Kenneth Ray Dilger is a retired professional 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...

 player.

Early years

Ken Dilger was raised in Mariah Hill, Spencer County, Indiana

Spencer County, Indiana

As of the census of 2000, there were 20,391 people, 7,569 households, and 5,752 families residing in the county. The population density was 51 people per square mile . There were 8,333 housing units at an average density of 21 per square mile...

. He attended Heritage Hills High School

Heritage Hills High School

Heritage Hills High School is a grade nine through twelve public high school located in Lincoln City, Indiana in the United States. The school's principal is Nick Alcorn, and its vice-principal is Jeff Cochren. Heritage Hills High School has a population of about 800 students and about 100 faculty...

 in Lincoln City, Indiana

Lincoln City, Indiana

Lincoln City is an unincorporated community in Carter Township, Spencer County in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Indiana. It lies five minutes south of Interstate 64, northeast of Evansville, and approximately twenty miles north of the Ohio River. It was laid out in 1872 on the site...

 where he played 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...

; he also starred in basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 and baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

. After graduating from Heritage Hills, he went on to the University of Illinois

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...

 where he was redshirt

Redshirt (college sports)

Redshirt is a term used in American college athletics that refers to a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen his or her period of eligibility...

ed for a year (1990) before becoming a four-year letterman and three-year starter

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...

 as a tight end

Tight end

The tight end is a position in American football on the offense. The tight end is often seen as a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like offensive linemen, they are usually lined up on the offensive line and are large enough to be...

. He was named All-Big Ten in 1991 (Honorable Mention) by the Big Ten coaches and in 1994 (2nd Team) by the coaches and media. He graduated from Illinois with a degree in marketing.

NFL

Ken Dilger spent his first 7 NFL seasons as a tight end with the Indianapolis Colts

Indianapolis Colts

The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League ....

 (1995–2001) and his last three seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football franchise based in Tampa, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the Southern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League – they are the only team in the division not to come from the old NFC West...

 (2002–2004); winning Super Bowl XXXVII

Super Bowl XXXVII

Super Bowl XXXVII was an American football game played on January 26, 2003 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California to decide the National Football League champion following the 2002 regular season...

 in his first year as a Buccaneer. Throughout his career he accumulated career totals of 356 catches, 4099 yards (3,748.1 m) and 24 touchdown

Touchdown

A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...

s. In the final game of his career, in addition to playing TE, he was the long snapper

Long snapper

In American football and Canadian football, the term long snapper refers to a player who is a specialized center during punts, field goals, and extra point attempts. His job is to snap the ball as quickly and accurately as possible....

, because the team's regular long snapper, Dave Moore, had been injured the previous week.