Stephen Neal

Stephen Neal
Stephen Neal (2009)
Position (s): Guard	Jersey number (s): 61
born October 9, 1976 in San Diego , California
Career information
Active : 2002 - 2010
Undrafted in 2001
College : Cal State, Bakersfield
Teams
New England Patriots (2001-2010)
Career statistics
Games	86
starter	81
Kickoff returns	1
Stats at NFL.com
Stats at pro-football-reference.com
Career highlights and awards
3 × Super Bowl winners ( XXXVI , XXXVIII , XXXIX )

Stephen Matthew Neal (born October 9, 1976 in San Diego , California ) is a retired American wrestler and American football player of the National Football League (NFL). He was world champion in freestyle wrestling in the heavyweight division in 1999 . The New England Patriots won Guard three times the Super Bowl .

youth

Stephen Neal attended San Diego Senior High School and was active in swimming , tennis , wrestling, American football, and athletics . After a while, however, he concentrated on wrestling because his physical condition made him the best fit. In 1989 he started with trainer Deryl Pope with targeted wrestling training. At the beginning of his career he wrestled in both styles, free style and Greco-Roman style .

In 1995 he was the first American junior heavyweight champion (at that time up to 100 kg body weight) in free style. In 1996 he won this title in both styles. From 1996 he attended California State University, Bakersfield in Bakersfield , California and this year took 4th place at the NCAA free style championships in super heavyweight (class up to 130 kg body weight).

Wrestling

In 1995 Stephen Neal's international wrestling career began. He won the super heavyweight free style title at the Pacific Ocean Games in Cali , Colombia that year ahead of Musthaq Abdullah of Australia and Arnulfo Hernandes Gonzalez , Colombia.

For the next three years he was very successful at the NCAA championships. In 1997 he had to be content with 2nd place in the heavyweight division behind Kerry McCoy . In 1998 and 1999, however, he was NCAA heavyweight champions. 1998 ahead of Trent Hynek and 1999 ahead of Brock Lesnar . In 1999 he was also US heavyweight champion ahead of Kerry McCoy and Tolly Thompson . He also won the World Championship elimination ( Trials ) that year ahead of Kerry McCoy.

On the international wrestling mat, he first had to pay tuition at the 1998 World Student Championship in Ankara , because he only came in 5th place in the heavyweight division. A year later, however, he did much better at the Pan American Games in Winnipeg , because he defeated the Cuban Alexis Rodríguez Valera in free style in the final battle and was thus Pan-American champion. The high point of his wrestling career was the 1999 World Cup in Ankara. He defeated there in the heavyweight Frans van den Heever from South Africa , Anastasios Simeonidis from Greece , Aydın Polatçı from Turkey , Redschab Aschchubalijew from Azerbaijan and in the final the Russian Andrei Schumilin , whom he narrowly beat with 4: 3 technical points.

In 2000 Stephen Neal came in both the US championship and the US Olympic elimination behind Kerry McCoy on the 2nd place. He missed participation in the Olympic Games in Sydney .

American football

In the meantime, he was noticed in the National Football League (NFL), where he received a professional contract as an American football player with the New England Patriots in 2001 . Neal played as a guard on the offensive line . He won the Super Bowl three times with the New England Patriots . In its 2001 rookie season , the Patriots won Super Bowl XXXVI 20:17 against the St. Louis Rams . Neal was not yet used here, but was part of the squad. In the 2002 season , Neal made his first game for the Patriots. After a shoulder injury in October, he had to pause both the rest of the season and the entire 2003 season . As a result, he was not used in Super Bowl XXXVIII against the Carolina Panthers (32:29 victory for the Patriots). In the 2004 season he played in 14 games from the start and was used for the first time after the season in Super Bowl XXXIX in his third Super Bowl victory. The Patriots beat the Philadelphia Eagles 24:21. Neal played six more years in the NFL and lost the Super Bowl XLII with the Patriots after the 2007 season at 14:17 against the New York Giants , before he - after another serious shoulder injury - ended his career after the 2010 season.

