Patrick Venzke

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Patrick Venzke
Position (s):
Offensive tackle 		Jersey number (s):
nb
born on April 6, 1975 in Essen , Germany
Career information
Active : 2001 - 2004
College : Idaho
Teams
Career statistics
Stats at NFL.com
Career highlights and awards

  • No notable successes

Patrick Venzke (born April 6, 1975 in Essen ) is a former German American football player. He was the first German player in the NFL .

Life

Venzke got to know American football as a teenager with a height of 1.95 meters and a weight of 110 to 120 kg at the Assindia Cardinals . In 1993 he took part in a student exchange in the USA and played in a high school. Back in Germany, he played for the Düsseldorf Panther in 1996 and 1997 and did basic military service. As a result of his performance in high school, he received a scholarship from the University of Idaho , studied marketing there from 1997 to 2001 and played on the university team of Idaho Vandals . In the 4 years he played 42 (of 44, school record) games in a row as right tackle and was nominated several times for the All-Conference Second-team.

In the spring of 2000, Venkze also worked at Rhein Fire as an assistant coach and the practice squad. In April 2001 Venzke signed a contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars as a "free agent" . On October 14, 2001, Venzke was appointed to the active Jaguars squad as the first German field player in the NFL. However, there was no play in the NFL. In 2002 the Jaguars sent him to Rhein Fire as a "national player", where he was nominated for the All-NFL Europe League team. He then worked for the Philadelphia Eagles in the practice squad, then in 2003 at Frankfurt Galaxy . Also in 2004 at the Indianapolis Colts , he did not play a game. A shoulder injury ended his professional career.

Venzke has worked for the Mönchengladbach Mavericks from time to time since 2009 . In 2015 he lived in Idaho and worked as a real estate agent.

Playing with injuries and doping

In an interview with Der Spiegel , he said he had played with a concussion about 15 times. He suspects that this concussion changed his brain like other players. He also toyed with other injuries such as a torn chest muscle, a broken meniscus, torn ligaments in the knees and feet, broken fingers, and an open root canal. He used pain killers to play with injuries and doped growth hormones to help injuries heal. Because of the risk of injury, he doesn't want his son to play football.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ "Like a nuclear explosion" Der Spiegel, 20/2015, pp. 108–111.
personal data
SURNAME Venzke, Patrick
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German American football player
DATE OF BIRTH April 6, 1975
PLACE OF BIRTH Essen , Germany