Brian Bosworth
Encyclopedia
Brian Keith "The Boz" Bosworth, (born March 9, 1965) is a former American football
linebacker
. He played college football
for the University of Oklahoma
. He was drafted in the Supplemental draft by the Seattle Seahawks
.
, where he was one of many blue-chip recruits from Texas lured across the border by longtime coach Barry Switzer
.
Known for his then radical hairstyles and criticism of the NCAA
as much as his play on the field, Bosworth was never one to shy from publicity or controversy. On more than one occasion Bosworth referred to the NCAA as the "National Communists Against Athletes". He wore a shirt bearing that slogan during the 1987 Orange Bowl following the 1986 season. Banned from the game because of steroid
use, Bosworth unveiled the shirt while standing on the sidelines to the shock and outrage of many, including his own coach, Switzer. While Switzer was known for running a loose ship, this incident was too much even for him, and he threw Bosworth off the team.
A strong side inside linebacker throughout his college career, Bosworth was known for raising his level of play in big games. He was regarded as a great tackler, though sometimes criticized for tackling too high. The winner of the first two Butkus Award
s as the nation's top college linebacker, he remains the only player ever to have won the accolade more than once. College Football News named him #30 on its list of the "100 Greatest College Players of All-Time." In October 1999, Bosworth was named to the Sports Illustrated NCAA Football All-Century Team as only one of nine linebackers on the squad.
In addition to his athletic accomplishments, Bosworth was a very good student who graduated a year ahead of his freshman class, thus making him eligible for the NFL's supplemental draft.
When playing for Seattle, he flew into practice on a helicopter. Many television news stations all over America showed footage of the stunt.
In September 1988, Bosworth wrote an autobiography, The Boz, with Sports Illustrated
's Rick Reilly
. In it, Bosworth said the Sooner program was laden with drug use, gunplay in the athletic dorm and other wild behavior. Although many Sooner boosters dismissed it as the rantings of a resentful ex-player, an NCAA report issued three months later revealed many of the same things Bosworth had written about, and ultimately led to Switzer being forced to resign.
Brian Bosworth, the all-America linebacker, and two of his University of Oklahoma teammates were barred from playing in the Orange Bowl game against Arkansas Jan. 1, 1987 because they tested positive for anabolic steroids. The ruling was made by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which instituted tests for some championship events and some football bowl games that year in an effort to prevent the use of more than a hundred banned generic drugs.
Bosworth was drafted by the Seahawks in the 1987 NFL supplemental draft
and signed what was both the biggest contract in team history and the biggest rookie contract in NFL history at the time: 10 years for US$11 million. After being drafted by the Seahawks, Bosworth sued the NFL for the right to wear #44 (the number he wore in college), and was forced to wear #55 until he won the case.
Bosworth signed with a Seattle team that had failed to reach the play-offs for two seasons (a 10-6 finish in 1986 was only good enough for 3rd in the old AFC West as they lost out to the Kansas City Chiefs in head to head match-up despite a better scoring record overall). He appeared in 12 games in his rookie season, playing well for the most part, but became known more for his outspoken personality and appearance than his actual play on the field. Before the first game of the season, versus the Denver Broncos
, Bosworth trash talked Denver quarterback John Elway
. 10,000 Denver fans wore $15 T-shirts reading "BAN THE BOZ", but did not know that Bosworth's company manufactured the shirts.
Before a 1987
Monday Night Football
game against the Los Angeles Raiders
, the Seahawks had already beaten their divisional foe once in the season (who were floundering at the 3-7 mark) when Bosworth insulted Raiders
rookie running back Bo Jackson
and promised in a media event before the game that he would contain the running back. Bo had made his debut only a few weeks before and been impressive in 4 losses.
However, Bosworth was unable to fulfill his promise, as Jackson ended up rushing for 221 yards and scoring 3 touchdowns. Later in the game, Bosworth was involved in a one-on-one tackle at the goalline with Bo and was unable to prevent the running back from getting one of his three scores. The play became one of the most memorable plays in Monday Night Football
history. The game became the defining moment of both his and Bo Jackson's rookie seasons, and became serial highlight fodder in subsequent seasons compounding the matter.
Bosworth was forced to retire after only two games in 1989, having suffered a shoulder injury in the 1988 season (Team Doctor Pierce E. Scranton Jr. stating "Brian was a twenty-five-year-old with the shoulders of a sixty-year-old. He flunked my physical"). A season later Bo Jackson was also forced into early retirement.
