Darnell Dockett

Darnell Maurice Dockett (born May 27, 1981) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive lineman for 11 seasons with the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Cardinals in the third round of the 2004 NFL Draft. He played college football for the Florida State Seminoles.

Darnell Dockett
refer to caption
Dockett at Super Bowl XLIV Media Day
No. 90
Position:Defensive end
Personal information
Born: (1981-05-27) May 27, 1981
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Height:6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight:290 lb (132 kg)
Career information
High school:Paint Branch (Burtonsville, Maryland)
College:Florida State
NFL Draft:2004 / Round: 3 / Pick: 64
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Total tackles:472
Sacks:40.5
Forced fumbles:9
Fumble recoveries:14
Interceptions:4
Defensive touchdowns:2
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

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, three blocked punts and an interception returned for a touchdown, 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
Pre-draft measurables
HeightWeight40-yard dash10-yard split20-yard splitVertical jumpBroad jumpBench press
6 ft 3+3⁄8 in
(1.91 m)		 297 lb
(135 kg)		 5.03 s1.75 s2.91 s31 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.

Although projected a late first-round selection, Dockett was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the third round, because his previous arrests and run-ins with coaching staffs scared off a lot of teams.[5][6] He 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.[7]

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 wanted 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!"[8]

On August 18, 2014, Dockett tore his ACL, ending his 2014 season.[9]

On February 27, 2015, the Cardinals released Dockett.[10]

San Francisco 49ers

On March 5, 2015 Dockett agreed to a two-year, $7.5 million contract with the San Francisco 49ers,[11] however on September 4, 2015, Dockett was released.[12]

Retirement

On July 24, 2016, it was announced that Dockett would retire. The next day, he signed a one-day contract to retire with the Cardinals.[13]

NFL statistics
YearTeamGPCOMBTOTALASTSACKFFFRFR YDSINTIR YDSAVG IRLNGTDPD
2004ARI15393363.5110120202003
2005ARI162919100.5100114141403
2006ARI165036142.01201-1-1-102
2007ARI165843159.0220000001
2008ARI164937124.0130000001
2009ARI16514297.0000133302
2010ARI15524575.0120000001
2011ARI165135163.5020000001
2012ARI153423111.5000000004
2013ARI164636104.5000000000
Career15845934911040.57120436920018

[14]

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

Dockett's 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.
  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. "Dockett Says He Forgives His Mother's Murderer". Yahoo Sports. January 28, 2009.
  5. "2004 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  6. "SI.com". CNN.
  7. Somers, Kent (August 6, 2009). "Defensive unit seeks consistency". The Arizona Republic.
  8. "Bears Fire Back At Jay Cutler's Critics". Huffington Post. January 25, 2011.
  9. "Cardinals DT Darnell Dockett out for 2014 after tearing ACL in practice - CBSSports.com". Archived from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  10. Weinfuss, Josh (February 27, 2015). "Darnell Dockett released by Cardinals". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  11. Weinfuss, Josh (March 6, 2015). "49ers sign Darnell Dockett". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  12. "49ers release Darnell Dockett". NBC Sports. September 4, 2015.
  13. Orr, Conor (July 25, 2016). "Darnell Dockett retires after 10 seasons in NFL". NFL.com. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  14. "Darnell Dockett". ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
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