Derek Allen Abney (born December 19, 1980) is a former American college and professional

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 ...

wide receiver. 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 Kentucky, and earned consensus All-American honors as a kick returner. The Baltimore Ravens chose him in the seventh round of the

2004 NFL Draft The 2004 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 2004 at the Theater at ...

, but he never played in a regular season National Football League (NFL) game.

Early years

Abney was born in Minot, North Dakota. He attended D.C. Everest High School in Schofield, Wisconsin, where he played wide receiver for the Evergreens high school football team. He led the Evergreens to a 14–0 record and a Division 1 state title his senior season. He caught 62 passes for 1,309 yards and 14 touchdowns. Abney was also received first-team all-state honors in both his junior and senior seasons. He was voted to the second-team following his sophomore season.

College career

While attending the University of Kentucky, Abney was a wide receiver and kick returner for the Kentucky Wildcats football team from 2000 to 2003. Abney left Kentucky with the second-most receiving yards in team history, and the second-most all-purpose yards in Southeastern Conference (SEC) history. In addition to being recognized as a consensus first-team All-American as a junior in 2002,''2011 NCAA Football Records Book''
Award Winners
National Collegiate Athletic Association, Indianapolis, Indiana, p. 11 (2011). Retrieved June 22, 2012. he was also a first-team All-SEC selection in 2002 and 2003.UKAthletics.com, Football

. Retrieved June 22, 2012.

Professional career

Abney was selected in the seventh round (244th pick overall) of the

by the Baltimore Ravens, but he was released without playing in a regular season game. Abney 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 ...

in the 2005 offseason, but again did not appear in a regular season game. After retiring from football, he began working as a civil engineer and is now a licensed professional engineer in South Carolina.

References

External links

12 Derek Abney
– Kentucky Wildcats player profile at UKAthletics.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Abney, Derek 1980 births Living people All-American college football players American football wide receivers Baltimore Ravens players Chicago Bears players Kentucky Wildcats football players Sportspeople from Minot, North Dakota Players of American football from North Dakota