Cecil Doggette (born November 15, 1970, in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

) is a former

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

Defensive specialist In arena football, a specialist was a player, other than a quarterback or placekicker, who was exempt from the league's one-platoon system ("Iron Man"). Under the original Arena football system, six of the eight players on each team were required t ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Hudson Valley Community College Hudson Valley Community College is a public community college in Troy, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY). Although about eighty percent of the students are from the Capital District, the remainder are from other pa ...

and

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

. In his career, Doggette played for the

Columbus Destroyers The Columbus Destroyers were an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in Columbus, Ohio, with home games in Nationwide Arena. The team was founded in as the Buffalo Destroyers, based in Buffalo, New York, and relocated to Columbus in . They fold ...

Detroit Drive The Massachusetts Marauders were a professional arena football team that was based in Worcester, Massachusetts. They were a member of the Arena Football League (AFL) from 1988 to 1994. The team was established in Detroit in 1988, as the Detroit D ...

Arizona Rattlers The Arizona Rattlers are a professional indoor American football team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are currently members of the Indoor Football League (IFL). The Rattlers were founded in 1992 as an expansion team in the Arena Football League ...

Grand Rapids Rampage The Grand Rapids Rampage was an arena football team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The team began play in 1998 in the Arena Football League as an expansion team. They were last coached by Steve Thonn. Their home arena was the Van Andel Arena. ...

, and various

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

and

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

teams.

High school years

Doggette attended Bayside High School in Queens and was a standout in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

Personal life

Cecil is married to former

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...

gymnast, Becky Doggette (née Morrison). The couple have four children, Brooklyn (b. 1994), Sydney or known as 'Makarri' (b. 2000), Jayla (b. 1997) and Cecil 'CJ' (b. 2004). The family reside in

Pickerington, Ohio Pickerington is a city in Fairfield County, Ohio, Fairfield and Franklin County, Ohio, Franklin counties in the central region of the U.S. state of Ohio. It was founded in 1815 as Jacksonville, named after Andrew Jackson. Pickerington was known a ...

College career

Doggette first attended

Troy, New York Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany a ...

. He then transferred to

where he was a two-year starter. In 1990, Doggette's first season at West Virginia, he recorded 22 tackles. He also forced two fumbles and recovered another. In 1991, he broke the school single-season record of pass break-ups with nine in the first three games of the season. He finished the season with 29 tackles.

Professional career

National Football League (1992)

Doggette went unselected in the

1992 NFL Draft The 1992 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 26–27, 1992, at the Marriott Mar ...

, however, he was signed by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

Arena Football League (1993)

After his stint with the San Diego Chargers, Doggette left the NFL joined the

. He signed with the

, where he played five games, recording 6.5 tackles and one interception. He also played a playoff game, recording 3.5 tackles.

NFL (1994)/WLAF (1995-1997)

After the season, Doggette signed a one-year contract with the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

in . In , the Jets allocated him to the

Frankfurt Galaxy Two American football franchises have been referred to as the Frankfurt Galaxy: * Frankfurt Galaxy (NFL Europe), active in NFL Europe between 1991 and 2007 * Frankfurt Galaxy (ELF) The Frankfurt Galaxy is an American football team in Frankfurt, ...

of the World League. He helped Frankfurt win the

World Bowl The World Bowl was the annual American football championship game of the World League of American Football/NFL Europe. The World Bowl was played each year from 1991 to 2007 (except 1993 and 1994). The game was conceived as the final of the NFL-r ...

Championship that season as the special teams MVP. Then, in , Doggette attended

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

with the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

, but returned to the Galaxy for the 1996 season instead. He finished the season with 40 tackles, 12 pass break-ups and four interceptions. In 1998, Doggette was signed to the Practice Squad of the Buffalo Bills.

Return to the Arena Football League

On June 28, 1995, Doggette signed with the

of the Arena Football League, after the NFL Europe season ended. He played in only four games, in but recorded 17.5 tackles and three pass break-ups. He left the Rattlers after the 1995 season to return to the NFL Europe for the 1996 season.

Final season in the World Leaguge

After the 1997 season, Doggette left the Galaxy, when he was named All-World League for the consecutive season. He set a single-game record with six pass break-ups against the

London Monarchs The London Monarchs were a professional American football team in NFL Europe and its predecessor league, the World League of American Football (WLAF). The Monarchs played their final season in 1998 as the England Monarchs. In 1999, they were re ...

that season. He finished his Galaxy career second on the all-time career list with 29 pass break-ups and single-season with 14 break-ups.

