Editing Stephen Neal (section)

==Football career==

===New England Patriots (first stint)===
Despite not playing football in college,<ref>{{cite news |last=Mihoces |first=Gary |title=NFL seeks best players on the court or mat |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/football/2005draft/2005-04-20-no-college-experience_x.htm |access-date=October 28, 2013 |newspaper=[[USA Today]] |date=April 20, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029210147/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/football/2005draft/2005-04-20-no-college-experience_x.htm |archive-date=October 29, 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> Neal was signed by the [[New England Patriots]] on July 23, 2001, as an [[undrafted free agent]]. He was waived by the Patriots on August 26, 2001.

===Philadelphia Eagles===
The [[Philadelphia Eagles]] signed Neal to their [[practice squad]] on September 4, 2001.

===New England Patriots (second stint)===
The Patriots re-signed Neal off the Eagles' practice squad on December 12, 2001, and he was inactive for the final three games of his [[2001 New England Patriots season|2001]] rookie season, as well as the [[2001–02 NFL playoffs|playoffs]] and [[Super Bowl XXXVI]].

In [[2002 New England Patriots season|2002]], Neal made the Patriots' 53-man roster out of [[training camp]] and spent the first four games of the season inactive before making his NFL debut as a reserve in Week 5. The next week against the [[Green Bay Packers]], Neal made his first career start at guard, but suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in the game and was placed on [[injured reserve]] on October 23, 2002. The shoulder injury caused Neal to miss the entire [[2003 New England Patriots season|2003]] season as well, after being placed on the [[Physically Unable to Perform]] (PUP) list to start the season.

After playing in two games as a reserve to start the [[2004 New England Patriots season|2004]] season, Neal went on to start the final 14 games of the season, including the playoffs and the Super Bowl, earning his third [[Super Bowl ring]] with the team by winning [[Super Bowl XXXIX]]. Neal started all 16 games for the Patriots in [[2005 New England Patriots season|2005]], and re-signed with the team after testing the [[free agent]] market following the season.

Neal started 13 games in [[2006 New England Patriots season|2006]] at right guard, missing three games with a shoulder injury. He would return in [[2007 New England Patriots season|2007]] to play and start in only eight games due to injury, but started all three [[2007–08 NFL playoffs|playoff]] games, including [[Super Bowl XLII]].

After beginning the [[2008 New England Patriots season|2008]] season on the PUP list with a shoulder injury, Neal returned to play in the final 11 games of the season, starting the final nine games. In [[2009 New England Patriots season|2009]], Neal missed time with the shoulder injury again, but played in and started 12 games.

In March 2010, Neal was re-signed to a two-year contract.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4675783/patriots-day-1-free-agent-recap|title=Patriots Day 1 free agent recap|work=ESPNBoston.com|first=Mike|last=Reiss|date=2010-03-05|access-date=2010-03-06}}</ref> Neal then played in the first eight games of the [[2010 New England Patriots season|2010]] season before being placed on injured reserve with the shoulder injury on December 2, 2010.

Neal retired on March 2, 2011.<ref>{{cite news |author=Reiss, Mike |title=Pats' Stephen Neal retiring |url=https://www.espn.com/boston/nfl/news/story?id=6175688 |work=[[ESPN.com]] |date=March 2, 2011 |access-date=2011-03-02}}</ref>