James Edward Folston (born August 14, 1971) 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 wi ...

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, ...

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 played for the Los Angeles/ Oakland Raiders and the Arizona Cardinals.

Early years

Folston attended Cocoa High School in

Cocoa, Florida Cocoa is a city in Brevard County, Florida. The population was 19,041 at the 2020 United States Census. It is part of the Palm Bay–Melbourne– Titusville Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Etymology Several stories circulate amon ...

and participated in Football, basketball, and track. Folston was athletic and fortunate enough to earn a football scholarship after playing only one year of varsity football.

College career

Folston accepted a scholarship to attend

Northeast Louisiana University The University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM) is a public university in Monroe, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System. History ULM opened in 1931 as Ouachita Parish Junior College. Three years later it became the Northeast Ce ...

which is now

University of Louisiana at Monroe The University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM) is a public university in Monroe, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System. History ULM opened in 1931 as Ouachita Parish Junior College. Three years later it became the Northeast Cen ...

. As a sophomore Folston cracked the starting lineup as 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 formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

. During his junior season the pro scouts and collegiate All-America voters began to take notice of Folston's abilities on the field. During his third year in a ULM uniform he recorded 12 sacks. In 1993, he ended his career with 27 sacks, which ranks first on the all-time sacks list. Following his senior season he was selected as an All-American by the Associated Press, the Walter Camp Foundation, Football Gazette, and Pro Football Weekly. Folston was also first-team All-Louisiana and first-team All-Southland Conference during his junior and senior seasons for head coach Dave Roberts. Folston earned ULM's Iron Man Award and was chosen to play in the East–West Shrine Game and the Hula Bowl at the conclusion of his senior season. Folston was invited to the 1994 NFL combine. Folston is considered one of the greatest

Defensive ends 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 formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is p ...

in school history. He played the game with passion and violent intentions. Playing with those traits put him in position to be inducted into the

Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010.

Professional career

Los Angeles Raiders/Oakland Raiders

Folston was drafted by the

Los Angeles Raiders The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural 1960 season to the 1981 season and then agai ...

in the second round of the

1994 NFL Draft The 1994 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 24–25, 1994, at the Marriott Ma ...

. Folston played for the Raiders for 5 seasons.(1994–1998)

Arizona Cardinals

Folston played for the Arizona Cardinals for 3 seasons. (1999–2001)

References

Added 1971 births Living people People from Cocoa, Florida Players of American football from Brevard County, Florida American football linebackers Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks football players Los Angeles Raiders players Oakland Raiders players Arizona Cardinals players {{linebacker-1970s-stub