Eugene Lockhart
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| Born | March 8, 1961 Crockett, Texas |
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| Career information | |||
| Year(s) | 1984–1992 | ||
| NFL Draft | 1984 / Round: 6 / Pick: 152 | ||
| College | Houston | ||
| Professional teams | |||
| Career stats | |||
| Sacks | 16 | ||
| Interceptions | 6 | ||
| Touchdowns | 1 | ||
| Stats at NFL.com | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
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Eugene Lockhart, Jr. (born March 8, 1961 in Crockett, Texas) is a former American football linebacker who played for nine seasons in the National Football League from 1984 to 1992. He played college football at the University of Houston and was drafted in the sixth round of the 1984 NFL Draft.
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[edit] Early days
He was a two year starting linebacker for the University of Houston from 1981 to 1983.
In 1983, he was named tri-captain of the Cougars football team. He also led the team with 134 tackles, was named second team All Southwest Conference by UPI and was voted team's most valuable player.
Graduated with a degree in Marketing.
[edit] Professional career
[edit] Dallas Cowboys
Lockhart was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the 6th round of the 1984 NFL Draft.
In 1984, he became the first rookie in Cowboys history to start at middle linebacker, when Bob Breunig went down with a back injury during the first half of the season. And after Breuning retired at the end of the year, he became just the fourth player in Cowboys history to held that job.
In Dallas, his hard hits earned him the nickname "mean gene, the hitting machine".
Lockhart, led the Cowboys in tackles for several years and contributed more than 100 tackles in every season but 1987 (when he suffered a broken bone in his leg).
In 1989, he led the NFL and set a club record with 222 tackles. He also led the team in interceptions (2) and set club records with 154 solo tackles, 16 double-digit tackle games and 16 solo tackles in one game vs. Phoenix (10-29-1989). He did not make the Pro Bowl that year, but he was named to the 1989 All-Pro first team and was a bright spot on an otherwise dismal 1-15 team.
In 1990, he led again the Cowboys with 139 tackles (72 solos) and was named second team All NFC by the United Press International.
He played for the Cowboys during a low point in the franchise history, and a lot of times, he was one of the few legitimate players on sub par teams, that eventually ended up costing him a chance to earn Pro Bowl honors and other accolades.
[edit] New England Patriots
Head coach Jimmy Johnson system favored more agile linebackers, so Lockhart was traded to the New England Patriots Patriots on 1991-04-19. In exchange for the first overall draft pick of the 1991 NFL Draft (Russell Maryland), he was traded to the Patriots along with cornerback Ron Francis, linebacker David Howard, a 1991 first round pick (#11 Pat Harlow) and a 1991 second round pick (#41 Jerome Henderson).
While cleaning out his locker, he was quoted saying: "It's a cold business—a cold, cold business, And it's even colder in New England".
Lockhart played in the NFL for 9 seasons (7 with the Cowboys, 2 with the Patriots), started 117 games, recorded close to 1,000 tackles, 16 sacks and 6 interceptions (1 returned for a TD).
[edit] External links
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