Dan Jiggetts

Jiggetts was born in Brooklyn, but grew up on Long Island when his parents moved there soon after he was born.{{cite news|last=O'Donnell|first=Jim|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1993/07/11/former-bear-dan-jiggetts-an-all-american-success-story/|title=Former Bear Dan Jiggetts An All-american Success Story: Wscr Host Has Spent Lifetime Gaining Fans|date=July 11, 1993|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|access-date=September 25, 2015}}{{rp|1}} Excelling in both academics and athletics at Westhampton Beach High School, Jiggetts ranked in the top 10% of his class academically, earning a Rotary scholarship for college and was elected class president each of his four years of high school as well as earning eleven varsity letters in three different sports. He was extremely popular, noted a high school friend from Quogue, former United States Congressman Michael P. Forbes, who graduated a year earlier in 1971. Jiggetts was named a high school All-American defensive end, and also won the New York state regional championships in both the discus and shot put.{{rp|2}}

Jiggetts was heavily recruited out of high school for football.{{cite web|last=Herzog|first=Bob|url=http://www.msgvarsity.com/long-island/where-are-they-now-dan-jiggetts-1.1131848|title=Where are they now? Dan Jiggetts|date=September 8, 2012|website=MSG Varsity|accessdate=September 25, 2015|archive-date=September 25, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925115948/http://www.msgvarsity.com/long-island/where-are-they-now-dan-jiggetts-1.1131848|url-status=dead}} He signed a national letter of intent to go to Ohio State and play for their coach Woody Hayes, but eventually changed his mind and decided to enroll in Harvard instead in order to keep a promise he made to his mother who died four days after his high school graduation.{{rp|2}}

Playing offensive tackle for Harvard, Jiggetts was named All-Ivy League three times and All-East twice as well as All-American by both the AP and UPI during his senior year in 1975.{{rp|2}} Named captain of Harvard's 1975 football team,{{cite news|last=Quigley|first=Andrew P.|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1974/11/26/jiggetts-elected-football-captain-for-next/|title=Jiggetts Elected Football Captain for Next Year|date=November 26, 1974|newspaper=The Harvard Crimson|accessdate=September 25, 2015}} he was not only the first African American to be honored as such,{{rp|2}} but he also helped lead the team to its first undisputed Ivy League Championship. Considered to be one of the finest lineman in the history of the league, Jiggetts was named to the Ivy's Silver Anniversary All-Star Team and was inducted into the Harvard Varsity Hall of Fame. After graduating, Jiggetts was drafted in the sixth round of 1976 NFL draft by the Chicago Bears.{{cite web|url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/J/JiggDa20.htm|title=Dan Jiggetts|website=Pro Football Reference|accessdate=October 1, 2015}}

Jiggetts played 98 games as a backup offensive lineman for the Bears from 1976 to 1982. Released by the team during the 1983 preseason, Jiggetts went on to play one season each for the Chicago Blitz and San Antonio Gunslingers in the USFL{{cite news|last=Gold|first=Eddie|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-3794800.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160229210516/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-3794800.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 29, 2016|title=Ex-Bear tackle Dan Jiggetts|date=November 9, 1986|newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times|via=HighBeam Research|accessdate=October 1, 2015}} before retiring in 1985.{{cite news|last=McDill|first=Kent|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/13464968/|title=You want to Talk about the Bears Plenty of former players litter the airwaves for fans to enjoy|date=December 7, 2001|newspaper=Daily Herald|quote=Jiggetts was working as the vice president of a commercial lending division at a Chicago bank after his career ended in the USFL in 1985.|url-access=subscription |via=Newspapers.com|accessdate=October 1, 2015}}

During his playing career, Jiggetts was active in player-management labor relations in both the NFL and USFL. He served as a player representative for the Bears{{cite news|last=Fernandez|first=Bernard|url=http://articles.philly.com/1987-10-05/sports/26216270_1_ed-rubbert-john-fourcade-stars|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001211453/http://articles.philly.com/1987-10-05/sports/26216270_1_ed-rubbert-john-fourcade-stars|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 1, 2015|title=Some Good Play Emerges Amid Bad, Ugly|date=October 5, 1987|newspaper=The Philadelphia Inquirer|accessdate=October 1, 2015}} and was the vice-president of the National Football League Players Association at the time of the 1982 strike.{{cite news|last1=Barnes|first1=Bart|last2=Attner|first2=Paul|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1982/10/02/acrimonious-talks-recessed/1f3b2678-276a-4786-a807-898329ed5452/|title=Acrimonious Talks Recessed|date=October 2, 1982|newspaper=The Washington Post|accessdate=October 1, 2015}}{{cite news|last=Lane|first=Chuck|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1982/9/29/union-man-jiggetts-tackles-nfl-bosses/|title=Union Man Jiggetts Tackles NFL Bosses|date=September 29, 1982|newspaper=The Harvard Crimson|accessdate=October 1, 2015}} Jiggetts was also involved in attempts to unionize USFL players as a member of the Blitz.{{cite news|last=Jauss|first=Bill|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1984/04/08/page/42/article/usfl-players-labor-over-forming-union|title=USF players labor over forming union|date=April 8, 1984|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|accessdate=October 1, 2015}}

Jiggetts joined NFL on CBS as an analyst in 1985. In 1987, 1989–1991, and 1993, he has split play-by-play partners with James Brown and Brad Nessler.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

He co-hosted "Monsters and Money in the Morning" with Mike North on CBS 2 Chicago from February 1 to August 27, 2010. He started working with North on their "Monsters of the Midday" radio program in 1992 as part of the launch of Chicago's WSCR sports radio station, known as "The Score," which is now at 670-AM. They co-hosted Monsters of the Midday for eight years. The Monsters and Money show was not considered a news program by station management but was added to the lineup as an attempt to increase its advertising revenue earning potential, its experimental format of combining sports talk by Jiggetts and North with news headlines, weather and discussions of financial matters never really caught on with viewers.{{cite news|last=Karp|first=Gregory|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2010/08/12/monsters-and-money-not-mixing/|title='Monsters and Money' not mixing: Channel 2 to cancel sports and finance morning show|date=August 12, 2010|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|access-date=October 1, 2015}} He is also a sportscaster for NBC Sports Chicago and was the co-host of a daily morning show on the station. He has also worked for CBS and ESPN and hosted a highly rated radio show on WSCR in Chicago. In September 2010, he returned to WFLD-TV to anchor sports on Fridays and Saturdays.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

Jiggetts currently hosts several shows on NBC Sports Chicago. He was inducted into the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame on Long Island, New York, in the Football Category with the Class of 1990.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

Personally, Jiggetts has a daughter, Lauren, who is a newscaster for the WGN Early Morning News in Chicago.{{cite web|url=https://wgntv.com/author/lauren-jiggetts/|title='Lauren Jiggetts @ WGN-TV'|accessdate=16 March 2024}}

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Category:1954 births

Category:Living people

Category:American football offensive tackles

Category:Chicago Bears players

Category:Chicago Blitz players

Category:Harvard Crimson football players

Category:College football announcers

Category:NFL announcers

Category:NBA broadcasters

Category:Television sports anchors from Chicago

Category:Players of American football from Brooklyn

Category:People from Quogue, New York

Category:Sportspeople from Southampton (town), New York

Category:Players of American football from Suffolk County, New York