Eric Berry
Encyclopedia
James Eric Berry nicknamed "The Fifth Dimension" is an American football
safety for the Kansas City Chiefs
of the National Football League
. He was drafted 5th overall in the 2010 NFL Draft
. He played college football
at Tennessee
.
and football
. In track, Berry was the anchor leg of the 2006 AAAA State Champion 4x400m relay team. Individually, he was the 2005 AAAA State Champion in the 200m.
Berry played cornerback
and quarterback
, earning a 37-5 record as a starter at Creekside. Following his stellar high school career, Berry was invited to play in the 2007 U.S. Army All-American Bowl
.
Berry was considered the top player in Georgia and the top cornerback prospect by every recruiting service, and Rivals.com ranked him the #3 player in the nation.
Defensive Freshman of the Year by the Sporting News. His 222 return yards(on five interceptions) broke the 37 year-old Tennessee record by 43 yards. Berry led all SEC freshmen in tackles
with 86. He twice was named SEC Freshman of the Week for his play over the regular season’s final three games. After the season, he was also named 1st team Freshman All-American by Rivals.
For the year, Berry tied for the national lead in interceptions with 7 and returned them for 265 yards and 2 touchdowns, breaking the record he set the year earlier. Combined with the yards he accumulated as a Freshman, Berry set the all-time career SEC record for interception return yards with 487 yards, only 14 yards shy of the NCAA record for interception return yards, set by Terrell Buckley
during his time at Florida State. He also finished the regular season with 72 tackles, 6 pass break-ups and 3 sacks.
Berry also took snaps on offense at quarterback and wide receiver
, gaining 44 rushing yards on 7 carries. In addition, he gained 32 yards on 2 kick-off returns.
His early success had some journalists speculating that he could end up being the best defensive player in Tennessee history. He was nominated as a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award
, the Lott Trophy
, and the Chuck Bednarik Award.
Berry was named the SEC
Defensive Player of the year and was a unanimous First-Team All-SEC pick. He was also a unanimous First-team All American
. The Touchdown Club of Columbus
also named him their winner of the 2008 Jack Tatum Award as well.
.
For the second year in a row, he was nominated as a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, the Lott Trophy, and the Chuck Bednarik Award. He won the Thorpe Award and was named a unanimous All American for the second time in his college career. Berry also won The Touchdown Club of Columbus's Jack Tatum Award for the second straight year.
He would forgo his last year of eligibility at the University of Tennessee and enter the NFL draft.
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...
safety for the Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
. He was drafted 5th overall in the 2010 NFL Draft
2010 NFL Draft
The 2010 NFL Draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League franchises to select newly eligible football players. Unlike previous years, the 2010 draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, with the first round on Thursday, April 22, 2010, at 7:30 pm...
. 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...
at Tennessee
Tennessee Volunteers football
The Tennessee Volunteers football team are an American college football team at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville . The NCAA Division I team is also a member of the Southeastern Conference ....
.
High school career
Berry played at Creekside High School in Fairburn, Georgia, and was a standout in trackTrack and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
and football
High school football
High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....
. In track, Berry was the anchor leg of the 2006 AAAA State Champion 4x400m relay team. Individually, he was the 2005 AAAA State Champion in the 200m.
Berry played cornerback
Cornerback
A cornerback is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in American and Canadian football. Cornerbacks cover receivers, to defend against pass offenses and make tackles. Other members of the defensive backfield include the safeties and occasionally linebackers. The cornerback position...
and quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
, earning a 37-5 record as a starter at Creekside. Following his stellar high school career, Berry was invited to play in the 2007 U.S. Army All-American Bowl
U.S. Army All-American Bowl
The U.S. Army All-American Bowl is a high school football all-star game held in early January in San Antonio, Texas. Currently played in the Alamodome, the game brings 90 of the nation's top high school football players in an East versus West matchup. In addition to the Bowl game, there is the U.S...
.
Berry was considered the top player in Georgia and the top cornerback prospect by every recruiting service, and Rivals.com ranked him the #3 player in the nation.
2007 season
As a freshman, Berry replaced fifth year senior Jarod Parrish after a strong showing in his first collegiate game against California. Berry turned in several big plays during his freshman season en route to being named the SECSoutheastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...
Defensive Freshman of the Year by the Sporting News. His 222 return yards(on five interceptions) broke the 37 year-old Tennessee record by 43 yards. Berry led all SEC freshmen in tackles
Tackle (football move)
Most forms of football have a move known as a tackle. The primary purposes of tackling is to disposses an opponent of the ball, to stop the player from gaining ground towards goal or to stop them from carrying out what they intend....
with 86. He twice was named SEC Freshman of the Week for his play over the regular season’s final three games. After the season, he was also named 1st team Freshman All-American by Rivals.
