Dallas Leon Baker (born November 10, 1982) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

wide receiver. Baker 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 ...

for the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, and thereafter, he has played professionally for the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

of the

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 ...

(NFL) and the Jacksonville Sharks of the

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 ...

(AFL). As a member of the Steelers, he won

Super Bowl XLIII Super Bowl XLIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champions Arizona Cardinals to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

against the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

. He is currently the wide receivers coach at

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

Early years

Baker was born in

New Smyrna Beach, Florida New Smyrna Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, United States, located on the central east coast of the state, with the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Its population is 30,142 in 2020 by the United States Census Bureau. The downtown section of ...

, and attended

New Smyrna Beach High School New Smyrna Beach High School (NSBHS) is a public high school located in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, United States. About The school mascot is the Barracuda, commonly referred to as the "Cuda." The high school opened in 1963 on what is now calle ...

, where he was a star wide receiver for the New Smyrna Beach Barracudas high school football team.GatorZone.com, Football History, 2006 Roster
Dallas Baker
. Retrieved March 23, 2011. In 2001, he set the single season Barracudas' record with seventeen

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

, 67 catches and 1,142 yards He attended

Northfield Mount Hermon School Northfield Mount Hermon School, often called NMH, is a co-educational preparatory school in Gill, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is a member of the Eight Schools Association. Present day NMH offers nearly 200 courses, including AP and ...

for a Post Graduate year. Dallas led NMH to the New England championship in football and was a standout player on NMH's basketball team. Baker graduated from NMH in 2002.

College career

Baker accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the

in Gainesville, Florida, and played for coach

Ron Zook Ronald Andrew Zook (; born April 28, 1954) is an American football coach and former player who currently serves as the Defensive Coordinator of the Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL. He was the head football coach at the University of Florida from ...

and coach

Urban Meyer Urban Frank Meyer III (born July 10, 1964) is a college football TV commentator and former American football coach. He spent most of his coaching career at the collegiate level, having served as the head coach of the Bowling Green Falcons fro ...

Florida Gators football The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of ...

teams from

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

.
2012 Florida Football Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 67, 88, 89, 95, 97, 100, 105, 116, 138, 141–142, 145, 151–152, 154, 176 (2012). Retrieved September 14, 2012. He originally signed to play for the Gators in February 2001 as a member of what would become coach

Steve Spurrier Stephen Orr Spurrier (born April 20, 1945) is an American former American football, football quarterback and coach who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons before coaching for 38 years, primarily in college. He is often ...

's final recruiting class at Florida, but due to NCAA academic eligibility issues, Baker instead enrolled at

, an elite preparatory school in Massachusetts, for one year. While at Mt. Hermon, Baker led his team to the New England Championship game. After Spurrier left Florida for the NFL and Zook was hired to replace him, Baker stuck with Florida and enrolled as a partial-qualifier in 2002. Urban Meyer's hiring at Florida three seasons later marked a turning point in Baker's career at Florida. In

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, he made fifty-six receptions, doubling his total from the previous season. Afterward, Baker's college grades were good enough to earn back the year of eligibility lost to the partial qualification. As a senior team captain in 2006, Baker delivered career highs for receptions (60), receiving yards (920), and receiving touchdowns (10), and was a first-team All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) selection. Baker's 25-yard touchdown catch provided the winning margin in the Gators' 21–14 victory over the rival

Florida State Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivis ...

. The following week, the Gators defeated

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

to win the

SEC Championship Game The SEC Championship Game is an annual American football game that has determined the Southeastern Conference's season champion since 1992. The championship game pits the SEC East Division regular season champion against the West Division regula ...

for the first time in six years. The Gators would go on to rout the heavily favored

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree ...

and capture their second national championship, with Baker catching a touchdown pass for the Gators first score in their 41–14 victory in the

2007 BCS National Championship Game The 2007 Tostitos BCS National Championship Game was an American football game played at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on January 8, 2007, and featured the top-ranked Big Ten champion Ohio State Buckeyes against the 2nd-r ...

