The Jacksonville Jaguars today acquired guard Brenden Stai from the Kansas City Chiefs in a trade for an undisclosed choice in the 2001 draft.
"Brenden Stai is a guy we have great experience with," said Jaguars head coach Tom Coughlin. "We played against him when he was in Pittsburgh, and we know him as an outstanding run blocker, a tough guy and an outstanding tempo guy on the practice field. He played with Zach Wiegert in college (at Nebraska), which means the right. side (of the Jaguars' offensive line) may communicate well with regard to their experiences together. I want to make sure our running game does not take a step back. This helps enhance that. But he will need time to learn the system."
Stai, 28, is entering his sixth year in the NFL. A 6-4, 312-pounder from the University of Nebraska, he has started 59 of 68 games played since 1995, when he was selected in the third round of the draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He spent five seasons with Pittsburgh, then joined Kansas City as an unrestricted free agent on May 4 of this year. He has started the last 39 games of his career dating back to the final eight games of the '97 season. Stai has also started all seven playoff games in which he has played, including two AFC Championship games and Super Bowl XXX. He was a key reason why Jerome Bettis rushed for more than 1,000 yards each of the last four seasons, including 28 100-yard games.
Stai was an All-America and All-Big Eight selection at Nebraska in 1994, where he was a teammate of Zach Wiegert. The two ex-Cornhuskers are only the fourth pair of offensive linemen from the same school to earn first-team All-America honors in the same season. Stai is a native of Anaheim, Calif. He and his wife, Jennifer, have a daughter and a son.
To make room on the 85-man roster for Stai, the Jaguars waived tight end Jerry Ross. Ross had been signed on July 6 after playing this year for the Amsterdam Admirals in the NFL Europe League.