2008 season
Prior to the season, despite being a sophomore, Berry was named a team captain.For the year, Berry tied for the national lead in interceptions with 7 and returned them for 265 yards and 2 touchdowns, breaking the record he set the year earlier. Combined with the yards he accumulated as a Freshman, Berry set the all-time career SEC record for interception return yards with 487 yards, only 14 yards shy of the NCAA record for interception return yards, set by Terrell Buckley
Terrell Buckley
Douglas Terrell Buckley is a former American football cornerback in the National Football League....
during his time at Florida State. He also finished the regular season with 72 tackles, 6 pass break-ups and 3 sacks.
Berry also took snaps on offense at quarterback and wide receiver
Wide receiver
A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...
, gaining 44 rushing yards on 7 carries. In addition, he gained 32 yards on 2 kick-off returns.
His early success had some journalists speculating that he could end up being the best defensive player in Tennessee history. He was nominated as a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award
Jim Thorpe Award
The Jim Thorpe Award, named in memory of multi-sport legend Jim Thorpe, has been awarded to the top defensive back in college football since 1986...
, the Lott Trophy
Lott Trophy
The Lott IMPACT Trophy is presented annually to the college football Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year. IMPACT is an acronym for: integrity, maturity, performance, academics, community, and tenacity. The award purports to equally recognize the personal character of the winning player as well as...
, and the Chuck Bednarik Award.
Berry was named the SEC
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...
Defensive Player of the year and was a unanimous First-Team All-SEC pick. He was also a unanimous First-team All American
2008 College Football All-America Team
The 2008 College Football All-America Team is composed of the following All-American first teams: Associated Press, Football Writers Association of America, American Football Coaches Association, Walter Camp Foundation, The Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Pro Football Weekly, ESPN, CBS Sports,...
. The Touchdown Club of Columbus
Touchdown Club of Columbus
The Touchdown Club of Columbus was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1956 by Sam B. Nicola at the request of State Auditor James A. Rhodes, who later became governor of the state. Nicola served as the club's president until his death in 1993. More than a decade later, his son Sam Nicola, Jr...
also named him their winner of the 2008 Jack Tatum Award as well.
2009 season
Berry was a pre-season All-American and unanimous All-SEC choice. In October, he was named a midseason All-American by The Sporting NewsThe Sporting News
Sporting News is an American-based sports magazine. It was established in 1886, and it became the dominant American publication covering baseball — so much so that it acquired the nickname "The Bible of Baseball"...
.
For the second year in a row, he was nominated as a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, the Lott Trophy, and the Chuck Bednarik Award. He won the Thorpe Award and was named a unanimous All American for the second time in his college career. Berry also won The Touchdown Club of Columbus's Jack Tatum Award for the second straight year.
He would forgo his last year of eligibility at the University of Tennessee and enter the NFL draft.
College awards and honors
- 2009 Unanimous All-American2009 College Football All-America TeamAn All-American team is an honorary sports team for a specific season composed of the best amateur players at each position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply "All-Americans". Although the honorees generally do not...
- 2000s ESPN All-Decade High School Football Team
- 2000s RivalsHigh.com Team Of The Decade First Team
- 2000s Sports Illustrated All-Decade Team
- 2009 Jim Thorpe AwardJim Thorpe AwardThe Jim Thorpe Award, named in memory of multi-sport legend Jim Thorpe, has been awarded to the top defensive back in college football since 1986...
- 2009 Bronko Nagurski Award Finalist
- 2009 Lott Award Finalist
- 2009 Jack Tatum Award Winner
- 2009 First-team All-SEC (Coaches, APAssociated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
) - 2008 Unanimous All-American2008 College Football All-America TeamThe 2008 College Football All-America Team is composed of the following All-American first teams: Associated Press, Football Writers Association of America, American Football Coaches Association, Walter Camp Foundation, The Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Pro Football Weekly, ESPN, CBS Sports,...
- 2008 National Defensive Sophomore of the Year (Collegefootballnews.com)
- 2008 SEC Defensive Player of the Year
- 2008 Jack Tatum Award Winner
- 2008 First-team All-SEC (Coaches, APAssociated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
) - 2008 Vince Dooley Award
- 2008 Jim Thorpe Award Finalist
- Unanimous 2007 First-team Freshman All-American
- 2007 National Defensive Freshman of the Year (Collegefootballnews.com)
- 2007 SECSoutheastern ConferenceThe Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...
Freshman Defensive Player of the Year (Sporting News) - 2007 Second-team All-SEC (Coaches, AP)
- 2007 All-SEC Freshmen Team
- 2007 All-SEC Freshmen Academic Honor Roll
- 2006 Georgia High School Player of the Year (GatoradeGatoradeGatorade is a brand of sports-themed food and beverage products, built around its signature product: a line of sports drinks. Gatorade is currently manufactured by PepsiCo, distributed in over 80 countries...
)
College statistics
- Correct as of 2008 season end.
