David Warren (born October 14, 1978) is a former collegiate

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 ...

player from

Tyler, Texas Tyler is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the largest city and county seat of Smith County, Texas, Smith County. It is also the largest city in Northeast Texas. With a 2020 census population of 105,995, Tyler was the List of cities in Texa ...

High school career

As a sophomore in 1994, he played for the

John Tyler High School Tyler High School, formerly known as John Tyler High School, is a public, co-educational secondary school in Tyler, Texas. It is part of the Tyler Independent School District and serves 9th through 12th grade. In 2020, the Tyler I. S. D. school ...

Lions team under coach Allen Wilson, which went 16–0 and won the 5A Division II state championship in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. The championship run included a legendary regional semifinal game between

and

Plano East Senior High School Plano East Senior High School (commonly known as East, Plano East, or PESH) is a public secondary school in Plano, Texas (USA) serving high school juniors and seniors, as well as freshmen and sophomores as a part of the IB World School (beginn ...

, in which he caught one touchdown pass on offense and scored another touchdown on defense on a

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful ...

recovery. For the season, Warren registered 124 tackles and six sacks. In his junior year, Warren piled up 126 tackles with 18 sacks and four blocked punts. In 1996 while still attending John Tyler High School, he was named

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

High School Defensive Player of the Year and the Bobby Dodd National Lineman of the Year by the Touchdown Club of Atlanta. He recorded 106 tackles and 8.5 sacks despite constant double and triple teaming during senior campaign. He also won district in the 200-meter dash while in high school. Recruited by virtually every school in the nation, Warren decided to play for the

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 ...

under Coach

Bobby Bowden Robert Cleckler Bowden (; November 8, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was an American college football coach. Bowden coached the Florida State Seminoles of Florida State University (FSU) from 1976 to 2009 and is considered one of the greatest college ...

College career

In his

true freshman Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

season Warren played in 11 of 12 games, appearing as back-up defensive end behind

Tony Bryant Tony Bryant (born September 3, 1976) is a former American football defensive end who played for the Oakland Raiders (1999–2002) and the New Orleans Saints (2003–2005) in the National Football League (NFL). He was born and raised in Marathon, ...

and on special teams, and recorded 16 tackles (eight solo) on the year. He notched his first collegiate sack in his first game against

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, and tallied a season-high five tackles in the win at

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

. In Florida State's 31–14 win in the

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed onl ...

over

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

, Warren contributed two tackles. As a sophomore, Warren moved in the Florida State defensive two-deep and saw playing time as back-up to Roland Seymour. He finished the year with 30 tackles, including five for loss and also added three sacks and a pass breakup. His season-best game came in the win over

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

with four tackles, one sack, a caused fumble and two pressures. In his junior year, Warren appeared in every game and started five including the National Championship game. He finished the season with 32 total tackles, 17 solo stops, and two sacks, while tying for the team lead with three fumbles caused and led all defensive linemen with four passes broken up.

Professional career

Warren went undrafted in the

2001 NFL Draft The 2001 NFL Draft was the 66th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting," was held at the ...

, but signed as a Free Agent in 2002 with the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

. He was later released and signed to the Practice Squad by the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

who released him in June 2003. He did not play in any regular season

NFL 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 major ...

games. Later in 2003, Warren played briefly in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

for the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first season ...

Personal

Warren suffered from neurological problems steming from a baseball incident as a teen, when a baseball caught him squarely between the eyes, knocking him unconscious. Warren had a metal plate screwed into his forehead to reinforce the area.

References

External links

Florida State Seminoles bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warren, David 1978 births Living people Florida State Seminoles football players Players of American football from Tyler, Texas BC Lions players