Duane Anthony Clemons (born May 23, 1974) is a 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 ...

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 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 ...

between 1996 and 2005. He was a first-round selection in the

1996 NFL Draft The 1996 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 20–21, 1996, at the Paramount ...

out of the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

by 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 ...

. He finished his NFL career with 49.5 sacks. Despite struggling to see the field as a starter (16 starts in 4 years with Minnesota), Clemons proved a very capable sack artist. In 1997, he finished with 7.0 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, and 24 tackles. In 1999, he finished with a career-best 9.0 sacks and 36 tackles. On November 10, 1999, Clemons was fined $7,500 for intentionally punching

Flozell Adams Flozell Jootin Adams (born May 18, 1975) is a former American football offensive tackle. He played college football for Michigan State University. He was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round of the 1998 NFL Draft, and also played ...

in the

testes A testicle or testis (plural testes) is the male reproductive gland or gonad in all bilaterians, including humans. It is homologous to the female ovary. The functions of the testes are to produce both sperm and androgens, primarily testoster ...

following an interception two days earlier during a

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, AB ...

game against the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

. While Adams maintained that he didn't know why Clemons punched him, Clemons stated that he threw the punch because Adams illegally took him down from behind on an interception return. In 2000, he went to the Kansas City Chiefs, where he finished with 7.5 sacks and a career-best 56 tackles. The next year, 2001, he finished with 7.0 sacks and 48 tackles. In 2003, he found himself with the Cincinnati Bengals, where he recorded 6.0 sacks, a career-best 4 pass deflections, and 42 tackles. In 2004, he finished with 6.5 sacks and 49 tackles. On September 8, 2008, Clemons signed with the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

and was assigned to their practice roster, but was released by the team on September 15, 2008. He is currently the defensive line coach for the MidAmerica Nazarene University Pioneers.

References

1974 births Living people Players of American football from Riverside, California American football defensive ends California Golden Bears football players Minnesota Vikings players Kansas City Chiefs players Cincinnati Bengals players John W. North High School alumni {{defensive-lineman-1970s-stub