to the Pac-10 championship and a berth in the 1995 Rose Bowl, Oregon's first since 1958. Though the Ducks lost to Penn State 38-20, O'Neil set Rose Bowl records for most passes completed (41), most attempts (61), most yardage (465), most plays (74), and most total offense (456 yards), and was named the game's co-MVP with Penn State's Ki-Jana Carter

Ki-Jana Carter

Kenneth Leonard "Ki-Jana" Carter is a former American football running back in the National Football League who played for the Cincinnati Bengals and later the Washington Redskins and the New Orleans Saints. His nickname, "Ki-Jana", is from a character in the movie Shaft in Africa and Carter has...

. He was named to the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 2003.

O'Neil was not drafted into the National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

. He played part of one season with the Anaheim Piranhas

Anaheim Piranhas

The Anaheim Piranhas were a professional arena football team that played in the Arena Football League from 1994 - 1997. They played their home games at Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California. The team was originally known as the Las Vegas Sting, prior to moving to Anaheim in 1996. The team was owned...

 of the Arena Football League before retiring from football to become a youth pastor

Pastor

The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....

. He is currently a pastor in Eugene, Oregon

Eugene, Oregon

Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...

, where he has ministered to players from his former team.