Jay Riemersma
| No. 85 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Tight end | ||
| Personal information | |||
| Date of birth: | May 17, 1973 | ||
| Place of birth: | Evansville, Indiana | ||
| Height: | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||
| Weight: | 255 lb (116 kg) | ||
| Career information | |||
| College: | Michigan | ||
| NFL Draft: | 1996 / Round: 7 / Pick: 244 | ||
| Career history | |||
| Career NFL statistics | |||
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| Player stats at PFR | |||
| Player stats at NFL.com |
Allen Jay Riemersma (born May 17, 1973) is a former American football tight end. He played for the University of Michigan from 1994 to 1995. He next played nine seasons in the NFL for the Buffalo Bills (1996–2002) and Pittsburgh Steelers (2003–2004). In 2007, he accepted a position as the regional director of the Family Research Council. He announced his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives in September 2009.
Riemersma was born in Evansville, Indiana and grew up in Zeeland, Michigan. In 1991, he graduated from Zeeland High School, where he was a star athlete in three sports. He became Zeeland's all-time leading scorer in basketball, played baseball for two seasons, and was the quarterback for the football team.
Riemersma enrolled at the University of Michigan in 1991. Originally recruited by Michigan as a quarterback, Riemersma appeared in three games at that position in the 1992 and 1993 seasons. On September 26, 1992, he made his debut as a redshirt freshman against the University of Houston. He came into the game as a substitute for Todd Collins in the third quarter and completed all three passes he attempted for 43 yards, including a 14-yard touchdown pass to Amani Toomer in the fourth quarter. He completed a total of six of eleven passes for 79 yards the 1992 and 1993 seasons.
In 1994, Riemersma suffered a rotator cuff injury, which ended his career as a quarterback. Michigan head coach Gary Moeller switched Riemersma to the tight end position, where he played in the 1994 and 1995 seasons. Interviewed in 2009, Riemersma pointed to the rotator cuff injury as "divine intervention," saying, "Some called the injury luck. I called it divine intervention. I never would have played in the NFL as a quarterback. It was an injury that parlayed into an NFL career."
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