Biography

Standing at 6 feet 6 inches tall and weighing 280 pounds, Dan Messier was the largest lineman the Bishop Feehan football team has ever seen, before or since his arrival.  Still, Messier almost never became a football player.

Primarily a basketball player in his youth and early high school days, Messier never played football until his junior year at Feehan as his mother was worried about him getting injured.  After she was convinced by her nephew Bill Servant that her son would probably hurt others much more than suffer injury himself, Dan found his calling on the gridiron.

As a junior, Messier played primarily on defense, utilizing his superior size and surprisingly quick feet to dominate blockers from his tackle position as the Shamrocks rang up a 7-3 season and the co-championship of the Eastern Athletic Conference.  In his senior year of 1996 under new Feehan head coach Gary Doherty, Dan became a two-way starter, anchoring both the offensive and defensive lines as the Shamrocks finished 8-2-1, and again claimed a share of the league title.

Described by legendary Feehan coach Paul O’Boy as an “outstanding offensive blocker” and “very nimble for his size,” Messier proved to be a devastating combination of agility, strength, size, and intelligence.  His dominant play in the trenches was instrumental in some of the Shamrocks’ key wins that season, including a 13-2 win over North Attleboro in which Messier’s pressure on the Rocketeer quarterbacks resulted in nine quarterback sacks and six turnovers caused by the Shamrock defense.  On offense Messier paved the way for 258 Shamrock rushing yards in a 31-8 victory over Somerset, 262 yards in a stifling 28-0 dismantling of Dartmouth, 168 yards in a 21-14 win over Durfee, and 196 yards in a close 8-7 defeat to Attleboro.  He was also dominant in shutout wins over Bishop Stang and Oliver Ames and a 32-2 blowout over Coyle-Cassidy in the last Thanksgiving rivalry game played between the two schools.

For his efforts, Dan was awarded a full football scholarship to Boston University, and then continued to play at Northeastern University after BU dropped football following the 1997 season, his freshman year.  He was a three-year starter for the Huskies at offensive tackle, was awarded All-Scholastic in the Atlantic Ten Conference all three semesters in his senior year, and was an Academic All-Conference selection, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree with a minor in business in 2002.  Today Messier is a self-employed licensed plumber and contractor in the Attleboro area.  He lives in North Attleboro with his wife Kelly (Cronin) Messier and the two are expecting their first child in March.