Jeff Zimmerman (American football)

Jeffrey Alan Zimmerman (born January 10, 1963) is an American former college and professional football player who was an offensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons during the late 1980s and early 1990s. He played college football for the University of Florida, and was twice recognized as an All-American. The Dallas Cowboys selected him in the third round of the 1987 NFL Draft.

Zimmerman was born in Enid, Oklahoma in 1963. He attended Maynard Evans High School in Orlando, Florida, where he was named high school All-American in 1982.

He accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach Charley Pell and coach Galen Hall's Florida Gators football teams from 1983 to 1986. Zimmerman was one of the members of the Gators' outstanding offensive line of the mid-1980s known as the "Great Wall of Florida," which included Phil Bromley, Lomas Brown, Billy Hinson and Crawford Ker. Behind their blocking, the Gators' quarterback Kerwin Bell, fullback John L. Williams and halfback Neal Anderson led the Gators to identical 9–1–1 overall win-loss records and best-in-the-SEC records of 5–0–1 and 5–1 in 1984 and 1985, respectively. In 1985, he lost two weeks due to a right knee injury he suffered against Rutgers.

Zimmerman was nicknamed "One Man Gang" by his teammates and was a three-year starter at right guard, until his senior season when he was named the starter at right tackle. He was a first-team All-SEC selection and a first-team All-American in 1985 and 1986, in two different positions.

The Dallas Cowboys chose Zimmerman in the third round (sixty-eighth pick overall) of the 1987 NFL Draft, as part of a change in the offensive line philosophy, when the team started to value size and strength over speed and athletic ability. Although he was initially projected as a first-round draft choice, the weight problems he displayed as a senior and in the post-season dropped his value.

As a rookie, his only recognition came from knocking Lawrence Taylor unconscious in a game against the New York Giants. In 1988, a dislocated shoulder he suffered in training camp limited his playing time to one game, until he was placed on the injured reserve list on September 23. In 1990, he started the first 9 weeks of the year on the injured reserve list with a knee injury, until being reactivated on November 7.

During the 1991 off-season without any previous notice, he chose not to attend the Cowboys' conditioning program nor training camp, and was placed on the reserve/did not report list. He announced his retirement from pro football at a later time, after the problems he experienced controlling his weight hampered his performance and cut his career short.