Eric Decker: Difference between revisions
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==Early years== |
==Early years== |
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Decker attended [[Rocori High School]] in Cold Spring, Minnesota, where he was a three-sport athlete in football, basketball, and baseball. |
Tebow to Decker attended [[Rocori High School]] in Cold Spring, Minnesota, where he was a three-sport athlete in football, basketball, and baseball. |
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==College career== |
==College career== |
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Revision as of 15:47, 30 November 2011
 Decker in December 2010. | |||||||||
| Denver Broncos | |||||||||
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| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | March 15, 1987 Cold Spring, Minnesota | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| College: | Minnesota | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2010 / Round: 3 / Pick: 87 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||
| Career NFL statistics as of Week 8, 2011 | |||||||||
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| Player stats at NFL.com | |||||||||
Eric Decker (born March 15, 1987) is an American football wide receiver for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Broncos in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He played college football and college baseball at Minnesota, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business and marketing.
Early years
Tebow to Decker attended Rocori High School in Cold Spring, Minnesota, where he was a three-sport athlete in football, basketball, and baseball.
College career
2008 season
Decker finished his junior season with 84 catches for 1,074 yards and seven touchdowns.[1] He either sat out or played with leg injuries in several games.[2]
2009 season
Decker began the season with the consistent play that had been a hallmark of his Gopher career. Through 3 games, Decker was 6th in the nation in receiving yards, averaging 124.8 per game. Sports Illustrated columnist Stewart Mandel declared Decker the 3rd best wide receiver in college football, behind Oklahoma State's Dez Bryant and Georgia's A. J. Green.[3]
On October 27, it was announced that Decker was going to miss the rest of the season after suffering a sprained foot against Ohio State.[4]
College statistics
| 2006 | MIN | 13 | 12 | 26 | 378 | 14.5 | 39 | 3 |
| 2007 | MIN | 12 | 12 | 68 | 909 | 13.6 | 59 | 9 |
| 2008 | MIN | 12 | 12 | 84 | 1074 | 12.8 | 75 | 7 |
| 2009 | MIN | 8 | 8 | 50 | 758 | 15.2 | 53 | 5 |
| Career | -- | 45 | 44 | 228 | 3,119 | 14.0 | 75 | 24 |
Baseball career
Decker played outfield for the Minnesota baseball team. He was selected in the 39th round of the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft by the Milwaukee Brewers and the 27th round of the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft by the Minnesota Twins.
Professional career
Denver Broncos
2010 season
Decker was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the third round (87th overall) of the 2010 NFL Draft. Because of a foot surgery, Decker sat out the Broncos Rookie Mini Camp and OTA's. Broncos Head Coach Josh McDaniels said he hopes he'll be ready for the season opener, “At this point we’re going to err on the side of being real careful and not put them in a situation where (it’s) the last day of minicamp on June 13th and all of a sudden we have a foot injury," said McDaniels."Hopefully everybody will be ready by August.”
On July 27, 2010, the Denver Broncos signed Decker to a 4 year contract.[5] In preseason, Decker led all NFL rookies in receptions, but due to the Broncos depth at receiver, Decker didn't see much action in the offense until late in the regular season. He did contribute on special teams however, recording seven special teams tackles while returning 17 kickoffs for 429 yards giving him a 25.2 yards per return average.
Toward the end of the 2010 season the Broncos did start to mix Decker into the offense more, after fellow rookie Demaryius Thomas—a first round draft pick—went down with an ankle injury. Decker finished his rookie season with 6 catches that went for 106 yards and one touchdown—a six-yard score off a Tim Tebow pass.
2011 season
Decker's role in Denver's offense expanded in 2011. In a week 1 Monday Night Football loss to the Oakland Raiders, Decker returned a fourth quarter punt 90 yards for a touchdown but the Broncos fell 23-20.
In week 2, making his first career start, Decker hauled in 5 passes for 113 yards and 2 touchdowns, the second on a 52 yard catch in the 4th quarter as Denver recorded their first win of the 2011 season, 24-22 over the Cincinnati Bengals. On September 25, in Denvers week 3 17-14 loss to the Tennessee Titans, Decker had a career high 7 catches for 48 yards. Over the next 4 weeks, Decker continued his steady play by hauling in 18 passes for 192 yards and 4 touchdowns.
On November 13, in a week 10 divisional road game at Arrowhead Stadium against the Kansas City Chiefs, starting quarterback Tim Tebow attempted a pair of deep passes for Decker, the first almost being hauled in off a deflection and the other being knocked down by the defender. But in the 4th quarter, with Denver hanging on the a slim 10-7 lead, Tebow hit Decker on a go route deep for a 56 yard touchdown catch, Decker's only catch of the game and only Tebow's 2nd completion, as the Broncos won 17-10 to move into a second place tie in the AFC West with the San Diego Chargers & the Chiefs.
Personal life
Decker is currently dating country singer Jessica James.[6]
References
- ^ Fuller, Marcus R. (November 18, 2008) "Minnesota Gophers football receiver Eric Decker says he'll 'tolerate' any pain to play against Iowa" Saint Paul Pioneer Press
- ^ Youngblood, Kent (November 19, 2008) "Decker doing all he can to overcome ankle injury" Star Tribune
- ^ Mandel, Steart (September 30, 2009). "Boise's title-game worth, more mailbag (cont.)". CNN.
- ^ "U's Decker out for rest of regular season". October 27, 2009.
- ^ "Decker Signs with Broncos". July 27, 2010.
- ^ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/extramustard/hotclicks/09/22/jessie-james-dating-eric-decker-logan-morrison-gets-lomohawk/index.html