Timothy Lance Dobbins (born December 10, 1982) 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 ...

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 ...

. He was drafted by the

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 ...

in the fifth round of the

2006 NFL Draft The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with ad ...

. Dobbins 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 ...

at Iowa State.

Early years

Dobbins attended Glencliff Comprehensive High School in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

and led the Colts to the 1999 TSSAA Class 5A State Champion Runner-Up. He was also picked by the TSWA as a first team All State Linebacker in 2001 which was his senior year. Tim played at Glencliff with some of the most talented players to ever play at the school. During his career, he played with multiple other All State players that went on to have success at the college and professional levels. Those players include current Arena Football star CJ Johnson, who plays for the Georgia Force, former Buffalo Bills DB, Deon Giddens and former starting Tulsa DB CJ Scott.

College career

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

, Dobbins earned all

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its fo ...

honors in his senior season. He led the

Cyclones In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an anti ...

to the

Houston Bowl The Houston Bowl was an NCAA-sanctioned Division I-A college football bowl game that was played annually in Houston, Texas, from 2000 to 2005. For its first two years, the game was known as the galleryfurniture.com Bowl, named for the website of ...

in 2005 and to the

Independence Bowl The Independence Bowl is a post-season National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-sanctioned Division I college football bowl game that is played annually each December at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana. The Independence Bowl ...

in 2004. He played under coach

Dan McCarney Patrick Daniel McCarney (born July 28, 1953) is a former American football coach. He served as the head football coach at Iowa State University from 1995 to 2006 and the University of North Texas from 2011 to 2015, compiling a career college foo ...

. He went to Community College at Copiah-Lincoln Community College in 2002-2003. Made all MACJC Team both years.

Professional career

2006 NFL Draft

Dobbins was selected 151st overall in the 5th round of the

by the Chargers.

San Diego Chargers

Dobbins entered the 2007 season as the first linebacker off the bench behind Stephen Cooper and

Matt Wilhelm Matthew Wilhelm (born February 2, 1981) is a former American college and professional football player and a current radio/TV football analyst. He was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons during the early 2000s. ...

. In the 2007 NFL Draft,

A. J. Smith Albert J. Smith (born February 28, 1949) is a former American football player, coach, scout, and executive. He served as a part-time scout for several NFL and USFL teams before joining the Buffalo Bills in 1986, serving as a scout and executive ...

added some more competition to the linebacking corps with the additions of

Anthony Waters Anthony Devonne Waters (born July 25, 1985) is a former American football linebacker. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the third round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at Clemson. He is also the older brother of Ind ...

and

Brandon Siler Brandon T. Siler (born December 5, 1985) is an American former college and professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for six seasons. He played college football for the University of Florida, where ...

Miami Dolphins

Dobbins was included in a trade during the first round of the

2010 NFL Draft The 2010 NFL Draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, with the firs ...

that sent him to 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 ...

. After one season in Miami, he was released on August 1, 2011.

Houston Texans

On August 6, 2011, Dobbins signed with the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

. During the divisional playoff game 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 ...

, Dobbins stuffed

Ray Rice Raymell Mourice Rice (born January 22, 1987) is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for six seasons with the Baltimore Ravens. He played college football at Rutgers, where he received first-t ...

on fourth-and-goal to preserve a goal-line stand. However, the Texans lost 20-13. After starting linebacker

Brian Cushing Brian Patrick Cushing (born January 24, 1987) is a former American football linebacker. He played college football at USC, and was drafted by the Houston Texans in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft and played his entire 9-year career for the ...

tore his ACL in week 5 of the 2012 season, Dobbins took his spot in the starting lineup. In week 10 against the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

, Dobbins illegally hit Bears quarterback

Jay Cutler Jay Christopher Cutler (born April 29, 1983) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the Chicago Bears. He played college football for the Van ...

, giving him a concussion. On November 14, 2012, Dobbins was fined $30,000 for the illegal hit against Cutler. Dobbins was released by the Texans on October 22, 2013.

Atlanta Falcons

Dobbins signed with 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 ...

on June 18, 2014. He was released after the Falcons claimed Nate Stupar off waivers.

Dallas Cowboys

Dobbins signed with the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

after a season-ending injury to linebacker

Justin Durant Justin Ryan Durant (born September 21, 1985) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) who played for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Detroit Lions, Dallas Cowboys and Atlanta Falcons. He was drafted by the Jaguars ...

. He was released on November 11, 2014, to make room on the roster for Josh Brent.

Statistics

;Regular season Source: NFL.com

References

External links

Miami Dolphins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobbins, Tim 1982 births Living people Players of American football from Nashville, Tennessee American football linebackers Copiah-Lincoln Wolfpack football players Iowa State Cyclones football players San Diego Chargers players Miami Dolphins players Houston Texans players Atlanta Falcons players Dallas Cowboys players