International success in wrestling

year	space	competition	Weight class
1995	1.	Pacific Ocean Games in Cali , Colombia	Heavy	before Mushtaq Abdullah, Australia a . Arnolfo Hernandez Gonzalez, Colombia
1998	5.	Universities World Cup in Ankara	Heavy	behind Aljaksej Mjadswedseu , Belarus , Zekeriya Güçlü , Turkey , Oleg Tschorpjakow, Russia u. Ebrahim Mehrabi, Iran
1999	1.	Pan American Games in Winnipeg	Heavy	before Alexis Rodríguez Valera , Kuba a . Wayne Weathers, Canada
1999	1.	World Cup in Ankara	Heavy	with victories over Frans van den Heever, South Africa , Anastasios Simeonidis, Greece , Aydın Polatçı , Turkey , Redschab Aschchabalijew , Azerbaijan u. Andrei Shumilin , Russia
2000	1.	Sunkist Kids Open in Phoenix (Arizona)	Heavy	before Billy Blunt u. Tim Courtad, bde. United States
2001	4th	"Takhty" cup in Tehran	Heavy	with victories over Maesoumi, Abbas Jadidi u. Nuorzane, all Iran u. Govier, Turkey a. a loss to Ebrahim Mehrabi

Note: all competitions in free style, heavyweight up to 1996 up to 100 kg body weight, from 1997 up to 130 kg body weight. By 1996 there were 10 weight classes. For this reason there was until then a heavyweight (up to 100 kg body weight) and a super heavyweight, which first had an unlimited weight limit and was then given a limit of 130 kg. As of 1997, two weight classes were dropped for men due to the introduction of women's wrestling. For this reason, the term super heavyweight was no longer needed. There was a light heavyweight that went up to 97 kg and a heavy weight up to 130 kg.

National success in wrestling

year	space	competition	style	Weight class
1995	1.	USA Jun Championship	F.	Heavy
1996	1.	USA Jun Championship	F.	Heavy
1996	1.	USA Jun Championship	GR	Heavy
1996	4th	NCAA championships	F.	Super heavy	behind Jeff Walter, Justin Harty u. Tolly Thompson
1997	1.	California. Master class	F.	Heavy	before Dave Sheeler u. Wayne Thomas
1997	1.	California. Master class	GR	Heavy	before Wayne Thomas u. Michael Ranell
1997	2.	NCAA championships	F.	Heavy	behind Kerry McCoy , in front of Tolly Thompson
1998	1.	NCAA championships	F.	Heavy	before Trent Hynek u. Shelton Benjamin
1999	1.	NCAA championships	F.	Heavy	before Brock Lesnar, Karl Roesler a. Matt Orndorff
1999	1.	USA championship	F.	Heavy	before Kerry McCoy, Tolly Thompson, etc. Tom Eriksson
1999	1.	World Championship trials	F.	Heavy	before Kerry McCoy
2000	2.	USA championship	F.	Heavy	behind Kerry McCoy, in front of Tolly Tompson
2000	2.	Olympic trials	F.	Heavy	behind Kerry McCoy
2001	2.	World Championship trials	F.	Heavy	behind Kerry McCoy

swell

• Database of the Institute for Applied Training Sciences at the University of Leipzig
• Trade journal Der Ringer
• US Wrestling Association website "www.themat.com"
• Website "www.wrestlinghalloffame.org"

Web links

• Profile of Stephen Neal at the Institute of Applied Exercise Science

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Steve Neal NFL Football Statistics - Pro-Football-Reference.com. In: pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved May 29, 2013 . 
2. ↑ Mike Reiss: New England Patriots guard Stephen Neal retiring after 10-year career - ESPN Boston. In: sports.espn.go.com. March 3, 2011, accessed on May 29, 2013 (English): “Talking to the doctors, trainers and coaches, realistically, there's a shot I can play, but it's not a very good shot. If I get injured again, it's not going to be too good. I have a great family and I want to be there for them. I want to be able to throw a ball better with my right hand than my left, which I'm working on right now. That's kind of what it comes down to. "