Tony Stewart (American football)
Encyclopedia
Tony Alexander Stewart (born August 9, 1979 in Lohne, Germany
) is an American football
tight end
, who is currently a free agent
.
Stewart was originally drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles
in the 5th round of the 2001 NFL Draft
out of Penn State
.
at Allentown Central Catholic High School
in Allentown, Pennsylvania
, where he earned first team All-America
n honors and played in the East Penn Conference (now known as the Lehigh Valley Conference
), one of the premier high school football leagues in the nation.
at Penn State
. He finished with 59 receptions
for 861 yards and 3 touchdown
s. As a senior, he became the first tight end since 1979 to lead the Nittany Lions
in receiving (38-451, 2 TDs). His 38 catches as a senior set a Penn State season record for a tight end. He earned honorable mention All-America honors from Football News as a senior, and earned a bid to the 2001 Hula Bowl
. He was also named second team All Big-Ten
.
He earned his Bachelor of Science
in Recreation and Parks Management from Pennsylvania State University in 2003.
by the Philadelphia Eagles
in the 5th round (147th overall), Stewart made his NFL debut in the Eagles' game against the Kansas City Chiefs
on November 29, 2001, making 2 catches, including a 1-yard touchdown reception from Eagles' quarterback
Donovan McNabb
. With this touchdown, Stewart became the first Eagle since Charlie Garner
in 1994
to score a touchdown in his first game. He finished his rookie
season with 5 catches for 52 yards.
. He was subsequently assigned to the practice squad and signed with the Cincinnati Bengals
on November 23, 2002. He made his playing debut with the Bengals on December 15, 2002 versus the Jacksonville Jaguars
.
and a forced fumble
that year. Stewart saw significant playing time on offense
and special teams in 2005. However, later that season, a back injury broke his streak of 40 straight games played for the Bengals.
at the conclusion of the 2008 season
, but re-signed with the team on March 4, 2009. On August 30, 2010 Stewart was released by the Raiders.
until age 3 while his father, Malcolm, served in the U.S. Army
. His mother, Gisela, is a native German
and raised Stewart to be bilingual in English
and German
. He lives in San Ramon, California
in the off-season with his wife, Kara, sons, Alex, Logan, and Jaxon and daughter, Lana.
A nomination by Stewart led to his third-grade teacher winning the National Football League's 2004 Teacher of the Year award. Wanda Benkovic of Holy Spirit School in Allentown, Pennsylvania
won the award and received $5,000 plus a trip to the Pro Bowl
in Hawaii
. The school received $10,000 from the NFL. Stewart credited Benkovic with helping him weather a difficult transition in 1987, as he switched from public to parochial school. "She made me feel like number one in a class of 21," Stewart said.
When bay-area
charity
Hope 4 the Heart's warehouse was damaged in a 2008 fire, Stewart hosted a raffle fundraiser in Hayward, California
to collect toys to replace those lost. The organization distributes toys to underprivileged children during the holidays.
In June 2009, Stewart took part in the 2009 NFL/NFLPA "Broadcast Boot Camp," a program designed by the NFL Broadcasting Department and their broadcast partners to prepare players for possible post-playing careers in broadcasting.
Lohne, Germany
Lohne is a town in the district of Vechta, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approx. 8 km south-west of Vechta. The town lies on the A1 freeway between Bremen and Osnabrück.-Economy:...
) is an 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...
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...
, who is currently a free agent
Free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....
.
Stewart was originally drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
in the 5th round of the 2001 NFL Draft
2001 NFL Draft
The 2001 NFL Draft took place on April 21–22, 2001 at the theater at Madison Square Garden, in New York City. This was the 66th National Football League draft in league history. The draft was broadcast on ESPN both days and eventually moved to ESPN2. No teams elected to claim any players in the...
out of Penn State
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...
.
