Quentin Neujahr grew up outside the tiny farming community of Surprise, Nebraska, population 46.  Attended high school at nearby Utica, Nebraska where he was part of two state wrestling championship teams and one state runner up team.  He was given the opportunity to be part of Coach Bill Snyder’s first recruiting class at Kansas State University in 1989.  There he had the unique experience of being part of the longest non-winning streak, in college football history of 30 games and a member of the Universities first bowl victorious team in 1993.

Quentin went undrafted out of college but was invited to training camp with the Las Angeles Raiders in 1994.  He was released in August before the season even started and spent the entire 1994 season at home working for his high school wrestling coach driving a tractor and combine 12 hours a day throughout the harvesting season.

The day after Christmas of 1994, the Cleveland Browns called and put him on their practice roster for the two weeks they were in the playoffs.  The scouting department was shocked when he reported at a very underwhelming 260 pounds having thought his playing days were finished.  One coach even asked, “What happened to you”?  The Browns strength coach, Jerry Simmons convinced the rest of the staff to bring Quentin back during the off season, to see if he would do the work necessary to put the weight back on, he had lost while helping with harvest.  As the story goes, Coach Simmons was able to convince the rest of the staff by saying, “He won’t cost us anything as no one else will want him he weighs 260 pounds, and if it doesn’t work out, we can cut him before training camp”.

Quentin spent the next six seasons in the NFL, being part of the 1995 Cleveland Browns, the 1996 and 1997 Baltimore Ravens, the 1998, 1999 and 2000 Jacksonville Jaguars.  He had the opportunity to learn from what should be three hall of fame coaches in Bill Snyder, Bill Belichick, and Tom Coughlin.

Along his journey, Quentin had many tell him he couldn’t, wouldn’t or you’ll never do that.  Quentin’s career is an example of hard work, determination, and relentless pursuit of a dream.  Leadership Lessons from the Gridiron is a collection of some of the most important lessons he learned from the coaches and teams with whom he was given the opportunity to be part of.