Donald Francis Reese (September 4, 1951September 18, 2003) was 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 ...

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 formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

who played in the

National Football League 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 ...

and the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

. He played professionally for the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

, the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

and the San Diego Chargers and the

Birmingham Stallions The Birmingham Stallions were a franchise in the United States Football League, an attempt to establish a second professional league of American football in the United States in competition with the National Football League. They played their ...

of the USFL.

Biography

Reese was born in Mobile, Alabama and graduated from

Vigor High School Vigor High School, located in Prichard, Alabama, is a public high school that educates grades 9- 12. It is operated by the Mobile County Public School System. It serves most of Prichard. Dress code The Mobile County Public School System req ...

Prichard, Alabama Prichard is a city in Mobile County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 19,322, down from 22,659 at the 2010 census. It is a part of the Mobile metropolitan area. Prichard borders the north side of Mob ...

. He played college football at

Jackson State University Jackson State University (Jackson State or JSU) is a public historically black research university in Jackson, Mississippi. It is one of the largest HBCUs in the United States and the fourth largest university in Mississippi in terms of studen ...

. Reese was a 1st round selection (26th overall pick) of the

1974 NFL Draft The 1974 NFL draft took place at the Americana Hotel in New York City, New York, on January 29–30, 1974. Each of the 26 NFL teams were granted 17 selections for a total of 442 picks. Many experts consider the 1974 Pittsburgh Steelers to have ha ...

by the

. He played for the Dolphins from 1974 to 1976, but missed the 1977 NFL season after being arrested on May 4, 1977, along with teammate

Randy Crowder Randolph Channing Crowder Sr. (born July 30, 1952) is a former American football defensive lineman in the NFL. He played three seasons with the Miami Dolphins and three with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He attended Penn State University, where he wa ...

, on charges of selling one pound of

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Ameri ...

to two undercover agents in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

. After pleading

no contest ' is a legal term that comes from the Latin phrase for "I do not wish to contend". It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. In criminal trials in certain United States jurisdictions, it is a plea where the defendant neith ...

on August 10, Reese and Crowder were sentenced to one year incarceration at the Dade County Stockade, followed by four years probation , a remarkably light sentence given the charges. After his release, Reese went on to play for the

(1978–1980), and the San Diego Chargers (1981). In 1985 Reese played for the

in the

. Reese was suspended for the final four games of the 1980 season by interim coach

Dick Stanfel Richard Anthony Stanfel (July 20, 1927 – June 22, 2015) was an American football player and coach with a college and professional career spanning more than 50 years from 1948 to 1999. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a pla ...

for instigating a fight during a practice with teammate

Derland Moore Derland Paul Moore (October 7, 1951 – September 24, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a defensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL) for the New Orleans Saints and the New York Jets. An All-American, he p ...

. Stanfel was conducting his first practice session as Saints coach after taking over for Dick Nolan, who was fired after the Saints fell to 0-12 in a loss to the Los Angeles Rams on ''

Monday Night Football ''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, A ...

''. New Orleans finished 1-15, becoming the first NFL team to lose 15 games in a season. In June 1982, Reese penned an extensive piece for

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 ...

in which he detailed his struggles with drugs. This was one of the first looks into the seedy world of money and drug use in the NFL. . Reese was named the Jackson State All-Century Team and was inducted into the JSU Athletic Hall of Fame Reese died in Mobile, Alabama at the age 52 from liver cancer.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Reese, Don 1951 births 2003 deaths Sportspeople from Mobile, Alabama Players of American football from Alabama American football defensive ends Jackson State Tigers football players Miami Dolphins players New Orleans Saints players San Diego Chargers players Deaths from liver cancer Deaths from cancer in Alabama Vigor High School alumni