UMD Athletics

Football Defensive Tackle (1986-1987)
Wrestler (1985-1986)

Packed quite a punch during his three years of athletic competition at UMD -- both on the gridiron and on the wrestling mat ... anchored the Bulldogs' first line of defense for a pair of seasons ... received All-Northern Intercollegiate Conference football recognition as a senior after being credited with 57 total tackles and a team-high nine quarterback sacks ... participated in the 1988 East-West Shrine Game in Palo Alto, Calif. and was the only non-Division IA or IAA player on the 34-member East team ... rolled up a 10-1-0 individual record during his one season of wrestling competition at UMD with his lone loss coming in his final match as a collegian ... captured the 1986 NIC heavyweight title and placed second in that same weight class at the NAIA National Championships later that winter ... selected UMD’s Outstanding Senior Male Athlete for 1987-88 ... was an eighth round selection of the Houston Oilers in the 1988 National Football League and went on to play in 21 games as an offensive lineman with the New England Patriots (1989-91) and Green Bay Packers (1992) ... played two years of football at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville before enrolling at UMD in 1985 (he had to sit out the 1985 football season in accordance with NCAA transfer rules) ... resides in Hortonville, Wis., with his wife of 20 years, Kelly ... has two daughters (Rebecca and Amanda) and one son (Ben, a freshman linebacker/long snapper at the University of Minnesota Crookston) ... was born and raised in Appleton, Wis ... is one of four Viaene boys who went on to make their mark in the collegiate football ranks -- his older twin brothers, Tom and Jim, starred on the defensive line for the University of Wisconsin-Superior in the early 1980s while Ron did likewise for the Bulldogs from 1987-90.