Jamal E. Duff (born March 11, 1972) is an American actor and 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 ...

player 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).

Early years

Duff was born in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

, but as a child, moved west with his family to

Tustin, California Tustin is a city located in Orange County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. In 2020, Tustin had a population of 80,276. The city is located next to the county seat, Santa Ana, and does not include the unincorporated community ...

, where he played football for Foothill High School. His older brother, John, also played football and went to New Mexico to play collegiately. However, Jamal played his

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 ...

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

, carrying a major in graphic design. As a junior in 1993, Duff was named the Aztecs' Outstanding Defensive Player of the Year. As a senior, he notched 35 tackles and 7.5 sacks and was a second-team All-

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...

selection.

As a professional

Jamal Duff went to the NFL where he was drafted in the sixth round of the

1995 NFL Draft The 1995 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 22–23, 1995 at the Paramount Th ...

by the

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

. Duff played in all but one of New York's 16 regular-season games, starting two at

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 ...

, and recording four sacks. After spending the 1996 season on injured reserve with a foot injury, Duff signed with 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 ...

, playing 26 games over two seasons (1997–98) and recording five sacks. After Duff was released, he appeared in training camp with the 2000

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

but did not make the team. The following spring, the

Los Angeles Xtreme The Los Angeles Xtreme was a professional American football team based in Los Angeles, California. The team was a member of the XFL, begun by Vince McMahon of World Wrestling Entertainment and by NBC, a major television network in the United Stat ...

of the

XFL XFL may refer to: Sports * XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001 * XFL (2020), a professional American football league Vehicles * Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...

came calling; LA head coach

Al Luginbill John Alan Luginbill (born November 13, 1946) is a former American football coach. College coaching career Luginbill began his college coaching career at Pasadena City College, where he served as an assistant from 1968 to 1971 and returned from 1 ...

had coached Duff at San Diego State in 1993. Duff became a fan favorite as one of the Xtreme's top defensive players (recording 18 tackles and four sacks), but also for his nickname. Thanks to an XFL rule that allowed players to put anything they wanted on the backs of their jerseys (within reason), Duff decided to name himself after an underground black comic strip character: Death Blow. The nickname was a hit with fans, and probably the second-most well-known in the entire XFL, after

Rod Smart Torrold DeShaun "Rod" Smart (born January 9, 1977) is a former professional American football running back. He played college football for Western Kentucky. He was originally signed by the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League (NFL ...

's moniker "He Hate Me". The Xtreme won the XFL's first (and only) title.

Acting career

While working as a graphic artist in Los Angeles, Duff moved into acting. He has appeared in ''

S.W.A.T. In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...

'', ''

The Rundown ''The Rundown'' (known internationally as ''Welcome to the Jungle'') is a 2003 American buddy action comedy film directed by Peter Berg and written by James Vanderbilt and R.J. Stewart. It stars Dwayne Johnson (credited as The Rock), Seann Will ...

'', ''

The Eliminator George B. Caiazzo (January 13, 1969 – July 18, 2007) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, John Kronus, and later simply Kronus. Caiazzo worked for Extreme Championship Wrestling, the United States Wrestling Ass ...

'', '' Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story'', ''

Revenge Revenge is committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Francis Bacon described revenge as a kind of "wild justice" that "does... offend the law ndputteth the law out of office." Pr ...

'', ''

Two and a Half Men ''Two and a Half Men'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS for twelve seasons from September 22, 2003, to February 19, 2015. Originally starring Charlie Sheen in the lead role alongside Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones, the ...

'', '' The Game Plan'', ''

Brooklyn Nine-Nine ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' is an American police procedural comedy television series that aired on Fox, and later on NBC. The show aired from September 17, 2013, to September 16, 2021, for a total of eight seasons and 153 episodes. Created by Dan G ...

'', ''

Torque In physics and mechanics, torque is the rotational equivalent of linear force. It is also referred to as the moment of force (also abbreviated to moment). It represents the capability of a force to produce change in the rotational motion of th ...

'', and ''

Better Call Saul ''Better Call Saul'' is an American crime and legal drama television series created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould. Part of the ''Breaking Bad'' franchise, it is a spin-off of Gilligan's previous series, ''Breaking Bad'', and serves as a ...

''.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Duff, Jamal American male film actors American football defensive linemen New York Giants players Washington Redskins players San Diego State Aztecs football players Players of American football from Columbus, Ohio 1972 births Living people Los Angeles Xtreme players

Early years

As a professional

Acting career

See also

External links