 Koppen in 2008 | |||||||||
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| Position | Center | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1979-09-12)September 12, 1979 (age 46) Dubuque, Iowa, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||
| Weight | 300 lb (136 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Whitehall(Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania) | ||||||||
| College | Boston College (1998–2002) | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 2003: 5th round, 164th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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Daniel Koppen (born September 12, 1979) is an American former professionalfootball player who was acenter for 10 seasons in theNational Football League (NFL) with theNew England Patriots andDenver Broncos.
Prior to entering the NFL in 2003, he playedcollege football for theBoston College Eagles.
Koppen was born inDubuque, Iowa to Kathy and Mike Koppen. He is the youngest of three children; his siblings are Chris and Leah. He later relocated to theLehigh Valley region of easternPennsylvania, where he attendedWhitehall High School inWhitehall Township. The school was then one of 11 large Lehigh Valley high schools (since expanded to 18) that competed in the highly regardedEastern Pennsylvania Conference, a high school division that has produced a large number of NFL and other professional andOlympic athletes.
At Whitehall, Koppen was a three-sport athlete, lettering infootball,basketball, andtrack and field. As a junior in football, he was a Second-team All-Conference selection as an offensive lineman anddefensive end. As a senior, he earned All-Area, All-East Penn Conference, and All-State honors, and was named the Defensive Most Valuable Player in the 1997 Kaylee Rotary Bowl. He was also a Prep Star All-American and aBig 33 selection in 1998, his senior season, in which he recorded 10 sacks on defense and scored eight touchdowns on offense. He also was selected to play in the 1998McDonald's Lehigh Valley All-Star Classic game.
Whitehall High School later permanently retired Koppen's Whitehall jersey number (#77) in honor of his high school, collegiate, and NFL football accomplishments. In 2010, Koppen also was inducted into Whitehall High School's Hall of Fame.[1]
Koppen attendedBoston College, where he was a three-year starter atcenter for theBoston College Eagles football team. After spending his freshman season in1999 as a reserve, Koppen closed out his sophomore year in the2000 season with Second-team All-Big East Conference honors, was named to theRimington Trophy watch list in 2001, and started every game at center and was named a Second-team All-Big East Conference selection for a second time in 2001.
As a senior in the2002 season, Koppen was a finalist for theRimington Trophy, which honors the best offensive center in college football, and received Second-team All-Big East honors for a third consecutive season.
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft2+5⁄8 in (1.90 m) | 297 lb (135 kg) | 31+3⁄8 in (0.80 m) | 8+1⁄2 in (0.22 m) | 5.28 s | 1.80 s | 3.02 s | 4.56 s | 8.26 s | 28.5 in (0.72 m) | 8 ft 5 in (2.57 m) | 27 reps | |
| All values fromNFL Combine[2] | ||||||||||||
Koppen entered the2003 NFL draft following college and was selected by theNew England Patriots in the fifth round with the 164th overall selection.[3] Koppen entered the2003 season as the backup toPro Bowl centerDamien Woody; however, when Woody missed Week 2 with an injury, Koppen was given the opportunity to start his first NFL game for the Patriots. Woody returned the next week. But, following a season-ending injury to starting guardMike Compton, the Patriots moved Woody tooffensive guard and Koppen started the remainder of the 2003 season at center, including in the Patriots'Super Bowl XXXVIII win over theCarolina Panthers. Following the season, Woody signed with theDetroit Lions, leaving Koppen as the Patriots' starting center. Koppen started all 16 games for the Patriots in2004, where he was a member of the Patriots' 2004Super Bowl-winning team, in which the Patriots defeated thePhiladelphia Eagles inSuper Bowl XXXIX on February 6, 2005.
After starting the first nine games in the2005 season, Koppen was derailed by a shoulder injury he sustained in a November 13 game against theMiami Dolphins. He was placed on injured reserve following the game.
In the2006 season, however, Koppen returned to his role as the Patriots' starting center. On October 12, 2006, the Patriots announced they had signed Koppen to a five-year,$20 million contract extension.[4] Koppen finished the 2006 season starting each of the Patriots' 16 regular season games. In the 2006 season, Koppen allowed only two sacks and committing only two penalties for the entire season.
In2007, Koppen missed one game due to a foot injury, but started the other 15 games. For the 2007 season, he did not allow a single sack and helped lead the Patriots to the only perfect 16–0 season in NFL history. The following season, in2008, Koppen was selected as a starter in the2008 Pro Bowl, his first appearance in the game.
In both the2009 and2010 season, Koppen started all 16 games for each season. In the 2009 season, he was a member of an offensive line that allowed the fewest sacks (18) by a Patriots offensive line since the NFL's 1978 move to a 16-game schedule.
In August 2007, Patriots head coachBill Belichick said the following of Koppen:
Seeing the front seven, even sometimes the secondary rotation on a particular play...he does that very well and is on the same page with our quarterback...He's really good at that, probably as good as anybody I've ever coached.[5]
Koppen was named to the Patriots' All-Decade team for 2000s in 2010. In 2010, Koppen also again started all 16 games for the Patriots.
In a Week 1 matchup in the2011 season against theMiami Dolphins, Koppen fractured his ankle. On September 21, he was placed on injured reserve.
Koppen was released on August 31, 2012, during the Patriots' final roster cuts prior to the2012 season.[6]
For eight ofTom Brady's 20 years as Patriots' quarterback, Koppen was the Patriots' offensive center responsible for snapping him the ball.[7]
Two weeks after being released by the Patriots, on September 10, 2012, Koppen agreed to a one-year deal with theDenver Broncos.[8] On July 28, 2013, Koppen suffered a tornACL during training camp and missed the entire2013 season. He announced his retirement from the NFL following the 2013 season.
In addition to being a member of twoSuper Bowl-winning teams with the New England Patriots and being named to thePro Bowl in 2007, Koppen is believed to be the only NFL offensive center ever to have snapped to two of the most successful quarterbacks in NFL history,Tom Brady, during Koppen's 2003 to 2011 career with the Patriots, andPeyton Manning, during Koppen's career with the Broncos in 2012 and 2013.[9]
Koppen announced his NFL retirement following the 2013 season and was hired as an analyst forNBC Sports Boston.[10]
In March 2014, Koppen was hired as assistant football coach atBishop Hendricken High School inWarwick, Rhode Island.[11] In November 2018, he opened Linesider Brewery inEast Greenwich, Rhode Island.[12] The brewery closed in 2024. In February 2025, Koppen was hired as the football head coach atLa Salle Academy inProvidence, Rhode Island.[13]
In 2007, Koppen was engaged to Amber Van Eeghen, a formerNew England Patriots Cheerleader and the daughter ofMark van Eeghen, a formerrunning back for theOakland Raiders andNew England Patriots.[14] They married in 2009[15] and have three children.[16]