| No. 62 | |||||||||
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| Position | Guard | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1959-01-07)January 7, 1959 (age 66) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||
| Weight | 255 lb (116 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Massapequa(Massapequa, New York) | ||||||||
| College | Duke | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1982: undrafted | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Brian David Baldinger (born January 7, 1959) is an American former professionalfootballguard in theNational Football League (NFL) for theDallas Cowboys,Indianapolis Colts, andPhiladelphia Eagles. He currently works forNFL Network, where he serves as an analyst for the television showNFL Total Access. He playedcollege football atDuke University. Brian also serves as lead analyst for Compass Media Networks.
Baldinger was born inPittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He spent much of his youth playing a variety of sports in and aroundCherry Hill, New Jersey, in suburbanPhiladelphia.
His family later moved toApple Valley, Minnesota, and thenMassapequa, New York, where he and his brothers continued to excel in sports. Brian played football,basketball andtrack atMassapequa High School, where his graduating class in 1977 includedJessica Hahn,Brian Setzer, andTim Van Patten.[1]
After high school, he was planning to study at theNaval Academy Preparatory School, but his application was mismanaged. He instead chose to attendNassau Community College, where he played football andbasketball.[2] He was named the starter attight end and[3] on October 13, 1978, set a school record with seven receptions in a single game againstWesley College. He finished the season with 38 receptions (ranked third in the conference) for 334 yards and one touchdown. He received All-Coastal Conference honors and played in the Coastal Conference All-Star Game.
In 1979, he transferred toDuke University.[4] As a sophomore, he was a backup tight end before being converted into anoffensive guard because of his blocking ability.[5]
As a junior in 1980, he was named the starter at right guard but missed games with a knee injury.[6] As a senior in 1981, he was voted the team's most improved player and started all 11 games as the Blue Devils finished 6–5, the program's best record in seven years.[7]
Baldinger was signed as anundrafted free agent by theDallas Cowboys after the1982 NFL draft on April 30. Intraining camp, he was tried at center, guard and tackle.[8] As a rookie, he appeared in 4 out of 9 games, playing mostly onspecial teams. In1983, he saw playing time as a backup atcenter andguard.[9]
In1984, he started two games atright tackle replacing an injuredPhil Pozderac, and also started 2 games atright guard in place of an injuredKurt Petersen.[10] In1985, he injured his right knee in the third preseason game against theChicago Bears and was placed on theinjured reserve list.[11]
In1986, he was a backup atcenter and also played as a thirdtight end in short-yardage situations. On September 2,1987, he was placed on theinjured reserve list with a left knee injury he suffered in a preseason game.[12] On October 24, he was activated to the regular season roster. He was declared inactive in 6 of the final 8 games.
Baldinger wasn't re-signed after the season. During his time with the Cowboys, he played everyoffensive line position and also had a few snaps attight end.
On July 19,1988, he was signed as afree agent by theIndianapolis Colts, to provide depth in the case of a lengthy contract holdout byguardRon Solt.[13] He was the lightest member of theoffensive line. He appeared in 16 games, starting three contests atright tackle. He caught his first career pass (37 yards) from a tackle-eligible position against theGreen Bay Packers.
In1989, he appeared in all 16 games. He started the season opener atright tackle in place ofKevin Call and started 2 games atleft tackle in place of an injuredChris Hinton. He also was used as tackle-eligible in short yardage situations.
In1990, he was named the starter atright guard for the first 8 games. In the second half of the season, he was moved to replaceright tackle Call, who injured his left shoulder in the eighth game against theNew York Giants.
In1991, he started 13 games atcenter in place ofRay Donaldson, who was lost for the season with a broken leg he suffered against theLos Angeles Raiders.[14]
On April 2,1992, he was signed inPlan B free agency by theBuffalo Bills, joining his brotherGary Baldinger.[15] He was released on August 31.[16]
On September 28,1992, he was signed as afree agent by thePhiladelphia Eagles to replace an injuredJohn Hudson.[17] In1993, he started 4 games atright guard in place of an injuredEric Floyd.[18] On June 4,1994, he was released in a salary cap move, along with 11 other veterans.[19]
Baldinger began hisbroadcasting career as a color analyst atBucknell University inLewisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1995, and then moved to Fox in1997, providing analysis forNFL Europe games. The network was impressed with his soothing voice and handy repertoire of clichés, and promoted him to acolor commentary slot for NFL games. Baldinger worked alongsideplay-by-play voicesRay Bentley,Curt Menefee,Joe Buck,Pat Summerall,Kenny Albert, andDick Stockton.
In May 2009, it was reported that Baldinger would be replaced by former NFL safetyJohn Lynch on Fox's telecasts. Shortly thereafter, Baldinger was hired byCompass Media Networks to serve as lead analyst for their national radio broadcasts of select Sunday afternoon NFL games.
In 2010, He served asoffensive line coach during the season for theBergamo Lions in theItalian Football League. The quarterback on the team wasBradlee Van Pelt.
Baldinger also co-hosts a talk show forSporting News Radio during football season, and teaches seminars for Nadia Communications. He is the author of the bookThe Map to Clear Messages. Baldinger has previously co-hosted various radio shows, and now is a frequent contributor for a sports-talk radio show for Philadelphia'sWPEN, as well asNFL Network andSky Sports.
In October 2016, during an appearance on WPEN ahead of a Sunday Night Game between the Eagles and Cowboys, Baldinger said that the Eagles should put a bounty on then-rookie running backEzekiel Elliott.[20] A few days later, NFL Network suspended Baldinger without pay for 6 months, but later reduced his suspension and he returned to NFLN in April 2017.[21][22]
A resident ofFort Lauderdale, Florida, he has two younger brothers,Rich andGary, who also played in theNational Football League. Baldinger frequently works atThe NFL Network inMount Laurel, New Jersey.[23] He has a slightly mutilated right pinky finger that was injured when it became entangled in the jersey ofRandy White.
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