Early years
Stewart played high school footballHigh school football
High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....
at Allentown Central Catholic High School
Allentown Central Catholic High School
Allentown Central Catholic High School is a private, parochial school located at 301 North Fourth Street in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in the United States...
in Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown is a city located in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is Pennsylvania's third most populous city, after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the 215th largest city in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 118,032 and is currently...
, where he earned first team All-America
All-America
An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
n honors and played in the East Penn Conference (now known as the Lehigh Valley Conference
Lehigh Valley Conference
The Lehigh Valley Interscholastic Athletic Conference is an athletic conference consisting of 12 large high schools from Lehigh and Northampton counties in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania, in the United States...
), one of the premier high school football leagues in the nation.
College career
Stewart was a two-year starterStarting 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...
at Penn State
Penn State Nittany Lions football
The Penn State Nittany Lions football team represents the Pennsylvania State University in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big Ten Conference. It is one of the most tradition-rich and storied college football programs in the...
. He finished with 59 receptions
Reception (American football)
In American football, a reception is part of a play in which a forward pass from behind the line of scrimmage is received by a player in bounds, who, after the catch, proceeds to either score a touchdown or be downed. Yards gained from the receiving play are credited to the player as receiving...
for 861 yards and 3 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. As a senior, he became the first tight end since 1979 to lead the Nittany Lions
Penn State Nittany Lions football
The Penn State Nittany Lions football team represents the Pennsylvania State University in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big Ten Conference. It is one of the most tradition-rich and storied college football programs in the...
in receiving (38-451, 2 TDs). His 38 catches as a senior set a Penn State season record for a tight end. He earned honorable mention All-America honors from Football News as a senior, and earned a bid to the 2001 Hula Bowl
Hula Bowl
The Hula Bowl was an independently administered post-season invitational college football game held each year in Hawaii from 1947 to 2008. The game was last played at Aloha Stadium in the Hālawa district of Honolulu, Hawaii. At one point the longest-running sporting event in Hawaii, it had been...
. He was also named second team All Big-Ten
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
.
He earned his Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
in Recreation and Parks Management from Pennsylvania State University in 2003.
Philadelphia Eagles
Drafted in 20012001 NFL Draft
The 2001 NFL Draft took place on April 21–22, 2001 at the theater at Madison Square Garden, in New York City. This was the 66th National Football League draft in league history. The draft was broadcast on ESPN both days and eventually moved to ESPN2. No teams elected to claim any players in the...
by the Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
in the 5th round (147th overall), Stewart made his NFL debut in the Eagles' game against the Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
on November 29, 2001, making 2 catches, including a 1-yard touchdown reception from Eagles' 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...
Donovan McNabb
Donovan McNabb
Donovan Jamal McNabb is an American football quarterback who is currently a free agent. He was the Philadelphia Eagles' quarterback from 1999 to 2009 and spent the 2010 season with the Washington Redskins and a portion of the 2011 season with the Minnesota Vikings. In college, McNabb played...
. With this touchdown, Stewart became the first Eagle since Charlie Garner
Charlie Garner
Charlie Garner III is a former American football running back in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the second round of the 1994 NFL Draft...
in 1994
1994 NFL season
The 1994 NFL season was the 75th regular season of the National Football League. To honor the NFL's 75th season, a special anniversary logo was designed and each player wore a patch on their jerseys with this logo throughout the season...
to score a touchdown in his first game. He finished his rookie
Rookie
Rookie is a term for a person who is in his or her first year of play of their sport or has little or no professional experience. The term also has the more general meaning of anyone new to a profession, training or activity Rookie is a term for a person who is in his or her first year of play of...
season with 5 catches for 52 yards.
2002 season
In 2002, he began the preseason with the Philadelphia Eagles, but was placed on the inactive list for the Eagles' season opener against the Tennessee TitansTennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the team began play in 1960 as a charter...
. He was subsequently assigned to the practice squad and signed with the Cincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the AFC's North Division in the National Football League . The Bengals began play in 1968 as an expansion team in the American Football League , and joined the NFL in 1970 in the AFL-NFL...
on November 23, 2002. He made his playing debut with the Bengals on December 15, 2002 versus the Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
.
