Athletes - Marco Rivera

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	Athletes - Marco Rivera

Marco Rivera (born April 26, 1972 in Brooklyn, N.Y. is an American football player who is currently a member of the Dallas Cowboys. Rivera is of Puerto Rican descent. Rivera is the first Pro Bowler hailing from Puerto Rico.

Biography

Marco Rivera attended Penn State from 1992 to 1995. He had a notable career at Penn State as a three-year starter and four-time letter winner (1992-95). He played in 41 career games for the Nittany Lions, making 31 starts. His experience also included appearances in three bowl games - the Outback, Rose and Blockbuster. He earned second-team All-Big Ten honors in both his junior and senior seasons. In 1996, he was chosen by the Green Bay Packers in the 6th round of the NFL Draft. During his first year, he was inactive for all 16 regular season games, Rivera was a key practice contributor to the Packers run to their third world title in Super Bowl XXXI. In 1997, Rivera was allocated to the Scottish Claymores of the World League and started all 10 games, helping his team finish third in the league in total offense. He was named honorable mention All-World League by Pro Football Weekly. Rivera returned to Green Bay and saw action in 14 regular season games, primarily on special teams as a member of the field goal and extra point units and on kickoffs. He was inactive for the Packers first two contests before seeing action in the club's final 14 games as well as all three playoff contests.

In 1998, Rivera started 15-of-16 regular season games at the left guard spot after winning the job in training camp over Joe Andruzzi. He also started the Packers NFC Wild Card playoff game at San Francisco. In 1999, Rivera started all 16 games for the first time in his career, playing the entire season at right guard after successfully making the transition from the left side where he had started the year before. In 2000 and 2001, Rivera started 32 consecutive games at right guard for the three straight seasons.

In 2002, Rivera raised his game to a higher level in his fifth season as a starter with a performance that earned him his first career Pro Bowl selection. He started every game of the season - despite playing with torn medial collateral ligaments in both knees.

In 2003, Rivera battled through a knee injury that he suffered late in the preseason and went on to start all 16 games (and two playoff games) for the fifth straight year. He was named as a starter on the NFC Pro Bowl squad after serving as a backup for his initial appearance in the NFL's annual all-star game in 2002. He was also a second-team All-Pro selection of the Associated Press and Football Digest as well as being named to the All-NFC team as selected by Pro Football Weekly.

In 2004, Rivera was the anchor on the Green Bay offensive line, Rivera completed his seventh straight season as a starting guard. In starting all 16 regular season games, plus the playoff contest against Minnesota, Rivera earned the starting guard spot on the NFC Pro Bowl squad for a second straight season and also was named to the All-NFC squad by Pro Football Weekly.

In 2005, the Dallas Cowboys acquired Marco Rivera in free agency on March 3, 2005, the Cowboys added a proven veteran with a strong leadership presence to help solidify the right side of the Dallas offensive line. Rivera started 14-of-16 regular season missing the final two contests with a neck injury.

Statistics

As of the end of the 2005 season, Rivera has played in 139 NFL games starting a total of 125 games as an offensive lineman. He has three Pro Bowl selections.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Marco Rivera ]

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