Jarrod Ray Bunch is a former American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 running back

Running back

A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...

 in the National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

 who played for the New York Giants

New York Giants

The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

 from 1991 to 1993 and the Los Angeles Raiders

Oakland Raiders

The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 in 1994. After retiring from football, Bunch began training martial arts to overcome his injuries that had forced him to retire, and went to acting school in New York, where he started his career in acting.

High school years

Bunch attended Ashtabula High School, where he was a star football player, set high school records in pole vault and discus and he was a good student. He became the first student from the school to be awarded a scholarship to attend a Division I college for football, as well as the first to go to the NFL.

College career

At the University of Michigan

University of Michigan

The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

, Jarrod continued to carve his path to athletic stardom. And while the accolades for his powers on the football field kept coming in, Jarrod remained focused on accomplishing his academic goals. He graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Sports Management and Communications and used the fifth year of his football scholarship to attend Graduate School, and was chosen team captain that same year.

Professional career

Bunch was drafted in the first round of the 1991 NFL Draft

1991 NFL Draft

The 1991 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 21–22, 1991 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Manhattan, New York...

 by the Super Bowl

Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...

 Champion New York Giants

New York Giants

The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

. In his second year he was named New York Giants' Offensive Player of the Year, when he was tied for second in the NFL with 4.8 yards per carry. He suffered a debilitating knee injury; after several surgeries, he attempted to continue his career in the NFL with the Los Angeles Raiders but was forced to retire in 1995.

After The NFL

Jarrod became involved in a variety of fields in the media. He enrolled in The Actors Institute a prestigious acting school in New York City and trained with private coaches; in addition to his thespian pursuits, he was a color commentator for high school and college football for Comcast Network

Comcast Network

Comcast Network is a cable television station that is shown mostly in parts of Comcast Cable services in the Eastern part of the US. Viewed in four states and 20 television markets from New Jersey to Virginia on Comcast cable systems. The main focus of the network is Philadelphia although they...

 and a model for “Casual Male Big and Tall”. Jarrod fought in the “Tough Bowl” (tough-man for NFL players) 2002 and won by a TKO and has also competed in mixed martial arts competitions.

He is currently an active competitor in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a martial art, combat sport, and a self defense system that focuses on grappling and especially ground fighting...

, a multiple World,US Nationals, US Open, and Pan American Jiu Jitsu Champion holding the rank of black belt.

Acting career

To date Jarrod has appeared in lead and supporting roles in television and film. He played the young George Foreman

George Foreman

George Edward Foreman is an American two-time former World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Olympic gold medalist, ordained Baptist minister, author and successful entrepreneur...

 in the HBO film, "Only in America, The Don King Story." The movie won multiple awards including the Emmy for best original film made for television. Bunch has also been involved in several commercials; one of the more notable ones being for Snickers

Snickers

Snickers is a brand name chocolate bar made by Mars, Incorporated. It consists of peanut nougat topped with roasted peanuts and caramel, enrobed in milk chocolate. Snickers has annual global sales of $2 billion....

, where he plays a boxer with large ears, presumably about to fight Mike Tyson

Mike Tyson

Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson is a retired American boxer. Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles, he was 20 years, 4 months and 22 days old...

. He also appeared in an Episode of the ABC Show "The Forgotten"

Other filmography

• Rizzoli & Isles- I Kissed a Girl (2010) TV Episode
• The Forgotten - Football John (2010) TV Episode
• Once Fallen(2010)
• Doozers (2010)
• Stileto (2009)
• Good Time Max (2006)
• The Death and Life of Bobby Z (2006)
• Entourage - What About Bob? (2006) TV Episode
• Two for the Money (2005)
• ER - Refusal of Care (2005) TV Episode
• JAG - This Just in from Baghdad (2004) TV Episode
• The Kings of Brooklyn (2004)
• 100 Centre Street - Daughters (2001) - Let's Make a Night of It (2001) TV Episodes
• Way Off Broadway (2001)
• Chosen (2001)
• The Dancer (2000)
• The Last Supper (2000)
• Third Watch - Patterns (1999) TV Episode
• The Best Man (1999)
• After Hours Happy Hour (1999)
• 18 Shades of Dust (1999)
• New York Undercover - Catharsis (1998) TV Episode

External links

• "Jarrod Bunch” Official homepage
• "King of the Cage"
• "University of Michigan Football Co-Captain"