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 ...
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 ...
at
Arizona State
Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...
.
Early life and high school
Darby grew up in
Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Lincoln High School. Darby was named first-team All-State in 2016 as a senior after 35 receptions for 957 yards and 10 touchdowns on offense and 27 tackles, one interception and three forced fumbles on defense. Darby was rated a three star recruit and initially committed to play college football at Iowa. After initially not qualifying to sign with Iowa due to a low SAT score, he chose Arizona State over offers from Rutgers and Boston College.
College career
Darby redshirted his true freshman season. He finished his redshirt sophomore season with 21 catches for 421 yards and two touchdowns. As a redshirt junior, he caught 31 passes for 616 yards and eight touchdowns. Darby was limited by injury as a senior and appeared in two of the Sun Devils' four games in the COVID-19 shortened Pac-12 season, catching six passes for 46 yards and one touchdown. Darby finished his collegiate career with 1,317 receiving yards on 67 receptions with 13 touchdowns.
Professional career
Darby was selected by the
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...
in the sixth round with the 187th pick in the
2021 NFL Draft
The 2021 NFL Draft was the 86th National Football League Draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland from April 29 to May 1, 2021 ...
. He signed his four-year rookie contract with Atlanta on June 15, 2021. Darby made his NFL debut in Week 5 against 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 ...
, playing on
special teams
In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...
. He caught a 14-yard pass from
Josh Rosen
Joshua Ballinger Lippincott Rosen (born February 10, 1997) is an American football quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UCLA Bruins, receiving Freshman All-American and ...
for his first career reception on November 14, 2021, in a 43-3 loss to 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 ...
in Week 10.
On August 30, 2022, Darby was waived by the Falcons and re-signed to the practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on November 23, 2022.
On August 14, 2023, Darby was waived by the Falcons.