Former NFL great Marco Rivera steps in as Shelton head football coach
DALLAS — When the Shelton Chargers kick off the 2022-23 football season on Saturday, August 27, 1 p.m. against the Austin Crusaders, the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools Division III team will be led by a new varsity head coach.
Marco Rivera, the team’s assistant head coach and offensive line coach for the past seven seasons, as well as interim athletic director, replaces veteran coach Mark Malcom who stepped down earlier this year.
Rivera, a three-year starter at Penn State University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Administration of Justice, is perhaps best known for his days as a former member of the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys.
Rivera was a three-time Pro Bowl selection for the Packers in 2002, 2003 and 2004, earned All Pro status in 2006 and is a member of the Packers’ Hall of Fame and the Packers’ 2000s All-Decade team.
Rivera was drafted into the NFL in 1996 and played until 2006, spending his final two seasons with the Cowboys, and he was selected as the Packers’ recipient of the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award in 2004. In 1996, he was part of the Super Bowl championship team.
He was also the Packers’ 2004 Ed Block Courage Award recipient, a prestigious award voted on by his peers that is given to one player on every team that symbolizes sportsmanship, professionalism, great strength and courage and dedication.
Rivera was named the Packers recipient of the 2004 Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, given by the NFL to one player on each team to recognize outstanding contributions on and off the field.
Coach Once Wore the Cowboys Star
In 2005, the Cowboys acquired Rivera in free agency where he started for two seasons before injuring his back in the team’s 2006 playoff loss.
The Cowboys released Rivera due to serious back problems and he retired from the NFL as a Packer in 2008. He was inducted into the Green Bay Packer Hall Of Fame in 2011, making him one of the greatest linemen ever to play for the Green Bay Packers.
Rivera is a community role model. From 1998 to 2004, he ran a football camp called The Marco Rivera Pee Wee Camp in San Juan, Puerto Rico, for kids ages 9 through 16. Each year, the camp was attended by more than 200 children and numerous NFL stars and coaches donated their time and participation.
While in Puerto Rico, Rivera visited area hospitals. In 2002, Rivera partnered with the Green Bay Humane Society and participated in its first ever Pet Walk to raise money for the Humane Society.
Rivera and his wife, Michelle, are the proud parents of three sons, all of whom attended Shelton. Shelton is the largest independent school worldwide for intelligent students with learning differences.
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