Louis Delmas (; born April 12, 1987) 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 ...

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

. He was drafted by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

in the second round of the

2009 NFL Draft The 2009 NFL Draft was the seventy-fourth annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. T ...

. 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 ...

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for an arbitrary region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Most narrowly it refers to the Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland, Michigan, Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region a ...

. He was also a member of the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

Early years

Delmas is of

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

an descent. He was born in Delmas, a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...

area in Haiti, on a street named ''Delmas 25'' and moved to

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, Florida at age 11. When he first arrived he did not speak any English.

High school career

Delmas played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

North Miami Beach High School North Miami Beach Senior High School (NMB High School) is a secondary school located at 1247 NE 167 Street in North Miami Beach, Florida, United States. Its current principal is Randy Milliken. NMB High School was built in 1971 as an overcrowding ...

North Miami Beach, Florida North Miami Beach (commonly referred to as NMB) is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. Originally named "Fulford-by-the-Sea" in 1926 after Captain William H. Fulford of the U.S. Coast Guard, the city was renamed "North Miami Be ...

College career

Delmas played

from 2005 to 2008. The Broncos made the 2008 Texas Bowl in his senior year but lost to

Rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

38–14. Delmas was named to the All-MAC Defensive First-team in 2008 and played in the 2009 Senior Bowl All-Star game.

Professional career

2009 NFL Draft

Delmas was considered by some to be a top-10 prospect at his position in the

. In 2008,

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

Todd McShay Todd Marshall McShay (born March 22, 1977) is an American football television analyst and commentator. Early life McShay attended North Shore Christian School in Lynn, Massachusetts and then Swampscott High School in Swampscott, Massachusetts, ...

said Delmas had a chance to get drafted in the first three rounds.

Detroit Lions

The

selected Delmas in the second round (33rd overall) of the

. He was the first safety drafted in 2009. He was signed by the Lions to a four-year contract. Delmas returned a 65-yard fumble for a touchdown in Week 1 of the 2009 season against the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

. Delmas won September's rookie defensive player of the month award. On December 20, 2009, Delmas became the first rookie in NFL history to record an interception return for a touchdown, a fumble return for a touchdown and a safety in the same season. He is only the second player in NFL history to accomplish the feats in the same season. He was named 2009 Detroit Lions Rookie of the Year in voting by the Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association. Delmas was named a

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

alternate for the NFC after the 2010 NFL season. Delmas was named a

alternate for the NFC after the 2011 NFL season, despite missing five games to injuries. On March 15, 2013, Delmas re-signed with the Lions to a two-year contract worth $9.465 million. On October 6, 2013, Lions' center

Dominic Raiola Dominic Raiola (; born December 30, 1978) is a former American football center. He was a second-round pick of the Detroit Lions in the 2001 NFL Draft, and played his entire 14-year career for the Lions of the National Football League (NFL). Prio ...

was involved in an incident of trash-talking and hate speech to members of the UW-Madison marching band. Delmas was credited with both apologizing for his teammate's actions and having a word with Raiola off the field. Delmas was released on February 13, 2014.

Miami Dolphins

On March 10, 2014, Delmas signed a one-year deal with the

. The contract is worth a maximum of $3.5 million. He wore number 25, honoring the street name he was born on in Haiti. On December 8, 2014, he was placed on Injured reserve after he tore his right ACL against the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

. He was resigned by the Dolphins on March 20, 2015.

NFL statistics

Personal life

On April 4, 2017, it was reported that Delmas had been arrested by the

Miami-Dade Police The Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD), formerly known as the Metro-Dade Police Department (1981–1997), Dade County Public Safety Department (1957–1981), and the Dade County Sheriff's Office (1836–1957), is a county police department ser ...

for resisting arrest without violence. Delmas was a passenger in a vehicle that was pulled over for speeding 76 MPH in a 40 MPH speed limit zone. The driver, Andry Madrigal, was suspected of driving under the influence and failed sobriety test on the scene. A breath sample that was subsequently taken at the station measured 0.164, which is twice the legal 0.08 limit. Delmas continued to yell while the police officers conducted the field sobriety tests and was arrested after ignoring multiple requests. He was processed at the Miami-Dade Police station before posting a $500 bond.

References

External links

Western Michigan Broncos bioDetroit Lions: Louis Delmas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Delmas, Louis 1987 births Living people Haitian emigrants to the United States People from Port-au-Prince People from Fort Pierce, Florida American football safeties Players of American football from Florida Western Michigan Broncos football players Detroit Lions players Miami Dolphins players