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MIKE ROSENBAUM
Special to the Jewish News

Jay Fiedler tmp1eted 13
of 18 against the Lions.

D

etroit-area football fans got their first
look at the most prominent Jewish
quarterback since Hall-of-Famer Sid
Luckman last Sunday, as Jay Fiedler led
his Miami Dolphins past the Detroit Lions, 23-8,
at the Pontiac Silverdome.
Fiedler completed 13 of 18 passes for 112
yards, and rushed for 42 more against the Lions.
For the season, Fiedler has started all nine games
for Miami, completing 123 of 218 passes (56.4
percent) for 1,439 yards and 10 touchdowns. He's
added 206 rushing yards on 45 carries for the 7-2
Dolphins, who lead the AFC East Division.
"I feel great right now, but I'm still not satis-
fied," Fiedler said after Sunday's contest. "I want
to keep this thing going. I want to get this team
into the playoffs. I want to take the team to the
Super Bowl."
The road to the Super Bowl is tough, but the
road Fiedler traveled in pursuit of an NFL career
was equally difficult.
The 28-year-old Fiedler was born and raised in
the Long Island city of Oceanside, N Y He was
brought up in a sports-minded family — his
father, Ken, taught physical education and coached
high school basketball and track. His family owns
and operates a summer sports camp.
Jay began playing football at age 6, but in high
school he starred in track — he was a two-time
state pentathlon champ. He also played basketball
and football.
He was offered track scholarships by Stanford
and some other colleges, but chose Dartmouth,
which doesn't offer athletic scholarships. Eve n
though he became the Big Green starting quarter-
back as a sophomore, he wasn't thinking about a
pro football career.
"I didn't go to Daittuouth thinking I'm going
to take that as a springboard to the NFL," Fiedler
said But I had a good junior year, and opened up
some eyes. Scouts were coming around and it
looked like pro football as a good possibility."
Fiedler was a three-year starter at Dartmouth,
leading the team to a 21-7-1 record. He earned
first-team All-Ivy League honors in 1992 and '93
and set school career passing records with 456
completions in 813 attempts, good for 6,684 yards
and 58 touchdowns. He was the co-offensive play-
er of the game in the 1994 East-West Shrine All
game following his senior season.
Additionally, Fiedler competed in the decathlon
for the Dartmouth track team and graduated with
a degree in engineering sciences.

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A brainy quarterback finally gets his chance at the helm of an NFL team.

11/10
2000

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