David Sills V (born May 29, 1996) is an

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 wi ...

wide receiver who is a free agent. As a seventh-grade

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

in 2010, he garnered national attention when he verbally committed to play football at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

. In 2014, Sills decommitted from USC and eventually signed a national letter of intent to play at

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 Coll ...

. Sills began his college career as a quarterback, but moved to wide receiver as a freshman. After spending his freshman year playing for the

West Virginia Mountaineers The West Virginia Mountaineers are the athletic teams that represent West Virginia University, an American university located in Morgantown, West Virginia. The school is a member of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I. The Mou ...

, Sills transferred to

El Camino College El Camino College (Elco or ECC) is a two-year public community college located in the unincorporated area of Los Angeles County known as Alondra Park.2017 College Football All-America Team The 2017 College Football All-America Team includes those players of American college football who have been honored by various selector organizations as the best players at their respective positions. The selector organizations award the "All-Am ...

selection by '' Sporting News'', ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

'' and

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for the 2017 West Virginia Mountaineers. He led the 2018 Big 12 Conference in touchdowns and was named

2018 All-Big 12 Conference football team The 2018 All-Big 12 Conference football team consists of American football players chosen as All-Big 12 Conference players for the 2018 Big 12 Conference football season. The conference recognizes two official All-Big 12 selectors: (1) the Big 12 ...

first-team selection as well as a Second-team 2018 College Football All-American by the

Walter Camp Football Foundation The Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The organization also presents various awards. It is named in honor of foo ...

and

American Football Coaches Association The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) is an association of over 11,000 American football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "mainta ...

Early life

Sills was born in 1996. His parents are Denise and David Sills IV. He has two older sisters, Emma and Abby. His father is a commercial developer and contractor, who played cornerback for the Virginia Military Institute. He began playing youth football at age six and began training at age nine with quarterback trainer Steve Clarkson.

Lane Kiffin Lane Monte Kiffin (born May 9, 1975) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels. Kiffin formerly was the offensive coordinator for the USC Trojans football team from 2005 to 2006, head coach of the Nati ...

offered Sills a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholars ...

to play college football at USC in 2010. Sills gave USC a non-binding verbal commitment in 2010. Sills was among the youngest football players to receive a scholarship offer from a major football program.

High school career

As a high school freshman, Sills was the starting quarterback for Red Lion Christian Academy, a private Delaware school for grades K-12. ''

'' hailed him as one of the greatest prospects ever, and ''

Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg Tele ...

'' described him as the "best arm money can buy". At Red Lion in 2010, he accumulated 1,355 passing yards and nine touchdowns against five interceptions in eight games. In 2011, he totalled 2,340 yards and 28 touchdowns in what was his second year as a varsity quarterback. He was named a

MaxPreps.com MaxPreps is an American website that specializes in coverage of American high school sports. The site is owned by Paramount Global and is a division of CBS Sports. Founded on August 1, 2002, the company has covered up to 29 sports, including b ...

U.S. Air Force second-team freshman All-American. As a sophomore, Sills became the quarterback for Eastern Christian Academy (ECA) of

Elkton, Maryland Elkton is a town in and the county seat of Cecil County, Maryland, United States. The population was 15,443 at the 2010 census. It was formerly called Head of Elk because it sits at the head of navigation on the Elk River, which flows into the n ...

. The move was controversial because the school was a newly-formed online school. All enrolled boys were on the 46-man football team established by David Sills IV to showcase their talents to college scouts. Eastern Christian Academy was only able to play in three games in 2012 due to the school's failure to gain accreditation from the state. As a junior, Sills injured his knuckle and his delivery was impacted forever.

, who had originally offered Sills a scholarship back in 2010, was fired by USC in 2013. He was replaced by

Ed Orgeron Edward James Orgeron Jr. (; born July 27, 1961) is an American football coach. He was most recently the head football coach at Louisiana State University (LSU), a position he held from midway through the 2016 season until the 2021 season. Orge ...

on an interim basis. Eventually, USC would hire Steve Sarkisian to become the new head coach. According to Sills' father, Sarkisian told his son that USC would honor their scholarship offer. While receiving reassurance from Sarkisian, the Sillses got the feeling that David wasn't USC's first option. USC had offered and eventually signed two highly ranked quarterbacks in the same class, Sam Darnold and Ricky Town. Sills decommitted from USC in June 2014.

