Demarcus Dobbs (born November 30, 1987) 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 with ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

who is currently a free agent. He was signed by the 49ers 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 2011. 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

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

Early years

Dobbs was born on November 30, 1987, in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

, and attende
Calvary Baptist Day School
where he played on the Cavalier

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

team. When Dobbs was seven years old, he left home and moved into

Bethesda Home for Boys Bethesda Academy (previously known as Bethesda Home for Boys) is a boys' school and former orphanage located in unincorporated Chatham County, Georgia, in the United States, near Savannah. Its historic building was listed on the National Regis ...

with his brother Daniel. He excelled in school and was recruited to play football at Calvary Baptist Day by Danny Britt, the current athletic director at Benedictine Military School. Before high school, "Demarcus had never played football before. Calvary just wanted to give him an education," said Britt. "At that point, I asked him if he would be interested in trying football." Through his freshman and junior years at Calvary Baptist, he remained close with Britt and his family, before eventually being offered to move in with them during his senior year of high school. "Our girls were very small – just 4 and 5 years old at the time – and we were poor. We wondered, 'Can we raise a teenage boy? Can we feed another child?'" said Britt's wife, Stephanie. He moved in with the Britts in 2005, forming a close bond with their two daughters. "The girls have always been so excited to be with me, and it's funny when you see us together – I'm so big, and they're so small," said Dobbs. At Calvary Baptist, he played both

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

and defensive end. As a tight end in his senior year, he caught 14 passes for 259 yards and four touchdowns. He was named to the All-Coastal Empire team as a tight end. On defense, he recorded 78

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...

and six sacks. He was named to the All-Region first-team as a defensive end. Dobbs also played

high school basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

for Calvary Baptist, being named to the ''

Savannah Morning News The ''Savannah Morning News'' is a daily newspaper in Savannah, Georgia. It is published by Gannett. The motto of the paper is "Light of the Coastal Empire and Lowcountry". The paper serves Savannah, its metropolitan area, and parts of South Ca ...

'' All-City First-team in 2005. After his senior season in football, he was rated as a three-star recruit by ''

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

'' and as a four-star recruit by ''

Scout.com Scout Media is an integrated sports publishing company that produces Internet content covering hundreds of professional and college teams across America. The company was founded in 2001 and was acquired by Fox Sports in 2005. In 2013, Fox Sports ...

''. He was recruited by

Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State, State or BSU) is a public university, public research university in Muncie, Indiana. It has two satellite facilities in Fishers, Indiana, Fishers and Indianapolis. On July 25, 1917, the Ball brothers, indust ...

, the

University of Alabama at Birmingham The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a Public university#United States, public List of research universities in the United States, research university in Birmingham, Alabama. Developed from an academic extension center established i ...

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

, and the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

, before ultimately accepting a scholarship to play for the

Georgia Bulldogs football The Georgia Bulldogs football program represents the University of Georgia in the sport of American football. The Bulldogs compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Div ...

team. Dobbs is a supporter of his former school. When they had an alumni football game put on b
Gridiron Alumni Football
in March 2012, he was there to do the coin toss. He stood on the sideline for the whole game as his former teammates rallied against an alumni team from Richmond Hill.

College career

As a true

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

in 2006, Dobbs was

redshirted 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 ...

, giving him an extra year of eligibility. The following season, in 2007, he appeared in all 13 of Georgia's games, recording his first collegiate tackle against

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

in the

2008 Sugar Bowl The 2008 Allstate Sugar Bowl was an American college football bowl game. It was part of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) for the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season, and was the 74th Sugar Bowl. It was played on January 1, 2008, in the Lo ...

. He mainly saw playing time on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

for Georgia. In 2008, as a redshirt sophomore, Dobbs made his first career start against

Central Michigan Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said to resemble a mitten, and Mid Michigan corre ...

, where he recorded a career-high four tackles and an

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

, which he returned 78-yards for a touchdown. 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 ...

, he recorded his first college sack, as well as a forced fumble. He finished the season with four total starts, 19 tackles, two sacks, and two interceptions. The following season, he became a starter for the Bulldogs, starting in all 13 games for the team. He recorded a career-high 39 tackles, recording four tackles on three occasions. He also tallied 4.5 sacks for Georgia. As a senior in 2010, started in 10 of 13 games, recording 28 tackles. He matched his career-high of four tackles in three games during the season. Dobbs received the Joseph E. Espy football scholarship three times during his five seasons at Georgia and graduated in December 2010 with a degree in consumer economics.

Professional career

San Francisco 49ers

After going undrafted in the

2011 NFL Draft The 2011 NFL Draft was the 76th installment of the annual NFL Draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York C ...

, Dobbs signed as an undrafted free agent with the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

. After impressing during

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

, he made the 49ers' final roster. He was one of two undrafted free agents retained by the 49ers after final cuts, with the other being fellow defensive tackle Ian Williams. During the 2012 preseason, Dobbs began playing the

position, in addition to his usual spot on the defensive line. On August 14, 2013, the NFL announced that Dobbs had violated the NFL's policy on substance abuse and would be suspended for the first game of the 2013 regular season. He was waived on November 4, 2014.

Seattle Seahawks

After being waived from the 49ers, Dobbs signed with the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

. He re-signed with the Seahawks on March 29, 2015.

References

External links

Georgia Bulldogs bio

San Francisco 49ers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobbs, Demarcus 1987 births Living people Players of American football from Savannah, Georgia American football defensive tackles American football defensive ends American football tight ends Georgia Bulldogs football players San Francisco 49ers players Seattle Seahawks players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people