Moon Township, Pa. – Former RMU offensive lineman Hank Fraley (1996-99) was named to the Northeast Conference (NEC) Mount Rushmore Football Team Thursday, it was announced by the league.
In celebration of its 40th season as an NCAA Division I conference, the NEC is paying tribute to its heritage with seasonal announcements of its Mount Rushmore award winners. Each Mount Rushmore honors four student-athletes from a sport on a hypothetical mountain. Student-athletes were selected by a conference panel based on their individual accomplishments both on the conference and national levels while they played in the NEC.
Fraley, a native of Gaithersburg, Md., was a four-year letterwinner and three-year starter at offensive tackle for the Colonials. He garnered All-NEC honors in 1997, 1998 and 1999 in helping RMU garner NEC championships each of those years. In 1999, Fraley was an integral part of a team that posted an overall record of 8-2 (.800) and claimed the mid-major national championship according to
Don Hansen's National Weekly Football Gazette.
Signed as an undrafted free agent by the Pittsburgh Steelers in April of 2000, Fraley was claimed off waivers the following August by the Philadelphia Eagles. He became the starter at center for the Eagles in 2001 and helped Philadelphia appear in four consecutive NFC Championship games from 2002 to 2005. In 2005, Fraley became the first RMU alum to appear in the Super Bowl when he started at center against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX.
Fraley also spent four years with the Cleveland Browns (2006-09) and one with the St. Louis Rams (2010), and during his playing career in the NFL appeared in 142 games, including 123 starts. He was joined on the NEC Mount Rushmore Football Team by Lorenzo Jerome of Saint Francis (2013-16), Christian Kuntz of Duquesne (2012-16) and Rick Sarille of Wagner (1995-99).
As a coach, Fraley tutored the offensive line in the collegiate ranks for San Diego (2012), San Jose State (2013) and UCLA (2017). He also spent three seasons as assistant offensive line coach in the NFL for the Minnesota Vikings (2014-16) and two in the same capacity with the Detroit Lions (2018-19). The 2020 campaign is Fraley's first as offensive line coach for the Lions.
Just the second RMU football student-athlete in program history to have his number retired, Fraley's No. 75 was enshrined prior to RMU's game against Sacred Heart Sept. 22, 2001. He was a member of the
RMU Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2006 and was one of eight members named as part of the inaugural
NEC Hall of Fame Class in 2010 in conjunction with the league's 30th anniversary celebration.
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