! rowspan=2|Year !! rowspan=2|GP–GS !! colspan=4|Tackles !! Sacks !! colspan=4|Pass Defense !! colspan=2|Fumbles !! Blocked>! Solo !! Ast !! Total !! Loss–Yards !! No–Yards !! Int–Yards !! TD !! PD !! QBH !! Yards !! FF !! Kick> | 2007 2007 Tennessee Volunteers football teamThe 2007 Tennessee Volunteers football team represented the University of Tennessee in the college football season of 2007–2008. They won the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference before falling to the eventual national champion LSU Tigers in the SEC Championship Game...
>> 86 2–3 0–0 5–222 1 4 0 55 2 0 | 2008 2008 Tennessee Volunteers football teamThe 2008 Tennessee Volunteers football team represented the University of Tennessee in the college football season of 2008–2009. The team was coached by head football coach Phillip Fulmer, in his 16th and final season as head coach. The Vols played their home games in Neyland Stadium and competed...
>> 72 9–21 3–11 7–265 2 6 0 0 0 0 | 2009 2009 Tennessee Volunteers football teamThe 2009 Tennessee Volunteers football team represented the University of Tennessee in the 2009 college football season. The team was coached by Lane Kiffin. The 2009 season would be his 1st and only at Tennessee – leaving to take the head coaching job at the University of Southern Cal on January...
>> 83 7-15 0–0 2–7 0 7 3 46 1 0 ! colspan=2|Total
! !! !! 241 !! 18–39 !! 3–11 !! 14–494 !! 3 !! 17 !! 3 !! 0–0 !! 0 !! 0>
2010 NFL Draft
Following Tennessee's 37–14 loss to Virginia Tech2009 Virginia Tech Hokies football teamThe 2009 Virginia Tech Hokies football team represented Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University during the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team's head coach was Frank Beamer...
in the 2009 Chick-fil-A Bowl2009 Chick-fil-A BowlThe 2009 Chick-fil-A Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game between the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Tennessee Volunteers on December 31, 2009, in the Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia. Virginia Tech defeated Tennessee 40–12. The game was part of the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season...
, Berry announced his decision to forgo his final year of college football eligibility, entering the 2010 NFL Draft2010 NFL DraftThe 2010 NFL Draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League franchises to select newly eligible football players. Unlike previous years, the 2010 draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, with the first round on Thursday, April 22, 2010, at 7:30 pm...
. At the NFL combine, Berry officially ran a 4.47 40-yard dash time.
Berry was regarded as the highest touted safety since Sean TaylorSean TaylorSean Michael Maurice Taylor was an American football free safety who played for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League. Taylor was drafted in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft by the Redskins...
, whom Berry idolized prior to Taylor's death, and was expected to be selected no lower than No. 7, the Cleveland BrownsCleveland BrownsThe Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
pick.
The Kansas City ChiefsKansas City ChiefsThe Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
selected him with the fifth overall pick in the 2010 NFL draft. Berry selected number 29 as his jersey number in honor of former Tennessee defensive back standout Inky Johnson, whose career was cut short due to an injury.
He and the Chiefs agreed to a six-year, $60 million contract on July 30, 2010 making Berry the highest-paid safety in NFL history.
Berry also signed a multi-year endorsement deal with AdidasAdidasAdidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer and parent company of the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-Adidas golf company , and Rockport...
.
Kansas City Chiefs (2010-present)
In his first season, Berry started all 16 games and became the first Chiefs rookie to be selected to the Pro Bowl since linebacker great Derrick ThomasDerrick ThomasDerrick Vincent Thomas , nicknamed D.T., was an American football linebacker and defensive end for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League . He played his entire 11-year career for the Chiefs after being drafted fourth overall in the 1989 NFL Draft...
. Berry had a big impact on the team's defense, helping to improve it from 29th best unit in 2009 in terms of points allowed to 11th in 2010, In addition to starting every game, Berry was on the field for almost half of Kansas City's special teams plays and was the only Chiefs defender to play every defensive snap.
He led the team in interceptions (4), and was second only to Derrick JohnsonDerrick Johnson-Kansas City Chiefs:Johnson started every game for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2005, becoming the first Chiefs linebacker in 20 years to start all 16 games of his rookie campaign. He was subsequently awarded the Mack Lee Hill Award by the Chiefs...
in tackles (92) and solo tackles(77). On December 26, 2010, Berry scored his first NFL touchdown on a 54-yard interception return against the Tennessee TitansTennessee TitansThe Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the team began play in 1960 as a charter...
.
In his first playoff game, he recorded a career-high in solo tackles with 9 and passes defended with 4.
On September 11, 2011, Berry suffered a torn ACLAnterior cruciate ligament injuryAn injury to the anterior cruciate ligament can be a debilitating musculoskeletal injury to the knee, seen most often in athletes. Non-contact tears and ruptures are the most common causes of ACL injury....
, and was placed on injured reserve later in the week, ending his season. Berry had surgery on September 29, 2011, and intends to return for the start of the 2012 NFL season.
External links