James Dearth (born January 22, 1976) 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 ...

long snapper In American football, the long snapper (or deep snapper) is a center on special teams whose duty is to snap the football over a longer distance, typically around 15 yards during punts, and 7–8 yards during field goals and extra point attempt ...

. Dearth, who attended

Tarleton State University Tarleton State University is a public university with its main campus in Stephenville, Texas. It is a founding member of the Texas A&M University System and enrolled over 14,000 students in the fall of 2020. History John Tarleton Agricultural ...

, was selected by 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 ( ...

in the sixth round of the

1999 NFL Draft The 1999 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 17–18, 1999, at the Theater at M ...

. He has also been a member of 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

and

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

Early years

Dearth attended Scurry-Rosser High School in

Scurry, Texas Scurry is a town in Kaufman County, Texas, United States. It was incorporated in 2003. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 681. Scurry is named after Scurry Dean. The arrival of the Texas and Pacific Railway in the 1870s established ...

and was a student and a

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 ...

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 ...

. In football, he was a starter at both,

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 ...

and middle

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

, and was an All-State honoree at both positions.

Professional career

Cleveland Browns

Dearth was selected by the

in the sixth round (191st overall) of the

New York Jets

In 2001, the Jets would sign the free agent Dearth as a tight end/long snapper. In that same year he recorded a career-high three receptions and a touchdown. Following the season, Dearth was relegated to long snapping duties and was a consistent part of the Jets' special teams unit until he became a free agent and was replaced by Tanner Purdum following the 2009 season.

Washington Redskins

On August 14, 2010, Dearth would sign with the Washington Redskins. Dearth was expected to compete with the "inconsistent" Nick Sundberg. Despite Sundberg's inconsistencies he slowly progressed throughout training camp and eventually Dearth was waived on August 31, 2010 in favor of the improved Sundberg.

San Diego Chargers

The San Diego Chargers signed Dearth on September 15, 2010 after a hamstring injury saw long snapper

David Binn David Aaron Binn (born February 6, 1972) is a former American football long snapper who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eighteen seasons. He played college football for the University of California, Berkeley. He was signed by t ...

placed on injured reserve. Two days later on September 17, 2010, Dearth suffered a foot injury during practice and would subsequently be placed on injured reserve before playing a game for the Chargers.

New England Patriots

Dearth signed with the

on August 29, 2011. He was released on September 4.

Personal

Dearth is married to his wife, Laurie, with whom he has three children, Kaitlyn, Kendall, and Kolton. Dearth, a devout Christian, is known to be a "low-key and cordial" person. Dearth used to co-own an Athletic Republic franchise in the Houston area with friend and former Jets running back

Derrick Blaylock Derrick Blaylock (born August 23, 1979) is a former American football running back of the National Football League. Blaylock was drafted in the 5th round of the 2001 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs. Blaylock also played for the New York Jets. ...

. The facility opened in December 2009 aiming to help young athletes prepare for professional careers.

References

External links

San Diego Chargers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dearth, James 1976 births Living people People from Kaufman County, Texas American football long snappers American football tight ends Cleveland Browns players New York Jets players Washington Redskins players San Diego Chargers players Tarleton State Texans football players New England Patriots players People from Fort Ord, California Players of American football from Monterey County, California