College career

West Virginia

On July 16, 2014, Sills announced his commitment to

via Twitter. Sills was one of West Virginia's early enrollees from the 2015 recruiting class. As a result, he was able to participate in spring practice. He battled fellow quarterbacks Skyler Howard, William Crest Jr. and

Chris Chugunov Chris Chugunov is a former American football quarterback for Ohio State. He played high school football at Montgomery High School in Skillman, New Jersey. High school career Playing at Montgomery High School, Chugunov committed to West Virgin ...

for the starting quarterback spot. Howard was eventually named the starting quarterback. Sills earned playing time as a wide receiver after impressing coaches with his performance on the scout team. On October 17, 2015, Sills made his collegiate debut against the Baylor Bears. He finished the game with two receptions for 64 yards. His second collegiate reception was a 35-yard touchdown. He made the game-winning touchdown reception in the 2016 Cactus Bowl against

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

and ended the season with seven receptions for 131 yards. During spring drills in 2016, Sills split time between quarterback and wide receiver. After West Virginia's 2016 spring game, West Virginia head coach

Dana Holgorsen Dana Carl Holgorsen (born June 21, 1971) is the head football coach at the University of Houston. He was the head coach at West Virginia University from 2011 to 2018. During his coaching career he has served under coaches such as Hal Mumme, Mike ...

stated that Howard solidified his position as the starting quarterback and that Crest and Chugunov would continue to battle for the backup quarterback spot. With several quarterbacks ahead of him on the depth chart and former

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

starting quarterback

Will Grier William Grier (born April 3, 1995) is an American football quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida and West Virginia and was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the third ro ...

scheduled to become eligible to play for the Mountaineers in 2017, it appeared unlikely Sills would ever get an opportunity to play quarterback at West Virginia.

El Camino College

On June 23, 2016, Sills announced he would transfer to

El Camino College El Camino College (Elco or ECC) is a two-year public community college located in the unincorporated area of Los Angeles County known as Alondra Park.

Return to West Virginia

On December 15, 2016, West Virginia football announced on Twitter that Sills would be returning to West Virginia. In West Virginia's 2017 spring game, Sills lined up at wide receiver and caught six passes for 98 yards from

. In the September 3 season opener for the 2017 West Virginia Mountaineers against the 21st-ranked

Virginia Tech Hokies The Virginia Tech Hokies are the athletic teams representing the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in intercollegiate athletics. The Hokies participate in the NCAA's Division I Atlantic Coast Conference in 22 v ...

Sills posted nine receptions for 94 yards and two touchdowns in a losing effort against the Hokies. On September 9, Sills posted seven catches for a career-high 153 yards and a career-high three touchdowns against

East Carolina East Carolina University (ECU) is a public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a teacher training school, East Carolina has grown from its orig ...

. He then tallied 130 yards and two touchdowns against

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

on September 23. Following the Kansas game and a bye week Sills was tied for the national lead in touchdown receptions with seven in his first four games and then he added two touchdown receptions on October 7 against TCU, bringing his total to nine. Sills added three more touchdown receptions on October 14 against

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

extending his national lead. Sills' three receiving touchdowns on October 21 in a 38–36 victory over Baylor gave sills a total of 15 for the season, which continued to lead the nation. Sills made his 17th and 18th touchdown catches of the season on November 11 against

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

. However, in the following game, starting quarterback Grier was lost for the season, and Sills finished the season with 18 touchdowns. As a junior, Sills received numerous honors. On November 13, he was one of three 2017 Big 12 Conference football wide receivers named as a semifinalist for the

Biletnikoff Award The Fred Biletnikoff Award is presented annually to the most outstanding receiver in American college football by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation, Inc. (TQCF), an independent not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. The award was creat ...

(along with James Washington and

Keke Coutee Key’vantanie "Keke" Coutee (born January 14, 1997) is an American football wide receiver who is a free agent. He played college football at Texas Tech. Early years Coutee attended Lufkin High School in Lufkin, Texas. As a senior at Lufkin ...

