Danny Noonan (American football)

Danny Noonan

No. 73, 95
Position:	Defensive end
Personal information
Date of birth:	(1965-07-14) July 14, 1965
Place of birth:	Lincoln, Nebraska
Height:
Weight:
Career information
High school:	Lincoln (NE) Northeast
College:	Nebraska
NFL draft:	1987 / Round: 1 / Pick: 12
Career history
Dallas Cowboys (1987–1992) Green Bay Packers (1992) Denver Broncos (1993)*
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Roster status:	Retired
Career highlights and awards
Honorable Mention All-American (1985) Second-team All-Big Eight (1985) All-Big Eight (1986) Consensus All-American (1986) Big Eight Athlete-of-the-Year (1986) MVP of the Sugar Bowl (1986)
Career NFL statistics
Games played: 73 Games started: 41 Quarterback sacks: 15 Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

Danny Noonan (born July 14, 1965) is a former American football defensive end in the National Football League. He played professionally for the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers. He played college football at the University of Nebraska.

Early years

Noonan played both defensive and offensive tackle at Lincoln Northeast High School and helped the team win a state title in 1982. He was selected to play in the state’s 1983 All-Star Shrine Bowl football game played at Nebraska Memorial Stadium.

College career

He accepted a scholarship from the University of Nebraska and played as a defensive end as a freshman. During his junior season, defensive coordinator coach Charlie McBride moved him to nose tackle and became a starter. He had a dominant season as a senior when the team ranked second in the nation in total defense. After finishing with 53 tackles and 7 sacks, he received numerous awards and honors, including the Big 8 Athlete-of-the-Year, First-Team All-American (AP, UPI, FWAA, Kodak, Walter Camp, Football News), All Star Japan Bowl and Big 8 Player-of-the-Week (Florida State). He was also named the game's Most Valuable Player in the 1986 Sugar Bowl.

Noonan was coached at Nebraska by Tom Osborne and is a member of the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame. In 2005, he was selected by the Omaha World-Herald as one of Nebraska's Top 100 greatest athletes.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

He was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the first round (12th overall) of the 1987 NFL Draft, with the intention of being the eventual successor to Randy White and to help revitalize an aging defensive line. After having the longest holdout by a rookie in franchise history, he fell behind in learning the nuances of Tom Landry's flex defense and was only a situational player in his first season. Despite suffering hip and knee injuries, his best year statistically was in 1988, as he recorded 16 starts, 84 tackles, 7.5 sacks (tied for the team lead with Garry Cobb) and returned an interception for a touchdown.

In 1989, he missed 9 games with a groin injury. He resumed his starting role (15 starts) in 1990, finishing fourth (first among defensive lineman) on the team in tackles (85) and also registered 4.5 sacks.

After starting the first 3 games in 1991, with the addition of Tony Casillas, the emergence of Russell Maryland and Jimmie Jones, he played sparingly the rest of the season and finished with 11 tackles and one sack. He was released after the first 2 games of the 1992 season, to make room for Russell Maryland upon his return from a toe injury. He started 41 out of 67 possible games and recorded 15 sacks in his Cowboys career.

Green Bay Packers

Noonan was claimed off waivers by the Green Bay Packers, played 6 games as a backup in the team's 3-4 defense and recorded 4 tackles, before being waived on November 10, 1992.

Denver Broncos

He signed as a free agent with the Denver Broncos in 1993. He retired on August 17, after missing almost half of the team's training camp with a knee injury.

Personal life

Noonan married his wife Julie in 2002 and have five children (Sydney, Sam, Maverick, Alec and Branson). He graduated from the University of Nebraska with a Bachelor of Science Degree and has an MBA from Columbia Southern University. He is President of the National Football League Players Association retired player chapter in Nebraska.

External links

• Nebraska bio