Lowell Douglas English (born August 25, 1953) is an American former 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 ...

player who was a

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

(1975–1985) of 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 ...

(NFL).

Early years

English was born in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

. He graduated from

Bryan Adams High School Bryan Adams High School is a public high school located in the Casa View neighborhood of East Dallas, Texas, United States and is a part of the Dallas Independent School District. The school serves the area of Dallas east of White Rock Lake, sout ...

College career

English attended the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

, graduating in 1976 with a major in History. He helped the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and a ...

to three Southwest Conference titles. He was also a member of the

Texas Cowboys The Texas Cowboys is an honorary student organization at the University of Texas that is currently suspended due to hazing violations. The organization was founded in 1922 by Arno Nowotny and Bill McGill, with the purpose of serving the University ...

. In 2011, he was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

Professional career

Along with defensive end Al "Bubba" Baker, English was a cornerstone of the Lions’ feared "Silver Rush" defensive line of the late 70’s and early 80’s. The 6-foot-5, 255 pound English was Detroit’s second-round pick in 1975 out of the

. In 1979, after recording 122 tackles (90 solo) and 6.5 sacks, English was voted as the team’s Defensive MVP. After a year off due to chronic injuries that were hampering his play, English rejoined the Lions prior to 1981 season. English’s best season came in 1983, when he recorded 13 sacks and two safeties, making him only one of 17 NFL players to record two safeties in a single season. That year, the Lions won the NFC Central Division title with a 9-7 mark, and lost to the San Francisco 49ers, 24-23, in the divisional round. Upon the arrival of new coach

Darryl Rogers Darryl Dale Rogers (May 28, 1934 – July 10, 2018) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at California State College at Hayward—now known as California State University, East Bay (1965), California State Univers ...

in 1985, English was moved to nose tackle in the team’s new 3-4 defensive alignment. His career ended after that season due to a serious neck injury. He finished his career with 55.5 sacks, which places him ninth on the Lions’ all-time list. He was named First-team All-Pro in 1982 and Second-team three times (1981, 1983–84). He also went to four

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

s (1979, 1982–84). English had 4 safeties throughout his career, tying him with

Ted Hendricks Theodore Paul Hendricks (born November 1, 1947), nicknamed "the Mad Stork", is a former professional football player who played as an outside linebacker for 15 seasons with the Baltimore Colts, Green Bay Packers, and the Oakland/Los Angeles ...

Jared Allen Jared Scot Allen (born April 3, 1982) is a former American football defensive end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. He played college football at Idaho State and was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fourth ...

and

Justin Houston Justin Donovan Houston (born January 21, 1989) is an American football outside linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia, where he earned All-American honors, and was draf ...

for the most safeties in NFL history.

Later years

English became co-owner with

Louie Kelcher Louis James Kelcher (born August 23, 1953) is an American retired professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL), spending most of his career with the San Diego Chargers. He was a four-time All-Pr ...

, a former college rival with the

SMU Mustangs The SMU Mustangs are the athletic teams that represent Southern Methodist University in University Park, Texas, United States. The Mustangs were founded in 1911 and joined the Southwest Conference, competing against Baylor, Rice, Texas, Texa ...

, in the warehousing firm Pro Line Warehouse and Distribution. He is also the President of the Lone Star Paralysis Foundation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:English, Doug 1953 births Living people Bryan Adams High School alumni American football defensive linemen Detroit Lions players National Conference Pro Bowl players Players of American football from Dallas Texas Longhorns football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees