Derrick Locke (born May 30, 1989) is 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 ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

. He was signed by the

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 ...

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 ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

High school career

Locke was a four-year starter on his high school football team in

Hugo, Oklahoma Hugo is a city in and the county seat of Choctaw County, Oklahoma, United States. It is located in southeastern Oklahoma, approximately north of the Texas state line. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 5,310. The city was founded i ...

– as a

in his freshman and senior years and a

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 his sophomore and junior years. During his senior year, he rushed for 3,250 yards and scored 51

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s. He was named Most Valuable Player of Oklahoma Class AAA and named all-state, all-district, and the Red River Valley Player of the Year."Player Bio: Derrick Locke"
''ukathletics.com''. Retrieved 2010-10-23. Locke was also a track athlete, competing in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

. He set a state record and had the longest jump in the nation his senior year, with a leap of 25 feet, 4.75 inches.

College career

In 2007, Locke started on the University of Kentucky football team as a freshman and earned the team's Most Outstanding First-Year Player Award as picked by the coaches. He was the team's second-leading rusher with 521 yards and paced the team in rushing touchdowns (five). In 2009, he led the team and ranked sixth in the SEC in rushing with 907 yards. He was named second-team All-SEC by the Associated Press as an all-purpose player. Against the

Louisville Cardinals The Louisville Cardinals (also known as the Cards) are the NCAA athletic teams representing the University of Louisville. The Cardinals teams play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, beginning in the 2014 season. While playing in the Big East Co ...

, he had 191 kickoff return yards, breaking the UK single-game record. He also became the first player in school history to have two 100-yard kickoff returns in a career. Locke ranked 10th on the UK career rushing list heading into his senior season. As a track-and-field athlete, he set the Kentucky school outdoor long jump record in 2008 at 25 feet, 3.25 inches.

Professional career

Locke agreed to terms with the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

as an

following the end of the NFL lockout on July 26, 2011, but failed his physical the following day due to a neck injury and was not signed. He signed as an undrafted free agent with the

on July 28, but was waived on August 26. Locke was signed by the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-old ...

on June 18, 2012.

References

External links

Philadelphia Eagles bio

ESPN Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Locke, Derrick 1989 births Living people American football running backs Kentucky Wildcats football players Philadelphia Eagles players Players of American football from Oklahoma City People from Hugo, Oklahoma