Full-time Arena Football League player

Arizona Rattlers

In week seven of the season, Doggette performed well in the playoffs, recording 18.5 tackles and eight pass break-ups. In the

ArenaBowl XI ArenaBowl XI was the Arena Football League's eleventh ArenaBowl. The game featured two American Conference teams, the #2 Iowa Barnstormers (11–3) against the #1 Arizona Rattlers (12–2). Iowa was coming from losing ArenaBowl X to the Tampa Bay ...

, he recorded four tackles against the

Iowa Blackhawks The Lincoln Haymakers were a professional indoor football team based in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Haymakers played their 2013–2014 home games at the Pershing Center. The Haymakers were the second indoor football team to call Lincoln home, followin ...

. In 1998, he played in all fourteen games of the season. He led the Rattlers with 50 tackles and 19 pass break-ups. He also recorded two interceptions and fumble recoveries. In the playoffs, he recorded 3.5 tackles, an interception, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and four pass break-ups. After the season, he signed with the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

. In , Doggette finished the season by being named All-Arena. He led the team with 54 tackles, 16 pass break-ups, and six interceptions on the season. His six interceptions were second in the league. In two playoff games, Doggette recorded 12.5 tackles and five pass break-ups. Then, in , he again led the team in tackles with 66, pass break-ups with 23, and interceptions with four. He also had four forced fumbles and one recovery. In three playoff games, he recorded 16 tackles, two pass break-ups and an interception. For the season, he led the team with 61 tackles and five interceptions. He also had 13 pass break-ups, and nine tackles and three pass break-ups in the playoffs. On March 25, 2002, Doggette re-signed with the Rattlers. In season, he only played 10 games, but still earned second-team All-Arena honors after recording team-highs 56 tackles, three interceptions, and 15 pass break-ups. It would be the fifth consecutive season that Doggette led his respective team in tackles. He recorded 12 tackles, four pass break-ups, and an interception in the playoffs, up to the

ArenaBowl XVI ArenaBowl XVI was played between the San Jose SaberCats and Arizona Rattlers in San Jose, California on August 18, 2002. A game with considerable expectations given the teams' intense rivalry and respective success that year, the SaberCats surpri ...

loss.

Grand Rapids Rampage

After the 2002 season Doggette signed with the

. In , he led the team in tackles for the sixth consecutive season. His 64.5 tackles ranked as the third most in Rampage history. He also recorded four interceptions, returning one for his lone career touchdown, and 13 pass break-ups. Doggette's season was the best statistical season of his career. He set career-highs with 76 tackles and 29 pass break-ups, leading the league in both categories. His season pass break-ups were the fourth most all-time in league single-season history. His tackles were also a Rampage record and became the franchise leader in tackles (141.5) and pass break-ups (43). He also became the all-time AFL career leader in pass break-ups on May 22, against the

Carolina Cobras The Carolina Cobras were an expansion franchise in the Arena Football League. The team was formed prior to the 2000 season, which endured a player strike. The team was originally based in Raleigh, North Carolina, but moved to Charlotte followin ...

with 136 in his career. He finished the season by being named All-Arena and being named Defensive Player of the Game four times throughout the season. In , his last season with the Rampage, he totaled 29 tackles and nine pass break-ups.

Columbus Destroyers

In , Doggette played his final season with the

. He finished the season second on the team in tackles with 63 and pass break-ups with 10, also recording an interception. In the final home game of his career, he set a season-high 14 tackles against the

Tampa Bay Storm The Tampa Bay Storm were a professional arena football team based in Tampa, Florida, US. It played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Originally the team was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and operated as the Pittsburgh Gladiators. The f ...

. In the final game of his career, he totaled six tackles, one pass break-up, and a fumble recovery. Doggette announced his retirement on May 1, at the conclusion of the season.

NFL Youth Flag Football

In the fall of 2008 Doggette embarked on a new venture. He started the Ohio Youth Flag Football Association
NFL OHIO
now name
GameTime SportZGameTime SportZ
now services families in Ohio, Indiana and Virginia. Doggette's Kids F.I.R.S.T programs are a huge it with the parents and kids. From Draft Party's to Super Bowls, GameTime SportZ provides the absolute best kids sporting environment around.

References

External links

Columbus Destroyers' player bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doggette, Cecil 1970 births Living people Sportspeople from Queens, New York Players of American football from New York City American football defensive backs West Virginia Mountaineers football players Detroit Drive players Frankfurt Galaxy players Arizona Rattlers players Grand Rapids Rampage players Columbus Destroyers players Bayside High School (Queens) alumni