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Darnell Dockett

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Darnell Dockett
refer to caption
Dockett at Super Bowl XLIV Media Day.
Personal information
Born: (1981-05-27) May 27, 1981 (age 43)
Burtonsville, Maryland
Height:6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight:290 lb (132 kg)
Career information
College:Florida State
Position:Defensive tackle
NFL draft:2004 / round: 3 / pick: 64
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of 2014
Tackles:459
Quarterback sacks:40.5
Interceptions:4
Forced fumbles:7
Stats at Pro Football Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Darnell Maurice Dockett (born May 27, 1981) is an American football defensive end who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the third round of the 2004 NFL Draft. He played college football at Florida State.

Dockett played defensive tackle for the first five seasons of his career until the Cardinals switched to a 3–4 defense, leading him to move to defensive end.

High school career

Dockett started football relatively late. In his first youth league game, he ran the wrong way with a fumble for a safety against his team.[1] He attended Paint Branch High School in Burtonsville, Maryland, where he set a school record with 47 sacks in his career. As a senior, tallied 171 tackles (109 solo), 15 sacks, two caused fumbles, three recovered and three blocked punts, earning Maryland Player of the Year honors as well as All-American selections by USA Today and Parade.

A highly regarded prospect, Dockett was ranked the No. 17 prospect in the country by The Sporting News. Recruited by numerous schools, Dockett selected Florida State over Ohio State and North Carolina.

College career

Dockett attended Florida State University, where he played for coach Bobby Bowden's Florida State Seminoles football team. After an early season injury, Dockett redshirted his first year at Florida State, as the Seminoles went wire-to-wire as national champions in 1999.[2] In 2000, they had to replace interior defensive linemen Corey Simon and Jerry Johnson in the starting line-up. Dockett successfully secured a spot, starting the last 10 games of the year at defensive tackle. He recorded 66 total tackles (including 32 unassisted), which was most of any freshmen on the team, and tied for the team lead in tackles for loss (19). Dockett also added a team-high 18 quarterback hurries, and seven sacks (third on the team). His performance earned him freshman All-America honors, and he was named the freshman defensive player of the year by Football News.

As a sophomore, Dockett emerged as one of the best defensive lineman in college football, starting all 12 games for the Seminoles, including the 2002 Gator Bowl. While frequently drawing double-teams, he led all defensive linemen with 68 total tackles and set a new Florida State single season record with 22 tackles for loss. In the final game of the regular season against Georgia Tech, he established a new school record with five tackles for loss in a single game. Dockett also led the team with 19 quarterback hurries and two forced fumbles. He was a first team All-ACC selection.

Having become a fixture at defensive tackle, Dockett started all 13 games of his junior season, and made at least four tackles in 12 of those games. Constant double-teams resulted in fewer sacks and tackles for loss on the season, still he managed to break Ron Simmons' 22-year-old school record of 44 career tackles for loss against Clemson. He was also second on the team with 15 quarterback hurries. He was suspended from the team for the 2003 Sugar Bowl, after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor theft charge.[3]

Dockett finished his college career as a four-year starter. He recorded 10.5 sacks, and 247 tackles (123 solo tackles, 124 assisted tackles), and set a school record with 65 tackles for loss.[4]

Professional career

2004 NFL Draft

Although projected a late first-round selection, Dockett was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the 3rd round, because his previous arrests and run-ins with coaching staffs scared off a lot of teams.[5]

Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
6 ft 3+1⁄3 in
(1.91 m) 		298 lb
(135 kg) 		5.04 s 1.75 s 2.91 s 31 in
(0.79 m)		 8 ft 9 in
(2.67 m)		 26 reps
All values from NFL Combine

Arizona Cardinals

Dockett (#90) against the New York Jets in 2012.

Dockett had a reasonably quiet first few seasons with six sacks in his first three seasons. The 2007 season was his breakout season recording nine sacks in sixteen starts. Then in the 2008/9 season he recorded four sacks in sixteen starts while the Cardinals won the NFC west with a 9-7 record. They then had a surprising playoff run getting to Super Bowl XLIII (which they lost 27-23 to the Pittsburgh Steelers) with Dockett recording three sacks in the game tying Reggie White's record.

