Dan Skuta - From the Bengals to the Bears

Dan Skuta enjoyed a long career in football, both as a championship-winning college player with Grand Valley State University and as a hard-hitting linebacker with multiple NFL teams—including the Cincinnati Bengals.

Dan Skuta spent four seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals, followed by two with the San Francisco 49ers, two with the Jacksonville Jaguars and one with the Chicago Bears.

2009-2017: An NFL Career

Skuta’s career was kickstarted as an undrafted free agent out of Grand Valley State in 2009, when he caught the eye of the Bengals coaching staff and signed his first NFL contract. 

From there, Skuta played with:

• The San Francisco 49ers, where he picked up and ran back a forced fumble 49 yards for his first and only NFL touchdown.
  
• The Jacksonville Jaguars, which signed Skuta to a five-year, $20 million deal in 2015.

The Chicago Bears, where Skuta suffered a career-ending injury in 2017.

Dan Skuta - Bengals Stadiums Over the Years

Dan Skuta spent his first four years in the National Football League (NFL) with the AFC North Cincinnati Bengals. With the team from 2009 to 2012, Skuta initially signed with the team out of undrafted free agency, only to become one of the more impactful players on the unit’s defensive side of the ball.

From Nippert to Paul Brown: A Brief Look at Bengals Home Field

A former San Francisco 49ers player (2013-2014) and Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker (2015-2016), Dan Skuta began his professional playing days marching in front of raucous crowds at Paul Brown Stadium.

But over the course of franchise history, the team has actually called three different, distinct stadiums home, including:

• Nippert Stadium, the temporary home of the Bengals following the team’s entry into the league in 1968.
  
• Riverfront Stadium, which the Bengals shared with the Cincinnati Reds from 1970 to 1999.
  
  
• Paul Brown Stadium, namesake of the franchise’s original owner/head coach and which officially opened in 2000. 

Dan Skuta - Bengals Origins, Franchise Highlights

Dan Skuta played with on the Cincinnati Bengals defense the first four seasons of his nine-year career—a span that began as an undrafted free agent signee in 2009.

Fresh off a successful college career at Grand Valley State University, Dan Skuta made a significant impression on the Bengals coaching staff—and overcame the challenges of being undrafted to make his own mark in the NFL.

Bengals Franchise Highlights

Prior to becoming a Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker, DanSkuta marched onto the field alongside his fellow Bengals teammates. 

And having donned a Bengals uniform for four years, Skuta came to understand the benchmarks and accomplishments unique to the franchise, including:

• 1968, the first year the Bengals enjoyed membership in the NFL.
  
  
• The team’s success during the 1980s, which included two AFC championships and Super Bowl appearances.
  
  
• 14 NFL Playoff appearances between 1970 and 2015.