Remembered for his lackluster professional football career, Bosworth was named the 6th worst flop on the Biggest Flops of the Last 25 Years list by ESPN
in July 2004 and number three on NFL Network
's NFL Top 10
Draft Busts. In the case of the latter program, Bosworth was interviewed for the program, one of the only players who made the list interviewed. One of his contemporaries, Matt Millen
, defended Bosworth, saying that he remembers an excellent linebacker who simply had injuries catch up to him and that most people remember him in the NFL for the Raiders game on Monday Night Football, which Millen was a member of the Raiders at the time.
Bosworth made an appearance in the booth during the Monday Night Football broadcast that saw the Seattle Seahawks host the Oakland Raiders on November 6, 2006. During the discussion, he stated he had no regrets about his football career, but wished that he and Bo Jackson
had longer careers. He also stated that he thought he and Jackson would have developed a good rivalry, had they both been able to play longer.
during their only season of existence in 2001.
Bosworth starred in the 1991 action film Stone Cold
and has had an on-again/off-again film career starring in several low budget titles such as One Man's Justice that went straight to DVD. In 2005, he had a role as one of the prison-guard football players in the Adam Sandler
movie remake The Longest Yard
. Brian also starred in a short lived TV show Lawless
.
Most recently, he appeared on an episode of Hell's Kitchen
as a dining guest.
. Bosworth became a real estate agent for The Sotheby's International Realty Malibu Brokerage office. In August 2007 he was listed as the selling agent for the sale of his own Malibu home at 6375 Meadows Court. On July 5, 2008, Bosworth assisted with the rescue of a woman who rolled her SUV east of Winnipeg
, Manitoba
.
On March 6, 2009; Bosworth was arrested for a DUI
charge by Los Angeles police.
On April 10, 2009; Bosworth administered CPR to a fallen man in a parking lot until medical help arrived. Bosworth spotted the man while returning home after speaking to Oklahoma high school students about the dangers of drunk driving as part of his community service requirement following his own DUI arrest.
Brian's nephews, Kyle
and Korey Bosworth, were signed as undrafted free agents by the Jacksonville Jaguars
and Detroit Lions
, respectively, in 2010.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
linebacker
Linebacker
A linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...
. He played college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
for the University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...
. He was drafted in the Supplemental draft by the Seattle Seahawks
Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team joined the NFL in 1976 as an expansion team...
.
College career
Brian Bosworth was a college standout at the University of OklahomaUniversity of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...
, where he was one of many blue-chip recruits from Texas lured across the border by longtime coach Barry Switzer
Barry Switzer
Barry Switzer is a former football coach, active in the college and professional ranks between 1962 and 1997. He has one of the highest winning percentages of any college football coach in history, and is one of only two head coaches to win both a college football national championship and a...
.
Known for his then radical hairstyles and criticism of the NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
as much as his play on the field, Bosworth was never one to shy from publicity or controversy. On more than one occasion Bosworth referred to the NCAA as the "National Communists Against Athletes". He wore a shirt bearing that slogan during the 1987 Orange Bowl following the 1986 season. Banned from the game because of steroid
Anabolic steroid
Anabolic steroids, technically known as anabolic-androgen steroids or colloquially simply as "steroids", are drugs that mimic the effects of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone in the body. They increase protein synthesis within cells, which results in the buildup of cellular tissue ,...
use, Bosworth unveiled the shirt while standing on the sidelines to the shock and outrage of many, including his own coach, Switzer. While Switzer was known for running a loose ship, this incident was too much even for him, and he threw Bosworth off the team.
A strong side inside linebacker throughout his college career, Bosworth was known for raising his level of play in big games. He was regarded as a great tackler, though sometimes criticized for tackling too high. The winner of the first two Butkus Award
Dick Butkus Award
The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football...
s as the nation's top college linebacker, he remains the only player ever to have won the accolade more than once. College Football News named him #30 on its list of the "100 Greatest College Players of All-Time." In October 1999, Bosworth was named to the Sports Illustrated NCAA Football All-Century Team as only one of nine linebackers on the squad.
In addition to his athletic accomplishments, Bosworth was a very good student who graduated a year ahead of his freshman class, thus making him eligible for the NFL's supplemental draft.
