| No. 46 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Tight end | ||||||
| Personal information | |||||||
| Born | (1977-04-01)April 1, 1977 Belleville, Kansas, U.S. | ||||||
| Died | December 29, 2021(2021-12-29) (aged 44) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. | ||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||||
| Listed weight | 255 lb (116 kg) | ||||||
| Career information | |||||||
| High school | Chester-Hubbell-Byron (Chester, Nebraska) | ||||||
| College | Harvard (1995–1999) | ||||||
| NFL draft | 2000: undrafted | ||||||
| Career history | |||||||
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* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||
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Christopher John Eitzmann (April 1, 1977 – December 29, 2021) was an American professionalfootballtight end.[2] He played college football atHarvard and three seasons in theNational Football League (NFL) for theNew England Patriots and two seasons for theCleveland Browns.
Born inBelleville, Kansas, Eitzmann grew up on a farm inHardy, Nebraska.[3][4] Eitzmann graduated from Chester-Hubbell-Byron High School, a school with only 50 students where he played on aneight-man football team in addition to basketball and track.[5][4]
Eitzmann attendedHarvard University after high school and played attight end for theHarvard Crimson from 1995 to 1999, sitting out the 1996 season due to injury.[4] At Harvard, Eitzmann had 45 receptions for 572 yards and eight touchdowns and was a first-team All-Ivy League and first-teamSuccessful Farming farm All-American honoree as a senior in 1999.[5] Eitzmann withdrew from Harvard for the spring 1997 semester to work at the trading desk of Hellman, Jordan Management inBoston.[4] Eitzmann graduated from Harvard in 2000 with a degree in psychology.[5]
After going undrafted in the2000 NFL draft, Eitzmann signed with theNew England Patriots as a free agent on April 19, 2000. He was waived on August 27 but signed with theGreen Bay Packers the next day. Eitzmann then signed with the Patriots practice squad on September 6, one day after being waived from the Packers.[6] Eitzmann then signed with the Patriots active roster on October 21 and appeared in five games with one start before being placed on injured reserve on December 1.[6][3]
Following the preseason, the Patriots released Eitzmann on September 2, 2001.[5] Eitzmann then signed with theCleveland Browns practice squad on December 4, 2001. He was then allocated to theFrankfurt Galaxy ofNFL Europe in 2002.[5] With the Galaxy, Eitzmann played in seven games with five starts, with seven receptions for 64 yards.[7] The Browns placed Eitzmann on Injured-Reserve on September 1, 2002.[8]
Eitzmann moved toLincoln, Nebraska and became a financial advisor after retiring from football.[9] In 2007, he completed hisM.B.A. at theTuck School of Business atDartmouth College.[10]
Eitzmann was found dead of alcohol poisoning in December 2021 at age 44. He had been suffering fromCTE in the last years of his life.[11][12] He was one of at least 345NFL players to be diagnosed after death with this disease, which is caused by repeated hits to the head.[13][14]