2003 to 2005 seasons
Stewart went on to have career highs in receptions (21) and yards (212) during the 2003 season. He played 16 games for the Bengals in 2004, making 10 catches and a touchdown. He also made his mark as a mainstay on special teams, racking up 7 tacklesTackle (football move)
Most forms of football have a move known as a tackle. The primary purposes of tackling is to disposses an opponent of the ball, to stop the player from gaining ground towards goal or to stop them from carrying out what they intend....
and a forced fumble
Fumble
A fumble in American and Canadian football occurs when a player, who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed or scoring. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking or successful handing that results in loss of player possession...
that year. Stewart saw significant playing time on offense
Offense (sports)
In sports, offense or offence , also known as attack, is the action of attacking or engaging an opposing team with the objective of scoring points or goals...
and special teams in 2005. However, later that season, a back injury broke his streak of 40 straight games played for the Bengals.
2006 season
Stewart signed a one-year contract extension with the Bengals during the 2006 offseason.2007-09 seasons
On March 9, 2007, Stewart signed a 2 year contract with the Oakland Raiders. He played in 32 games and made 11 receptions for 81 yards in 2 seasons with the Raiders. He became a free agentFree agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....
at the conclusion of the 2008 season
2008 NFL season
The 2008 NFL season was the 89th regular season of the National Football League, themed with the slogan "Believe in Now."Super Bowl XLIII, the league's championship game, was at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on February 1, 2009, with the Pittsburgh Steelers coming out victorious over the...
, but re-signed with the team on March 4, 2009. On August 30, 2010 Stewart was released by the Raiders.
Personal
Stewart lived in GermanyGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
until age 3 while his father, Malcolm, served in the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. His mother, Gisela, is a native German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
and raised Stewart to be bilingual in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
. He lives in San Ramon, California
San Ramon, California
-2010 census:The 2010 United States Census reported that San Ramon had a population of 72,148. The population density was 3,991.1 people per square mile...
in the off-season with his wife, Kara, sons, Alex, Logan, and Jaxon and daughter, Lana.
A nomination by Stewart led to his third-grade teacher winning the National Football League's 2004 Teacher of the Year award. Wanda Benkovic of Holy Spirit School in Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown is a city located in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is Pennsylvania's third most populous city, after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the 215th largest city in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 118,032 and is currently...
won the award and received $5,000 plus a trip to the Pro Bowl
Pro Bowl
In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...
in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. The school received $10,000 from the NFL. Stewart credited Benkovic with helping him weather a difficult transition in 1987, as he switched from public to parochial school. "She made me feel like number one in a class of 21," Stewart said.
When bay-area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
charity
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
Hope 4 the Heart's warehouse was damaged in a 2008 fire, Stewart hosted a raffle fundraiser in Hayward, California
Hayward, California
Hayward is a city located in the East Bay in Alameda County, California. With a population of 144,186, Hayward is the sixth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area and the third largest in Alameda County. Hayward was ranked as the 37th most populous municipality in California. It is included in...
to collect toys to replace those lost. The organization distributes toys to underprivileged children during the holidays.
In June 2009, Stewart took part in the 2009 NFL/NFLPA "Broadcast Boot Camp," a program designed by the NFL Broadcasting Department and their broadcast partners to prepare players for possible post-playing careers in broadcasting.
Trivia
- In 2003, Stewart met Tony StewartTony StewartAnthony Wayne "Tony" Stewart is an American auto racing driver and owner. Throughout his racing career, Stewart has won titles in Indy cars and stock cars as well as midget, sprint and USAC Silver Crown cars, giving him the recognition of "one of the finest racers of his generation."Stewart...
, the NASCARNASCARThe National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
driver of the same name. They were featured in pre-race ceremonies. Stewart was also grand marshal and gave the command to start the race. Stewart was a member of the Bengals at the time.