CALGARY - Former University of Calgary defensive lineman Dan Federkeil was named to the Indianapolis Colts practice roster on Tuesday by the National Football League club.
The 6’7”, 295 lbs. Federkeil was signed by the Colts as a free agent on May 1, 2006 and attended their Rookie Camp, Orientation Camp, and their Main Training Camp that commenced on July 30 at Rose-Hulman Institute in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Federkeil becomes the first University of Calgary Dinos football player to make a National Football League roster other than a training camp roster and be on a roster at the commencement of the regular season.
Each team is allowed a maximum of eight players on their practice roster. Players on the practice roster can be claimed by another team, but if they are, they must be on the team that claims them must put the player on their 53-player active roster.
Federkeil was moved to offensive right tackle the moment he signed with the Colts. He dressed for three of the four team’s pre-season games seeing extensive action against the St. Louis Rams, Seattle Seahawks, and New Orleans Saints. He suffered a knee sprain against the Saints that forced to sit out the club’s final pre-season game against the Cincinnati Bengals on August 31.
The 22-year-old Federkeil was a five-year starter with the Dinos along the defensive line since joining the Dinos directly from Medicine Hat High in the fall of 2001. He was shifted to the offensive line by the Colts and is playing at right tackle. He played some offensive line with the Dinos the past two years on short yardage situations and was drafted fifth overall by the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League in the 2006 CFL Draft.
While at the University of Calgary, Federkeil was a Canada West all-star at defensive end in 2003 and 2005 and a second team CIS All-Canadian in 2003 and 2005. This past year he was a Finalist for the J.P. Metras Award as Lineman of the Year in Canadian College football. In addition he played in the prestigious EAST-WEST Shrine football game in January 2006 and was named University of Calgary Male Athlete of the Year in April 2006.