David Ball (born June 6, 1984) 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. He was signed by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2007. 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 ...

for the

New Hampshire Wildcats The New Hampshire Wildcats, or 'Cats, are the American intercollegiate athletic teams representing the University of New Hampshire (UNH), located in Durham. The wildcat is the school's official mascot, the colors are UNH Blue and white. The Uni ...

, and held the I-AA record for touchdown receptions until 2016 (broken by

Cooper Kupp Cooper Douglas Kupp (born June 15, 1993) is an American football wide receiver for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Eastern Washington, where he won the Walter Payton Award as a junior, ...

). Ball was also a member of 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 ...

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 ...

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

, and

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

. He is now a PE Teacher at Montpelier High School (Vermont) in Montpelier, VT

Early years

Ball attended Spaulding High School in Barre, VT and played football there. Ball attended

Worcester Academy Worcester Academy is a private school in Worcester, Massachusetts. It is the oldest educational institution founded in the city of Worcester, Massachusetts, and one of the oldest day-boarding schools in the United States. A coeducational prepara ...

for a year and was a post-graduate student and a

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

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 ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, and track. He was named the school's Athlete of the Year. Also won the NEPSAC Class A title in basketball for Worcester Academy. Played with Colt Brennan at Worcester. He set the record for the NEPSAC Class B Тrack and Field Championship in the High Jump, with a jump of 6 feet 9 inches.

College career

Ball broke the

Division I-AA The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athleti ...

record for touchdown receptions, previously set by

Jerry Rice Jerry Lee Rice (born October 13, 1962) is an American former professional football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. Known primarily as a member of the San Francisco 49ers, winning three championsh ...

Mississippi Valley State University Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU, The Valley or Valley) is a public historically black university in Mississippi Valley State, Mississippi, adjacent to Itta Bena, Mississippi.University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approximately 4,350 undergraduate and graduate students in five schools: the School ...

, and went on to score seven more touchdowns for a new record of 58 touchdowns. He also approached two other I-AA receiving records set by Rice, and has been nicknamed "White Rice." (Several of Ball's records have since been broken by

at Eastern Washington): *3rd Most career receiving yards: 4,655 (Rice had 4,693 , Kupp - 6,464) *Most games with at least 100 receiving yards: 27 (Rice had 24) *2nd Most Career TD Receptions: 58 in 50 games (Rice had 50 in 41 games , Kupp has since surpassed Ball with 73 in 52 games)

Professional career

Chicago Bears

Although a standout at the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, mo ...

, Ball was cited by NFL scouts as not possessing an NFL-caliber combination of size and speed, as well as facing poor competition at the D-IAA level. He subsequently went

undrafted In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in the 2007 NFL Draft. He signed with the Bears as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

, joining his classmate,

Corey Graham Corey Dewayne Graham (born July 25, 1985) is a former American football free safety. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at New Hampshire. He played for the Baltimore Ravens, ...

who was drafted by Chicago in the fifth round. During 2007 pre-season play, Ball had 6 receptions for a total gain of 64 yards. Ball was released by Chicago on September 1, 2007 in order to reach the NFL's mandatory 53-man roster limit. He was re-signed to the Bears' practice squad on September 2, 2007. Ball was released from the practice squad on September 18, 2007, to make room for P. J. Pope on the practice squad. He was re-signed to the practice squad on September 21, 2007, and dropped again on September 24, 2007, to make room for Josh Gattis.

New York Jets

On November 28, 2007, Ball was signed to the New York Jets practice squad, replacing cornerback Manny Collins. For their December 30, 2007 game against the Kansas City Chiefs, the New York Jets activated Ball to their game roster for the first time in Ball's career, but he did not appear in the game. In a pre-season game on August 28, 2008, he had two receptions for a total of 15 yards including a touchdown, with the Jets winning over Philadelphia, 27-20. On August 31, Ball was cut by the Jets in the final preseason cuts.

Montreal Alouettes

On September 10, 2008, David Ball joined the

, two days after his college quarterback,

Ricky Santos Ricky Santos (born April 26, 1984) is an American former gridiron football quarterback who is currently the head coach for the New Hampshire Wildcats football team. He played college football at New Hampshire, and was signed by the Kansas City C ...

, left them. He left the Alouettes on October 22, 2008.

First stint with Tiger-Cats

Ball signed with the

on April 9, 2009. He was released on April 28, 2010.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

The Blue Bombers signed Ball on June 7, 2010. He was released on June 30, 2010.

Second stint with Tiger-Cats

The Tiger-Cats re-signed Ball on August 11, 2010 to a practice roster agreement.

Pittsburgh Power

The Power signed Ball on November 22, 2010. He was placed on the Physically Unable to Perform list on March 2, 2011. He was activated on March 24, 2011.

Erie Explosion

After being cut by the Power, Ball finished the 2011 indoor season with the

Erie Explosion The Erie Explosion was a professional American indoor football team based in Erie, Pennsylvania. Founded in 2007 as the Pittsburgh RiverRats, the Explosion played in the Professional Indoor Football League, the United Indoor Football League, the ...

of the

Southern Indoor Football League The Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL) was an indoor football league based in the Southern and Eastern United States. The most recent incarnation of the league was a consolidation of an earlier league of the same name that was formed by Thom ...

Philadelphia Eagles

Ball was signed by the

on July 27, 2013. On August 6, 2013, he was released by the Eagles.

Motivational speaker

David Ball created D.R.E.A.M. Sports Productions LLC to speak to groups about making a dream become reality.Burr and Burton Hosts Speaker David Ball
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References

External links

New York Jets bio

Hamilton Tiger-Cats bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, David 1984 births People from Berlin, Vermont Players of American football from Vermont Living people American football wide receivers New Hampshire Wildcats football players Chicago Bears players New York Jets players Montreal Alouettes players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Pittsburgh Power players Erie Explosion players Philadelphia Eagles players