When playing for Seattle, he flew into practice on a helicopter. Many television news stations all over America showed footage of the stunt.
In September 1988, Bosworth wrote an autobiography, The Boz, with Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
's Rick Reilly
Rick Reilly
Richard "Rick" Paul Reilly is an American sportswriter. Long known for being the "back page" columnist for Sports Illustrated, Reilly moved to ESPN on June 1, 2008 where he is a featured columnist for ESPN.com and wrote the back page column for ESPN the Magazine...
. In it, Bosworth said the Sooner program was laden with drug use, gunplay in the athletic dorm and other wild behavior. Although many Sooner boosters dismissed it as the rantings of a resentful ex-player, an NCAA report issued three months later revealed many of the same things Bosworth had written about, and ultimately led to Switzer being forced to resign.
Brian Bosworth, the all-America linebacker, and two of his University of Oklahoma teammates were barred from playing in the Orange Bowl game against Arkansas Jan. 1, 1987 because they tested positive for anabolic steroids. The ruling was made by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which instituted tests for some championship events and some football bowl games that year in an effort to prevent the use of more than a hundred banned generic drugs.
Seattle Seahawks
Prior to his entry into the NFL supplemental draft, Bosworth had sent letters to various NFL teams stating that, if they drafted him, he wouldn't report to their training camp and he wouldn't play for them. As a joke, the Tacoma Stars of the Major Indoor Soccer League selected him in the 12th round in their 1987 draft, as their general manager stated, "Because we didn't receive a letter from him that he wouldn't play for us."Bosworth was drafted by the Seahawks in the 1987 NFL supplemental draft
1987 NFL Draft
The 1987 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 28–29, 1987...
and signed what was both the biggest contract in team history and the biggest rookie contract in NFL history at the time: 10 years for US$11 million. After being drafted by the Seahawks, Bosworth sued the NFL for the right to wear #44 (the number he wore in college), and was forced to wear #55 until he won the case.
Bosworth signed with a Seattle team that had failed to reach the play-offs for two seasons (a 10-6 finish in 1986 was only good enough for 3rd in the old AFC West as they lost out to the Kansas City Chiefs in head to head match-up despite a better scoring record overall). He appeared in 12 games in his rookie season, playing well for the most part, but became known more for his outspoken personality and appearance than his actual play on the field. Before the first game of the season, versus the Denver Broncos
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, Bosworth trash talked Denver quarterback John Elway
John Elway
John Albert Elway, Jr. is a former American football quarterback and currently is the executive vice president of football operations for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League . He played college football at Stanford and his entire professional career with the Denver Broncos...
. 10,000 Denver fans wore $15 T-shirts reading "BAN THE BOZ", but did not know that Bosworth's company manufactured the shirts.
Before a 1987
1987 NFL season
The 1987 NFL season was the 68th regular season of the National Football League. A 24-day players' strike reduced the 16-game season to 15. The games that were scheduled for the third week of the season were canceled, but the games for weeks 4–6 were played with replacement players...
Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From to it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series...
game against the Los Angeles Raiders
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, the Seahawks had already beaten their divisional foe once in the season (who were floundering at the 3-7 mark) when Bosworth insulted Raiders
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
rookie running back Bo Jackson
Bo Jackson
Vincent Edward "Bo" Jackson is a former American baseball and football player. He was the first athlete to be named an All-Star in two major American sports, and also won the Heisman Trophy in 1985....
and promised in a media event before the game that he would contain the running back. Bo had made his debut only a few weeks before and been impressive in 4 losses.
However, Bosworth was unable to fulfill his promise, as Jackson ended up rushing for 221 yards and scoring 3 touchdowns. Later in the game, Bosworth was involved in a one-on-one tackle at the goalline with Bo and was unable to prevent the running back from getting one of his three scores. The play became one of the most memorable plays in Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From to it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series...
history. The game became the defining moment of both his and Bo Jackson's rookie seasons, and became serial highlight fodder in subsequent seasons compounding the matter.
Bosworth was forced to retire after only two games in 1989, having suffered a shoulder injury in the 1988 season (Team Doctor Pierce E. Scranton Jr. stating "Brian was a twenty-five-year-old with the shoulders of a sixty-year-old. He flunked my physical"). A season later Bo Jackson was also forced into early retirement.
