Jerry Ball

Last updated

Jerry Ball
No. 93, 96
Position: Defensive tackle
Personal information
Born: (1964-12-15) December 15, 1964 (age 59)
Beaumont, Texas, U.S.
Height:6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight:330 lb (150 kg)
Career information
High school: Hebert (Beaumont)
West Brook (Beaumont)
College: SMU
NFL draft: 1987  / round: 3 / pick: 63
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Tackles:557
Sacks:32.5
Interceptions:1
Player stats at PFR

Jerry Ball Jr. (born December 15, 1964) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL), playing primarily as a nose tackle. He played college football for the SMU Mustangs. Ball played in the NFL for the Detroit Lions, Cleveland Browns, Los Angeles / Oakland Raiders, and Minnesota Vikings.

Contents

Biography

Ball was born in Beaumont, Texas, and attended Hebert High School, then after integration graduated from West Brook High School, where he played fullback and rushed for 1,000 yards and LB for 1982 5A State Championship All State honors. He was All District in three positions and was selected to play in the Texas high school all star game. Ball was selected as one of the top 100 players over the last 100 years by Dave Campbell's Texas Football and Texas UIL football organizations 1920 to 2020.

Ball was selected as a Texas Gridiron Legend in 2020 for contributions to the game of football.

He played college football at Southern Methodist University in University Park, Texas. He was a four-year letter-winner and ranks 4th on the all-time sack list at SMU. He was selected as All-Southwest Conference 84–86.

Ball was a third-team All-American as a junior [1] and a second-team All-American as a senior. [2] He was a two-time Outland and Lombardi award finalist, and a Christian-Terrell 3-time winner. Ball was inducted to SMU athletics Hall of Fame in 2015.

Professional career

Ball was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the 3rd round (63rd overall) of the 1987 NFL draft. [3] [4] During his career he went to three Pro Bowls with the Detroit Lions. [5]

Ball played in the NFL for 13 seasons. [6] He recorded 32.5 sacks during his career, most of them coming as a nose tackle with the Detroit Lions. Despite this fact, Ball spent his entire career being double teamed and often triple teamed by opposing teams. Ball's dominance was such a force that teams would realign their best players to help centers deal with the pressure Ball kept on the middle of the offense. Known mostly as a run stuffer later in his career, he has been considered one of the best nose tackles of this era. Anchoring the Minnesota Viking defense alongside John Randle, also a Pro Bowl defensive tackle, Ball re-emerged as a leader and dominant force on the Vikings 15–1 record setting team.

NFL career statistics

Legend
BoldCareer high

Regular season

YearTeamGamesTacklesInterceptionsFumbles
GPGSCombSoloAstSckIntYdsTDLngFFFRYdsTD
1987 DET 121236——1.000000000
1988 DET 161668——2.000000000
1989 DET 161673——9.000000300
1990 DET 151550——2.000000000
1991 DET 131336——2.000001000
1992 DET 121243——2.5000003211
1993 CLE 16746——3.000002000
1994 RAI 1614524483.000000100
1995 OAK 1514413383.000001100
1996 OAK 160262243.01661660100
1997 MIN 1263017130.000000200
1998 MIN 1616312470.000001100
1999 MIN 1310241681.000000000
CLE 331101.000000000
1911545571574832.5166166512211

Playoffs

YearTeamGamesTacklesInterceptionsFumbles
GPGSCombSoloAstSckIntYdsTDLngFFFRYdsTD
1997 MIN 226330.000000100
1998 MIN 223210.000000000
1999 MIN 211100.000000000
6510640.000000100

Personal life

Ball became a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity at Southern Methodist University Spring 1984.

Ball has three daughters and four grandchildren

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References

  1. ↑ "All-America". Akron Beacon Journal. December 10, 1985. p. D2.
  2. ↑ "All-America News: Football News". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. November 23, 1986. p. 14D.
  3. ↑ "1987 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
  4. ↑ "Jerry Lee Ball". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 23, 2012.
  5. ↑ "Game Ball: When Lion nose tackle Jerry Ball comes to play, somebody has to pay". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on June 5, 2012. Retrieved November 23, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Jerry Ball". NFL Enterprises LLC. Retrieved November 23, 2012.
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