Jamie Donnell Dukes (born June 14, 1964) 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 ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

who played 10 seasons for 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 ...

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

, and

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

, of 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

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 ...

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

Early years

Dukes was born in

Schenectady, New York Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

. He attended Evans High School in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

College

Dukes was an

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

and became the fifth player in FSU history to earn consensus All-America honors when he was named to virtually every team as a senior in 1985. From 1982-85 he started every single game finishing with 48 total starts. And behind the lead of Dukes over the course of those four years. Following his illustrious career with

, Dukes signed with the

as a free agent in 1986. Dukes rated #46 in the

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

All-Time Player Countdown to Kickoff. In 1991, Dukes was elected into the FSU Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Despite a strong showing at

, Dukes went

undrafted In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

. He began his career with the

playing for 8 seasons up to the end of

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

. He finished his career in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

playing in 110 games for the

Falcons Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...

. The following year, he signed a 1-year deal with Green Bay and started 6 games for the

Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the thi ...

. In

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, Dukes signed another 1-year contract, this time with the

. He had started 8 games that season. At the end of the year, Dukes retired, completing his career playing in 124 games, and starting 62. He fumbled 6 times in his career 5 recovered by his own team and 1 recovered by the opponent's team for a total of -6 yards

Post-playing career

Television/Radio

Dukes joined NFL Network in 2006 as an analyst on

NFL Total Access ''NFL Total Access'' is a television news program on the NFL Network. The network treats it as the league's "show of record" and bills it as the only year-round show dedicated to the National Football League, despite the ESPN show '' NFL Live'' r ...

and NFL GameDay Scoreboard alongside

Paul Burmeister Paul Burmeister (born March 10, 1971) Paul Burmeister is an American sportscaster with NBC Sports and NBC Olympics, working primarily as a play-by-play voice and studio host across a wide range of platforms. Prior to his arrival at NBC in 2014, he ...

and

Tom Waddle Gregory Thomas Waddle (born February 20, 1967) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). Waddle is currently a co-host of ''"Waddle and Silvy"'' on ''ESPN 1000'', and a fo ...

. He is also a regular contributor to NFL.com. During NFL Network’s

Thursday Night Football ''Thursday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''TNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that broadcast primarily on Thursday nights. Most of the games kick off at 8:15 Eastern Time (8:20 prior to 20 ...

schedule, Dukes, Paul Burmeister and

Bucky Brooks William Eldridge "Bucky" Brooks Jr. (born January 22, 1971) is a sportswriter and former professional American football player. He played for five National Football League (NFL) teams in a five-year career, primarily as a kick returner. Brooks i ...

can be seen providing complementary coverage on NFL.com/LIVE: Thursday Night Football. He also participated in the NFL Network's coverage of the

2008 NFL Draft The 2008 NFL Draft was the 73rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 26 and April 27, ...

as a desk host in New York and helped cover the 2009 Pro-Bowl in Honolulu, Hawaii, interviewing players for NFL Total Access. Dukes is an actor in a compelling documentary on the effect of

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...

on NFLers and their Families. From sleeplessness to suicide, it reveals a hard portrait of life after the gridiron. Dukes was one of the most popular hosts on WZGC 92.9 FM The Game and left October 2015 due to health problems January 2016 Dukes and

Chad Ochocinco Chad Ochocinco Johnson (born Chad Javon Johnson; January 9, 1978), known from 2008 to 2012 as Chad Ochocinco, is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football for Santa Monica College and Oregon State University, and p ...

started the Ochocinco and Dukes Podcast on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

. Dukes is the national spokesman for the NFL’s Healthy Heart Campaign, Fitness Integrated with Teaching (FIT) Kids Act and REALIZE® Adjustable Gastric Band.

Health

2008 Dukes had gastric band procedure to help lose weight. The Put Up Your Dukes Foundation was founded by Jamie and his wife Angela Dukes in 2009. As of 2010, Dukes spearheaded a

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

, weight-loss program called the "Billion Pound Blitz Initiative". Duke is Senior VP of Community Relations & Strategic Partnerships for Hydro One a healthy, nutritional, vitamin infused beverage. His 2012 season will include analyst duties on the United Football League broadcasts on

CBS Sports Network CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American pay television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports Television also known as ...

according to a league media guide. He also hosts the Rick and Jamie show on WZGC-FM (Atlanta 92.9 The Game). January 29, 2015, Jamie Dukes seeks fellow ex-NFLers for study to treat depression in the foyer of

Georgia State Capitol The Georgia State Capitol is an architecturally and historically significant building in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The building has been named a National Historic Landmark which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. As t ...

. Dukes is working with

anesthesiologist Anesthesiology, anaesthesiology, or anaesthesia is the medical specialty concerned with the total perioperative care of patients before, during and after surgery. It encompasses anesthesia, intensive care medicine, critical emergency medicine, ...

Jarrod Huey who is involved with Atlanta-based DripFusion Institute in collaboration with several organizations including Florida State University College of Medicine

Author

Dukes wrote a book called "''Frenemals''", which talks about Family, Friends, and the Friends inside our head. This books is to help youth get a better understanding of self-awareness.

Charity Work

Working with Crosby Media Production and Braxton Cosby, Dukes Fat Free: Ask The Fat Doc, Jamie Dukes on his Chachersize video workout program to create Chachersize for Men. Dukes and his wife kicked off the 2011 Runway Red Celebrity Kids Fashion Show raising funding for children infected by or affected withHIV/AIDS.

Personal life

References

External links

Atlanta Falcons websiteSportsNite at Comcast Sports SouthJamie Dukes on TwitterThe Billion Pound Blitz Initiative websiteCBS Local ShowFrenemals
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dukes, Jamie 1964 births Living people African-American players of American football All-American college football players American football offensive guards Arizona Cardinals players Atlanta Falcons players Florida State Seminoles football players Green Bay Packers players Sportspeople from Schenectady, New York Florida State University alumni Players of American football from Florida 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople