Charles Edward Drake III (September 5, 1981 – July 6, 2012) was an American football player who was picked in the 7th round of the 2003 NFL draft and played briefly in the National Football League. Drake also played professionally in the Austrian Football League 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 ...

. A native of Los Angeles, Drake played high school football at Westchester High School, where he was selected as an all-city running back. Drake committed to play

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 ...

at the University of Michigan as part of the incoming class of 1999. He played at Michigan from 1999 to 2002. He was converted to a defensive back as a sophomore in 2000. He was the starting safety in nine games for the 2001 Michigan team and a starter at cornerback in 13 games for the 2002 team. After his senior year at Michigan, Drake was selected to participate in the 2003 NFL Combine.

Professional

He was drafted by the

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

in the seventh round of the

2003 NFL Draft The 2003 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League (NFL) teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936 NF ...

but was released by the Giants in late August 2003, prior to the start of the regular season. He was signed the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

in December 2003 as a member of the team's practice squad. He remained with the team through the 2004 exhibition season. He was released by the Lions during the first week of September 2004. That fall, he played at the safety position for the Rhein Fire of the

. He also played for 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 NFL Europe and the Cineplexx Blue Devils of the Austrian Football League. Drake died in July 2012 at age 30. He had a son, Charles Drake IV, and a daughter named Milaan Drake.

References

External links

NFL Draft Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drake, Charles 1981 births 2012 deaths Players of American football from Los Angeles American football safeties Michigan Wolverines football players American expatriate players of American football American expatriate sportspeople in Austria