Remembered for his lackluster professional football career, Bosworth was named the 6th worst flop on the Biggest Flops of the Last 25 Years list by ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
in July 2004 and number three on NFL Network
NFL Network
NFL Network is an American television specialty channel owned and operated by the National Football League . It was launched November 4, 2003, only eight months after the league's 32 team owners voted unanimously to approve its formation...
's NFL Top 10
NFL Top 10
NFL Top 10 is a documentary program produced by NFL Films for airing on the NFL Network. The host and narrator is Derrin Horton.The program counts down 10 items directly related to the players, coaches, and events of the National Football League, with former players, NFL Network personalities, and...
Draft Busts. In the case of the latter program, Bosworth was interviewed for the program, one of the only players who made the list interviewed. One of his contemporaries, Matt Millen
Matt Millen
Matthew George "Matt" Millen is an American former National Football League linebacker and a former executive. Millen played for the Oakland Raiders, the San Francisco 49ers and the Washington Redskins. In Millen's 12-year NFL playing career, he played on four Super Bowl-winning teams...
, defended Bosworth, saying that he remembers an excellent linebacker who simply had injuries catch up to him and that most people remember him in the NFL for the Raiders game on Monday Night Football, which Millen was a member of the Raiders at the time.
Bosworth made an appearance in the booth during the Monday Night Football broadcast that saw the Seattle Seahawks host the Oakland Raiders on November 6, 2006. During the discussion, he stated he had no regrets about his football career, but wished that he and Bo Jackson
Bo Jackson
Vincent Edward "Bo" Jackson is a former American baseball and football player. He was the first athlete to be named an All-Star in two major American sports, and also won the Heisman Trophy in 1985....
had longer careers. He also stated that he thought he and Jackson would have developed a good rivalry, had they both been able to play longer.
Commentator and acting career
Bosworth was also a color commentator for the short-lived XFLXFL
The XFL was a professional American football league that played for one season in 2001. The league was founded by Vince McMahon, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of WWE...
during their only season of existence in 2001.
Bosworth starred in the 1991 action film Stone Cold
Stone Cold (1991 film)
Stone Cold is a 1991 action movie based around a biker gang out to assassinate the governor and free one of their members who is on trial for murder. The movie marked the acting debut of 80's football star Brian Bosworth.-Plot:...
and has had an on-again/off-again film career starring in several low budget titles such as One Man's Justice that went straight to DVD. In 2005, he had a role as one of the prison-guard football players in the Adam Sandler
Adam Sandler
Adam Richard Sandler is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, musician, and film producer.After becoming a Saturday Night Live cast member, Sandler went on to star in several Hollywood feature films that grossed over $100 million at the box office...
movie remake The Longest Yard
The Longest Yard (2005 film)
The Longest Yard is a 2005 American sports comedy film remake of the 1974 film of the same name. Adam Sandler plays the protagonist, Paul Crewe, a disgraced former professional football quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL, who is coerced to form a team from the prison inmates to play...
. Brian also starred in a short lived TV show Lawless
Lawless (TV Series)
Lawless was a detective television series starring former NFL star Brian Bosworth on the Fox Broadcasting Company that performed so poorly on television it was cancelled after one episode. -Cast:*Brian Bosworth ... John Lawless...
.
Most recently, he appeared on an episode of Hell's Kitchen
Hell's Kitchen (U.S.)
Hell's Kitchen is an American reality-television cooking competition broadcast on Fox...
as a dining guest.
