Dawan Frank Landry (born December 30, 1982) 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 ...

strong safety Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...

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). He was drafted in the fifth round of the 2006 NFL Draft by the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

. 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 ...

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

College career

While at Georgia Tech, he majored in

Management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

. Dawan was a quarterback at

Hahnville High School Hahnville High School is a public high school located in Boutte, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the St. Charles Parish Public School System, serving grades 9 through 12. J.B. Martin and R.K. Smith Middle Schools are the feeder schools fo ...

; he originally was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

to play

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 college but changed positions. Dawan, in four years, had 250 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, 7 interceptions, and four fumble recoveries. The most notable performance of Dawan's career was against Auburn in 2005 when he accumulated 10 tackles and an interception to help defeat the Tigers at

Jordan–Hare Stadium Jordan–Hare Stadium (properly pronounced n central Alabama dialectas ) is an American football stadium in Auburn, Alabama on the campus Auburn University. It primarily serves as the home venue of the Auburn Tigers football team. The stadium ...

24-13.

Professional career

Baltimore Ravens

The

selected Landry in the fifth round (146th overall) in the 2006 NFL Draft. Landry was the 14th safety drafted in 2006. On July 21, 2006, the Baltimore Ravens signed Landry to a three-year, $1.20 million contract that included a

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

of $129,000. Throughout training camp, Landry competed to be the starting free safety against

Gerome Sapp Gerome Daren Sapp (born February 8, 1981) is a former American football safety. He was originally drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the sixth round of the 2003 NFL Draft. He played college football at Notre Dame. High school career Sapp atten ...

Jamaine Winborne Jamaine Winborne (born December 26, 1980) is a professional American football cornerback free agent. He was signed by the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent in 2004. He played college football at Virginia. Winborne has also played for ...

, B.J. Ward, and

Robb Butler Robb-Davon Butler (born September 14, 1981) is a former American football defensive back who played one season with the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He was a three-year letterman in both football and track at Perr ...

. Head coach

Brian Billick Brian Harold Billick (born February 28, 1954) is an American former football coach and commentator. He was the offensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings from 1994 to 1998; the team broke the NFL scoring record in the 1998 season. He the ...

opted to move Ed Reed to free safety and named Landry the starting strong safety to begin the regular season. Dawan's rookie season for the

saw him earn a starting spot in the defensive secondary alongside fellow safety

Ed Reed Edward Earl Reed Jr. (born September 11, 1978) is an American former football safety in the National Football League (NFL), spending the majority of his career with the Baltimore Ravens. He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes, wher ...

. Dawan had a stellar rookie season, standing out on the league's #1 ranked Defense by collecting 69 tackles, 3 sacks, 6 passes defensed, and 5 interceptions for 101 yards and one touchdown. Landry's season earned him one vote for AP Defensive Rookie of the Year, making him only one of seven players to earn a vote. In January, 2007, Landry was voted to the ''

Pro Football Weekly ''Pro Football Weekly'' (sometimes shortened to ''PFW'') is an American sports magazine, founded in 1967, and website that covers the National Football League (NFL). It was owned by Pro Football Weekly LLC and headquartered in Riverwoods, Illinoi ...

'' PFWA All-Rookie Team as a starting defensive safety as well as Rick Gosselin's All-Rookie team as featured in ''

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...

''. In his second season with the Ravens, 2007, he finished the campaign with 82 tackles, 1 sack, and 6 passes defensed, having the third most tackles on the defense, behind

Bart Scott Bartholomew Edward Scott (born August 18, 1980) is an American sports analyst and former football player. Scott was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons. After playing college football for the Southern Illinois S ...

and

Ray Lewis Raymond Anthony Lewis Jr. (born May 15, 1975) is an American former professional football player who played as a middle linebacker with the Baltimore Ravens for his entire 17-year career in the National Football League (NFL). He played co ...

. His third season in 2008 got off to a promising start, recording 11 tackles in the first two games of the season. However, in the second game, against the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

, he suffered what could have been a career-ending spinal concussion injury, tackling former Baltimore Raven

Jamal Lewis Jamal Lewis (born August 26, 1979) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns. He played college football at Tennessee and was s ...

. He was later judged to be okay, but his season was ended, as he was replaced by backup

Jim Leonhard James Andrew Leonhard (born October 27, 1982) is an American football coach and former player. He was most recently the interim head coach for the Wisconsin Badgers football team. Leonhard played college football at Wisconsin and professionally ...

. He would miss out, as the Ravens would go on to advance to the AFC Championship. Landryjags

In the 2009 offseason, he got himself back in game shape, and was read to take back his starting job. By all accounts, he enjoyed a successful comeback, posting career highs in tackles with 89, and passes defensed with 8. He also led the team in interceptions with four, returning one for a 48-yard touchdown against the

, avenging his injury. He continued his impressive play in 2010, recording 111 tackles, along with one sack and a forced fumble. In a game against 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 ...

, fellow safety

caught an interception, which he then lateraled to Landry, with Dawan taking it 23 yards for the go-ahead touchdown. Not only did he top his season best tackle count, with 111, but in the last two seasons he was second on the team in tackles, behind only

Jacksonville Jaguars

Landry agreed to terms on a five-year contract with the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

on July 29, 2011. He finished his first season as a Jaguar with 97 tackles, two interceptions, one forced fumble, and half a sack. On November 16, 2012, Landry was fined $10,000 for a late hit against the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

in Week 10. On March 8, 2013, Landry was released by the Jaguars.

New York Jets

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 ...

signed Landry on April 9, 2013.

Personal life

Landry from

Ama, Louisiana Ama is a census-designated place (CDP) in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, United States. Ama is on the West Bank of the Mississippi River, just west of the Jefferson Parish line. The population was 1,290 at the 2020 census. History Ama was named ...

, is the older brother of former

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

All-American safety

LaRon Landry LaRon Louis Landry (born October 14, 1984) is a former American football safety (American football position), safety. He played college football for LSU Tigers football, Louisiana State University (LSU), and earned consensus All-American honors ...

, who was drafted by the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

in the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft.

References

External links

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets bio

New York Jets bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Landry, Dawan 1982 births Living people People from Ama, Louisiana American football safeties Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football players Baltimore Ravens players Jacksonville Jaguars players New York Jets players African-American players of American football 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people Ed Block Courage Award recipients