| No. 92, 99 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Defensive end | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | May 23, 1974 Riverside, California, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 275 lb (125 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | John W. North (Riverside) | ||||||||
| College: | California | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1996: 1st round, 16th overall | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Duane Anthony Clemons [1] (born May 23, 1974 [2] ) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) between 1996 and 2005. [3] He played college football for the California Golden Bears and was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the 1996 NFL draft . [4]
He finished his NFL career with 49.5 sacks. Despite struggling to see the field as a starter (16 starts in 4 years with Minnesota), Clemons proved a very capable sack artist. In 1997, he finished with 7.0 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, and 24 tackles. In 1999, he finished with a career-best 9.0 sacks and 36 tackles.
On November 10, 1999, Clemons was fined $7,500 for intentionally punching Flozell Adams in the testes [5] following an interception two days earlier during a Monday Night Football game against the Dallas Cowboys. [6] While Adams maintained that he didn't know why Clemons punched him, Clemons stated that he threw the punch because Adams illegally took him down from behind on an interception return. [7]
In 2000, he went to the Kansas City Chiefs, where he finished with 7.5 sacks and a career-best 56 tackles. The next year, 2001, he finished with 7.0 sacks and 48 tackles. In 2003, he found himself with the Cincinnati Bengals, where he recorded 6.0 sacks, a career-best 4 pass deflections, and 42 tackles. In 2004, he finished with 6.5 sacks and 49 tackles.
On September 8, 2008, Clemons signed with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League [8] and was assigned to their practice roster, but was released by the team on September 15, 2008. [9] He later became the defensive line coach for the MidAmerica Nazarene University Pioneers.
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Comb | Solo | Ast | Sck | Int | Yds | TD | Lng | FF | FR | Yds | TD | ||
| 1996 | MIN | 13 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| 1997 | MIN | 13 | 3 | 24 | 23 | 1 | 7.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1998 | MIN | 16 | 4 | 25 | 17 | 8 | 2.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1999 | MIN | 16 | 9 | 39 | 32 | 7 | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 2000 | KAN | 12 | 12 | 56 | 47 | 9 | 7.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2001 | KAN | 16 | 15 | 49 | 37 | 12 | 7.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2002 | KAN | 16 | 16 | 35 | 27 | 8 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 42 | 1 |
| 2003 | CIN | 16 | 13 | 43 | 36 | 7 | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2004 | CIN | 14 | 14 | 50 | 32 | 18 | 6.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2005 | CIN | 10 | 0 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 142 | 86 | 340 | 263 | 77 | 49.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 11 | 50 | 1 | ||
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Comb | Solo | Ast | Sck | Int | Yds | TD | Lng | FF | FR | Yds | TD | ||
| 1997 | MIN | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1998 | MIN | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1999 | MIN | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||