Actor
| Year | Title | Role | Director |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Stone Cold Stone Cold (1991 film) Stone Cold is a 1991 action movie based around a biker gang out to assassinate the governor and free one of their members who is on trial for murder. The movie marked the acting debut of 80's football star Brian Bosworth.-Plot:... |
Joe Huff / John Stone | Craig R. Baxley Craig R. Baxley Craig Redding Baxley is an American actor, director and stunt performer. He is best known for his work in the action and thriller genres.... |
| 1994 | One Man's Justice | John North | Kurt Wimmer Kurt Wimmer Kurt Wimmer is an American screenwriter and film director.Wimmer is of German descent, he attended the University of South Florida and graduated with a BFA degree in Art History. He then moved to Los Angeles where he worked for 12 years as a screenwriter before making his 2002 film, Equilibrium... |
| 1995 | Virus | Ken Fairchild | Allan A. Goldstein |
| 1996 | Blackout | John Gray/Wayne Garret | Allan A. Goldstein |
| 1997 | Back in Business | Joe Elkhart | Philippe Mora Philippe Mora Philippe Mora is a French-born Australian film director. Born in 1949 to a German Jewish father and a French Jewish mother, he began making films while still a child.- Career :... |
| 1999 | Three Kings | Action Star | David O. Russell David O. Russell David Owen Russell is an American film director and screenwriter. He has been praised for the loose, comic energy that characterizes his work, and is notorious for his explosive confrontations with cast members.-Early life:... |
| 2000 | The Operative | Alec/Grady | Robert Lee Robert Lee Robert Lee may refer to:* Robert Lee, 4th Earl of Lichfield , British peer and politician* Robert Lee , Regius Professor of Midwifery, University of Glasgow* Robert E... |
| 2001 | Phase IV | Detective Steven Birnam | Bryan Goeres |
| Mach 2 | Captain Jack Tyree | Fred Olen Ray Fred Olen Ray Fred Olen Ray is an American director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and cinematographer.-Biography:He is the producer, director, and screenwriter of low to medium-budget feature films in many genres, including horror, science fiction, action/adventure, softcore sex films and crime dramas... |
|
| 2005 | The Longest Yard The Longest Yard (2005 film) The Longest Yard is a 2005 American sports comedy film remake of the 1974 film of the same name. Adam Sandler plays the protagonist, Paul Crewe, a disgraced former professional football quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL, who is coerced to form a team from the prison inmates to play... |
Guard Garner | Peter Segal Peter Segal Peter Segal is an American film director, with credits in producing, writing, and acting. He has had general success in the comedy film genre.-Filmography:*Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult *Tommy Boy... |
| 2009 | Rock Slyde Rock Slyde Rock Slyde is a 2009 comedy film written and directed by Chris Dowling.. This independent production stars Patrick Warburton, Andy Dick, Rena Sofer, and Elaine Hendrix and is Mr... |
The Friendly Pirate | Chris Dowling |
| 2010 | Down and Distance | John Vonarb | Brian J. De Palma |
| 2010 | Blue Mountain State Blue Mountain State Blue Mountain State is an American comedy series that premiered on Spike on January 11, 2010. The series producers include Chris Romano and Eric Falconer and is produced by Lionsgate Television... |
Himself | Chris Romano Chris Romano Chris "Romanski" Romano is an actor, writer, producer, and director; most commonly known for his acting role in Spike TV's Blue Mountain State. He plays the role of Sammy Cacciatore: The team mascot and Alex's roommate who is constantly searching for girls and excuses to get drunk, with his... |
Personal life
Bosworth married his high school girlfriend, Katherine Nicastro, in September 1993. The couple have three children, but have filed for divorce. Brian also has two nephews, Kyle and Korey Bosworth, who played football for the UCLA BruinsUCLA Bruins Football
The UCLA Bruins football program represents the University of California, Los Angeles in college football as members of the Pacific-12 Conference at the NCAA Division I FBS level. The Bruins have enjoyed several periods of success in their history, having been ranked in the top ten of the AP Poll...
. Bosworth became a real estate agent for The Sotheby's International Realty Malibu Brokerage office. In August 2007 he was listed as the selling agent for the sale of his own Malibu home at 6375 Meadows Court. On July 5, 2008, Bosworth assisted with the rescue of a woman who rolled her SUV east of Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
.
On March 6, 2009; Bosworth was arrested for a DUI
Driving under the influence
Driving under the influence is the act of driving a motor vehicle with blood levels of alcohol in excess of a legal limit...
charge by Los Angeles police.
On April 10, 2009; Bosworth administered CPR to a fallen man in a parking lot until medical help arrived. Bosworth spotted the man while returning home after speaking to Oklahoma high school students about the dangers of drunk driving as part of his community service requirement following his own DUI arrest.
Brian's nephews, Kyle
Kyle Bosworth
Kyle Louis Bosworth is an American football outside linebacker for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League. He was signed by the Jaguars as an undrafted free agent in 2010...
and Korey Bosworth, were signed as undrafted free agents by the Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
and Detroit Lions
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
, respectively, in 2010.
Collegiate honors (1984-86)
- All-AmericaAll-AmericaAn All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
- 1985, 1986 - All-Big EightBig Eight ConferenceThe Big Eight Conference, a former NCAA-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football, was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association by its charter member schools: the University of Kansas, University of Missouri, University...
- 1984, 1985, 1986 - Academic All America - 1986