The Jacksonville Jaguars today signed quarterback Jay Fiedler, a

four-year veteran who spent last season with the Minnesota

Vikings. Fiedler becomes the fourth quarterback on the Jaguars'

roster, joining Mark Brunell, Jonathan Quinn and Will Furrer. He

becomes the 64th player on the roster heading into this

weekend's NFL draft (the Jaguars have nine draft choices). Length

and terms of his contract are undisclosed.

Fiedler, 27, spent the 1994 and '95 seasons with the Philadelphia

Eagles after being signed as an undrafted free agent out of

Dartmouth. He was inactive as the team's third quarterback for all

16 games both seasons. He spent the 1996 training camp with the

Cincinnati Bengals. In 1997, he played for the Amsterdam Admirals

of the NFL Europe League and was out of football in the fall, when

he served as an assistant coach at Hofstra University.

Fiedler spent the 1998 training camp with the Vikings, then was cut

and re-signed on September 15 when Brad Johnson was injured. He

saw his first NFL action in '98, playing in five games. He completed

3 of 7 passes for 41 yards and one interception. The Vikings

withdrew a qualifying offer to Fiedler last Monday.

At Dartmouth, Fiedler completed 456 of 813 passes (56.1 percent)

for 6,684 yards and 58 touchdowns, all school career records. He

led Dartmouth to a 21-7-1 record as a starter, including 17-2-1 in

Ivy League play. He was first-team All-Conference as a junior and

senior. He was the Co-Offensive Player of the Game in the 1994

East-West Shrine game in Tokyo.

Fiedler is a native of Oceanside, N.Y. He is a distant relative of the

former Boston Pops conductor, the late Arthur Fiedler.

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