David Stewart Ball (born January 4, 1981) 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 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 ...

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 ...

(NFL) for eight seasons. 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

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

, and earned

unanimous All-American The College Football All-America Team is an honorific college football all-star team compiled after each NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) season to recognize that season's most outstanding performers at their respective positions. ...

honors. He was drafted by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

in the fifth round of the 2004 NFL Draft, and has also played for the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

and

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

of the NFL.

Early years

Ball was born in

Fairfield, California Fairfield is a city in and the county seat of Solano County, California, in the North Bay sub-region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is generally considered the midpoint between the cities of San Francisco and Sacramento, approximately fro ...

. He attended Dixon High School in

Dixon, California Dixon is a city in northern Solano County, California, United States, located from the state capital, Sacramento. It has a hot-summer mediterranean climate on the Köppen climate classification scale. Its population was 18,988 at the 2020 cens ...

, where he was a three-year

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

for the Dixon High School football and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

teams.

College career

Ball attended the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, where he played defensive end for the Bruins from 2000 to 2003. He was a starter during his final three seasons. In 2003, Ball tied for the national lead with 16.5

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in th ...

s, setting a UCLA record. He also set the UCLA record for most career sacks with 30.5. Ball earned

honors in 2003, and was selected as the

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National Defensive Player of the Year, and won the

Pop Warner Glenn Scobey Warner (April 5, 1871 – September 7, 1954), most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American college football coach at various institutions who is responsible for several key aspects of the modern game. Included among his inn ...

Award as the top senior player on the West Coast. Ball was also a two-time first-team All-Pac-10 selection.

Professional career

Ball was drafted in the fifth round by the San Diego Chargers (pick no. 133) in the 2004 NFL Draft. He was released by the Chargers during the 2005 season and was picked up by the

. Ball was signed as a

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 ...

by the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

on March 26, 2007. On September 1, 2007 Ball was cut from the Panthers before the start of the

NFL regular season The National Football League (NFL) regular season begins on the weekend following the first Monday of September (i.e, the weekend following the Labor Day holiday) and ends in early January, after which that season's playoffs tournament begins. ...

. Ball did not play in the 2007 season, despite being signed by the Titans in January prior to their playoff game against the

. Ball played for Tennessee from 2008 to 2011. In his NFL career, he has had 123 tackles and 15.5 sacks.also an interception and return for touchdown against the lions in 2008"Dave Ball"
nfl.com. Retrieved February 10, 2013.

References

External links

New York Jets bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, Dave 1981 births Living people All-American college football players American football defensive ends New York Jets players People from Fairfield, California San Diego Chargers players Sportspeople from the San Francisco Bay Area Tennessee Titans players UCLA Bruins football players Players of American football from California People from Dixon, California