Jeff Zimmerman (American football)

Jeffrey Alan Zimmerman (born January 10, 1963) is a former American college and professional football player who was an offensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Zimmerman played college football for the University of Florida, and was twice recognized as an All-American. Thereafter, he played professionally for the Dallas Cowboys of the NFL.

Early years
Zimmerman was born in Enid, Oklahoma in 1963. He attended Maynard Evans High School in Orlando, Florida, and played high school football for the Evans Trojans.

College career
Zimmerman received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach Charley Pell and coach Galen Hall's Florida Gators football teams from 1983 to 1986. Zimmerman was one of the members of the Gators' outstanding offensive line of the mid-1980s known as the "Great Wall of Florida," which included Phil Bromley, Lomas Brown, Billy Hinson and Crawford Ker. Behind the blocking of Zimmerman and his Great Wall teammates, the Gators' quarterback Kerwin Bell, fullback John L. Williams and halfback Neal Anderson led the Gators to identical 9–1–1 overall win-loss records and best-in-the-SEC records of 5–0–1 and 5–1 in 1984 and 1985, respectively. Zimmerman was a first-team All-SEC selection and a first-team All-American in 1985 and 1986.

Professional career
The Dallas Cowboys drafted Zimmerman in the third round (sixty-eighth pick overall) of the 1987 NFL Draft, and he played in thirty-four games for the Cowboys from 1987 to 1990.