. Throughout his college career, the college football analysts on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

called him "Dallas Baker, Touchdown Maker," hearkening back to his nickname from his New Smyrna Beach High School days. He graduated from the University of Florida in December 2006 with a bachelor's degree in health and human performance.

Professional career

Pittsburgh Steelers

The

chose Baker in the seventh round (227th pick overall) of the 2007 NFL Draft, and he played for the Steelers from to .National Football League, Historical Players
Dallas Baker
Retrieved May 18, 2011. He was cut by the Steelers on September 1, 2007, but quickly re-joined the organization as a member of the

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, ...

on September 2. Baker made the Steelers' 53-man roster out of training camp in 2008. He played in eight games, recording one catch for six yards, before being waived on November 15 to make room for

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

Roy Lewis Roy Lewis (6 November 1913 – 9 October 1996) was an English writer and small press printer. Life and work Although born in Felixstowe, Lewis was brought up in Birmingham and educated at King Edward's School. After studying at University ...

; the Steelers' re-signed Baker to their practice squad on November 19. Baker signed a future contract with the Steelers in February 2009. He was released in final cuts on September 5, 2009.

Jacksonville Sharks

Baker joined the Jacksonville Sharks of the Arena Football League in the early part of the 2010 season, making his AFL debut in the third game of the season against the

Orlando Predators The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played its ...

CFL

Baker signed with the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

of the CFL on April 5, 2011. On August 8, 2011, he was traded to the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...

for

Luc Mullinder Luc Mullinder (born September 25, 1980) is a former professional Canadian football defensive end who played for nine seasons in the Canadian Football League. Mullinder was originally drafted 31st overall by the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the 2004 ...

Coaching

Baker was the Wide Receivers Coach at

Warner University Warner University is a private Christian university in Lake Wales, Florida. It is affiliated with the Church of God. History Warner Southern College was founded in 1968 by the Southeastern Association of the Church of God in Anderson, Indi ...

, a Christian college in Lake Wales, Florida. On March 10, 2017, Baker accepted the position of Wide Receivers Coach at

Marshall University Marshall University is a public research university in Huntington, West Virginia. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. The university is currently composed of nine colleges: L ...

in Huntington, WV. On May 15, 2021 Buffalo head coach

Maurice Linguist Maurice Linguist (born April 1, 1984) is an American football coach. He is the head football coach at the University at Buffalo, a position he had held since 2021. Playing career A native of Mesquite, Texas, Linguist played at Mesquite High Scho ...

hired Baker as Wide Receiver's Coach. In January 2022, Baker was hired as the wide receivers coach by

Dave Aranda David Christopher Aranda (born September 29, 1976) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach at Baylor University. He previously served as the defensive coordinator at LSU, Wisconsin, Utah State, Hawaii, Delta State, and Cal ...

at Baylor.

Football family

Baker is the nephew of

Wes Chandler Wesley Sandy Chandler (born August 22, 1956) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons during the 1970s and 1980s. He was selected to the Pro Bowl four t ...

, who is a former All-American Gator wide receiver, NFL standout and professional football coach. Baker's younger brother

Perry Baker Perry Baker (born June 29, 1986) is an American rugby sevens player for the United States national rugby sevens team. With over 230 tries, Baker currently ranks first among Americans and third among all players in career tries scored in the Worl ...

is a professional rugby sevens player and represented the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

in the

2016 Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro ...

References

Bibliography

* Carlson, Norm, ''University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators'', Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). .

External links

Saskatchewan Roughriders profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Dallas 1982 births Living people African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football African-American players of Canadian football American football wide receivers Baylor Bears football coaches Buffalo Bulls football coaches Canadian football wide receivers Coaches of American football from Florida Florida Gators football players Jacksonville Sharks players Marshall Thundering Herd football coaches Montreal Alouettes players Northfield Mount Hermon School alumni People from New Smyrna Beach, Florida Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of American football from Florida San Antonio Talons players Saskatchewan Roughriders players Sportspeople from Volusia County, Florida Warner Royals football coaches 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people