With Arizona shifting to a 3-4 defense, Dockett often lined up at defensive end.[6]

Dockett was selected to start in the 2010 Pro Bowl as a Defensive Tackle.

On September 1, 2010, the Cardinals signed Dockett to a 6-year, $56 million contract extension, with $30 million guaranteed. This would have kept him with the franchise through the 2015 season. During the press conference, Dockett stated that he wants to "retire an Arizona Cardinal".

Controversy ensued after the 2010 NFC Championship Game, where Dockett was one of the critics of Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, tweeting on Twitter: "If I'm on chicago team jay cutler has to wait till me and the team shower get dressed and leave before he comes in the locker room!"[7]

On August 18, 2014, Dockett tore his ACL, ending his 2014 season.[8]

On February 27, 2015, the Cardinals released Dockett.[9]

San Francisco 49ers

On March 5, 2015 Dockett agreed to a two-year, $7.5 million contract with the San Francisco 49ers,[10] however on September 4, 2015, Dockett was released.[11]

NFL stats

Year Team GP COMB TOTAL AST SACK FF FR FR YDS INT IR YDS AVG IR LNG TD PD
2004 ARI 15 39 33 6 3.5 1 1 0 1 20 20 20 0 3
2005 ARI 16 29 19 10 0.5 1 0 0 1 14 14 14 0 3
2006 ARI 16 50 36 14 2.0 1 2 0 1 -1 -1 -1 0 2
2007 ARI 16 58 43 15 9.0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
2008 ARI 16 49 37 12 4.0 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
2009 ARI 16 51 42 9 7.0 0 0 0 1 3 3 3 0 2
2010 ARI 15 52 45 7 5.0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
2011 ARI 16 51 35 16 3.5 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
2012 ARI 15 34 23 11 1.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4
2013 ARI 16 46 36 10 4.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Career 158 459 349 110 40.5 7 12 0 4 36 9 20 0 18

[12]

Key

  • GP: games played
  • COMB: combined tackles
  • TOTAL: total tackles
  • AST: assisted tackles
  • SACK: sacks
  • FF: forced fumbles
  • FR: fumble recoveries
  • FR YDS: fumble return yards
  • INT: interceptions
  • IR YDS: interception return yards
  • AVG IR: average interception return
  • LNG: longest interception return
  • TD: interceptions returned for touchdown
  • PD: passes deflected

Personal life

His mother was murdered in her home when Dockett was thirteen; no one was ever arrested for the crime. After his father died of cancer four months later, Dockett was raised by his uncle, Kevin Dockett.[4]

References

  1. ^ Lapointe, Joe (January 31, 2009). "One Way or Another, Arizona's Darnell Dockett Will Get His Ink". The New York Times. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  2. ^ "In 1999, Bobby Bowden's FSU Seminoles were college football's reigning dynasty". ESPN The Magazine. March 16, 2013.
  3. ^ "Seminoles' Dockett suspended for bowl". The Times-Union. December 23, 2002.
  4. ^ a b "Dockett Says He Forgives His Mother's Murderer". Yahoo Sports. January 28, 2009. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  5. ^ "SI.com". CNN.
  6. ^ Somers, Kent (August 6, 2009). "Defensive unit seeks consistency". The Arizona Republic.
  7. ^ "Bears Fire Back At Jay Cutler's Critics". Huffington Post. January 25, 2011.
  8. ^ http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/24666980/report-cardinals-dt-darnell-dockett-likely-out-for-2014-with-torn-acl
  9. ^ Weinfuss, Josh (February 27, 2015). "Darnell Dockett released by Cardinals". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2015-03-08.
  10. ^ Weinfuss, Josh (March 6, 2015). "49ers sign Darnell Dockett". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2015-03-08.
  11. ^ "49ers release Darnell Dockett". NBC Sports. September 4, 2015.
  12. ^ "Darnell Dockett". ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
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