). A week later he was named as one of three finalists for the award (along with Washington and

Michael Gallup Michael Gallup (born March 4, 1996) is an American football wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Colorado State Rams football, Colorado State. Early years Gallup attended Mon ...

). On November 30, Sills was the only member of the

2017 West Virginia Mountaineers football team The 2017 West Virginia Mountaineers football team represented West Virginia University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Mountaineers played their home games at the Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium, in Morgantown, West ...

named to the 2017 All-Big 12 Conference football first team. Sills finished the season as the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision touchdown receptions leader with 18 (tied with Anthony Miller). Sills earned

2017 College Football All-America Team The 2017 College Football All-America Team includes those players of American college football who have been honored by various selector organizations as the best players at their respective positions. The selector organizations award the "All-Am ...

first-team recognition from ''

'', '' Sporting News'' and

. Sills also earned several second-team All-American honors, including

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

, SB Nation, ''

College Football News ''College Football News'' (''CFN'') is a magazine and website published by College Football News, Inc., headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. News coverage includes scores, statistics, rankings, and reports on college football games. Analysis includ ...

'', and

. Sills decided to return to play his senior season with Grier. Sills entered the season on watchlists for the

Maxwell Award The Maxwell Award is presented annually to the college football player judged by a panel of sportscasters, sportswriters, and National Collegiate Athletic Association head coaches and the membership of the Maxwell Football Club to be the best al ...

Fred Biletnikoff Award The Fred Biletnikoff Award is presented annually to the most outstanding receiver in American college football by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation, Inc. (TQCF), an independent not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. The award was creat ...

, and

Walter Camp Award The Walter Camp Player of the Year Award is given annually to the collegiate American football player of the year, as decided by a group of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I FBS head coaches and sports information directo ...

. With Grier back for their senior seasons, Sills opened up the season with a seven-catch, 140-yard, two-touchdown effort in a victory over

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. The Mountaineers schedule was cut short one game when

Hurricane Florence Hurricane Florence was a powerful and long-lived Cape Verde hurricane that caused catastrophic damage in the Carolinas in September 2018, primarily as a result of freshwater flooding due to torrential rain. The sixth named storm, third h ...

caused a cancellation of the September 15 game at

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The university ...

. On September 22, Sills tallied three touchdowns against

. Sills also had 2-touchdown performances against Baylor (139 yards) on October 25,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

on November 3, and Oklahoma (131 yards) on November 23. Sills' 15 touchdowns led the Big 12. Following the season, he was a

first-team selection. Sills earned

2018 College Football All-America Team The 2018 College Football All-America Team includes those players of American college football who have been honored by various selector organizations as the best players at their respective positions. The selector organizations award the "All-Am ...

second-team recognition by the

and,

. He earned third-team recognition from the

Professional career

Buffalo Bills

Sills signed with the Buffalo Bills as an undrafted free agent on April 27, 2019. He was waived by the Bills on August 31, 2019.

New York Giants

On September 1, 2019, Sills was signed to the New York Giants practice squad. On December 17, 2019, Sills was promoted to the active roster. He was placed on the reserve/

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list by the Giants on July 28, 2020, and activated from the list seven days later. On September 4, 2020, Sills was placed on the

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

after fracturing his foot during training camp. He was placed on the reserve/

list by the team on December 30, 2020, and moved back to injured reserve on January 7, 2021. He signed a contract extension with the team on January 7 thru the 2021 season. On August 31, 2021, Sills was waived by the Giants and re-signed to the practice squad the next day. On October 23, 2021, Sills was signed to the active roster. He was waived on October 26, 2021 and re-signed to the practice squad. On January 8, 2022, Sills was promoted to the active roster. On March 11, 2022, Sills re-signed with the Giants. He surpassed 100 career receiving yards in Week 7 against the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...

, when he recorded a 19-yard reception that increased his career total from 99 to 118 receiving yards. He was released on December 31, 2022.

Notes

External links

West Virginia Mountaineers profile

El Camino College Warriors profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sills, David 1996 births Living people American football quarterbacks American football wide receivers Buffalo Bills players El Camino Warriors football players New York Giants players Players of American football from Wilmington, Delaware West Virginia Mountaineers football players