Dave Gallagher (American football)

The University of Michigan's Bentley Historical Library describes Gallagher's contributions as: "One of the finest defensive tackles ever to play at Michigan." In 1971, he was named to the sophomore All-American team. As a senior in 1973, he was a co-captain of the Michigan football team. He made 83 tackles in 1973 and 175 in his three years playing for Bo Schembechler's Wolverines. He was a consensus first-team All-American as a senior, was also selected twice to the All-Big Ten Academic squad, and was also a recipient of a National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame postgraduate scholarship. ==Professional career==

Gallagher was selected in the first round of the 1974 NFL draft. He had planned to attend medical school, but decided to forgo that to play professional football. He played five years in the NFL for the Chicago Bears (1974), the New York Giants (1975–1976). He retired from professional football in 1976 and entered medical school. However, in 1978, he returned to professional football. He played for the Detroit Lions in 1978 and 1979. ==Honors==

In 2005, Gallagher was selected as one of the 100 greatest Michigan football players of all time by the "Motown Sports Revival," ranking 65th on the all-time team. ==See also==