David Quessenberry

High school career

Born in the La Jolla community of San Diego, Quessenberry attended La Costa Canyon High School in Carlsbad, California and lettered in football and lacrosse. Quessenberry played tight end at La Costa Canyon. His father played college football at the United States Naval Academy and served in the United States Navy from 1980 to 2010.

College career

Having no scholarship offers out of high school, Quessenberry met a San Jose State assistant coach who was recruiting a teammate. Quessenberry later walked-on to the Spartans football team at San Jose State University in 2008 and redshirted that year to bulk up from his 235-pound weight. He would go on to play in 50 games for the Spartans with 38 starts. As a freshman in 2009 under coach Dick Tomey, Quessenberry played in all 12 games mostly on special teams and was a reserve at offensive tackle and tight end.

Quessenberry first earned an athletic scholarship the summer before sophomore season of 2010. In a 1-12 season under new coach Mike MacIntyre, Quessenberry started in all 13 games and played mostly as a punt protector and extra point lineman. As a junior in 2011, Quessenberry again started all 12 games of the season, and San Jose State football improved to 5-7. Quessenberry earned second-team All-WAC honors.

In his senior season, an 11-2 season in 2012 that included a 2012 Military Bowl victory, Quessenberry became team captain and was a Burlsworth Trophy finalist for best non-scholarship NCAA FBS player. He was also on the Rotary Lombardi Award watch list. After starting 27 straight games dating back to 2009, Quessenberry sat out the September 15 game due to an ankle injury suffered in the first play of the September 8 game. On September 29, Quessenberry played in a game against Navy, a team with younger brother Paul as an offensive lineman. Selected for the 2013 Senior Bowl, Quessenberry became the first San Jose State offensive lineman to play in a Senior Bowl. He was a first-team all-WAC selection. In December 2012, Quessenberry graduated from San Jose State with a B.A. in history.

Professional career

He was drafted by the Houston Texans in the sixth round, 176th overall in 2013 NFL Draft.

On September 10, 2013, the Texans placed Quessenberry on injured reserve after he injured a foot during practice, a season-ending injury.

On June 10, 2014, the Texans announced Quessenberry felt fatigue and had persistent cough. After seeking a medical evaluation, he was diagnosed with Lymphoma. As a result, the Texans put him on the Non-Football Illness designation. He was waived by the Texans with a non-football injury designation in May 2016. He cleared waivers and was placed on the team's non-football injury list.

After completing his cancer treatment, Quessenberry returned to practice with the Texans at the start of OTAs on May 23, 2017. On September 2, 2017, he was waived by the Texans and was signed to the practice squad the next day.

Personal life

In June 2014, Quessenberry was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma after experiencing fatigue and persistent cough. On February 25, 2015, his cancer went into remission after completing radiation treatment, then on April 13, 2017, he officially completed his cancer treatment. On June 12, 2017, Quessenberry won the 2017 George Halas Award. The award is given to the "player, coach or staff member who overcomes the most adversity to succeed."