Vladimir Ducasse (; born October 15, 1987) is a
Haitian-born 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 ...
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 in ...
. He was drafted by the
New York Jets in the second round of the
2010 NFL Draft. He played
college football at
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
.
High school career
A native of
Port-au-Prince,
Haiti, Ducasse moved to the United States in 2002.
He attended
Stamford High School in
Stamford, Connecticut, where he was a three-sport star in football, basketball and track. In
football, Ducasse played offensive line and was named First Team All-State by the Connecticut High School Coaches Association. He also earned First Team All-Fairfield County by the FCIAC Coaches.
Ducasse was also an standout
track & field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...
athlete at Stamford High, where he was one of the state's top performers in the throwing events. He captured the League championship in the
discus, with a throw of 44.77 meters (146 ft, 5 in) and was a runner-up in the
shot put, with a throw of 16.43 meters (53 ft, 9 in).
Ducasse was not rated by any recruiting service and failed to draw the attention of any
Division I Bowl Subdivision
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...
college.
He chose to attend the
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, ...
.
College career
As a
true freshman
Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...
at UMass, Ducasse saw action in four games as a reserve offensive lineman. In his sophomore year he became the starter at left tackle, started 12 of 13 games in 2007 and aided UMass' line in allowing just 15
quarterback sacks in his 12 games. In his junior season, Ducasse started all games at left tackle and was part of offensive line that allowed just six sacks, the fewest in the
Colonial Athletic Association and second in the NCAA.
Ducasse finished his career with 35 consecutive starts at left tackle. In those 35 games, UMass allowed just 39 sacks and had a 100-yard rusher in 23 of those games. He was named a FCS First Team All-American by the ''
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
''.
Professional career
2010 NFL Draft
Ducasse was considered one of the best offensive guard prospects available in the
2010 NFL Draft.
He worked out at TEST Sports Clubs in
Martinsville, New Jersey
Martinsville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Bridgewater Township, in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States.[Wonderlic
The Wonderlic Contemporary Cognitive Ability Test (formerly Wonderlic Personnel Test) is an assessment used to measure the cognitive ability and problem-solving aptitude of prospective employees for a range of occupations. It is a proprietary ...]
intelligence test.
Ducasse was selected in the 2nd round (61st overall) by the
New York Jets, as the first non-BCS-eligible player drafted in 2010. He is the first UMass football player drafted by the NFL since linebacker
Khari Samuel in
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...
, and the highest Minuteman taken since
Greg Landry
Gregory Paul Landry (born December 18, 1946) is a former American football player and coach who played quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) from 1968 to 1981, and again in 1984. He played for the Detroit Lions, Baltimore Colts and ...
was the 11th pick overall by the
Detroit Lions in the
1968 NFL Draft
The 1968 National Football League draft was part of the common draft, in the second year in which the NFL and AFL held a joint draft of college players. It took place at the Belmont Plaza Hotel in New York City on January 30–31, 1968.
The Mi ...
.
New York Jets
The Jets released
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 ...
guard
Alan Faneca
Alan Joseph Faneca (; born December 7, 1976) is an American former professional football player who was a guard in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons. He played college football for Louisiana State University (LSU), and earned ...
after they selected Ducasse. Ducasse and
Matt Slauson
Matthew Benjamin Slauson (born February 18, 1986) is a former American football guard. He was drafted by the New York Jets in the sixth round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He also played for the Chicago Bears, San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers, and India ...
, a second-year backup, competed for Faneca's old job in training camp that season. On July 7, he was signed by the Jets to a four-year deal worth $3.25 million, including a signing bonus just over $1 million. Ducasse played 2 games during his rookie year in 2010 and eventually helped the Jets into the playoffs until losing to the
Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship. In 2011, Ducasse played all 16 games and made 1 start. In 2012, Ducasse again appeared all 16 games playing left guard and right tackle prospectively.
After performing well in training camp, Ducasse earned the starting job at left guard during the
2013 NFL season. However, due to penalties and struggles, Ducasse was benched in favor for rookie
Brian Winters
Brian Joseph Winters (born March 1, 1952) is an American former basketball player and coach.
Career
Winters attended academic and athletic powerhouse Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens, New York, graduating in 1970. He then played collegia ...
. Ducasse played in all 16 games with 4 starts for the 2013 season. He became a free agent for the first time in his career after the season ended.
Minnesota Vikings
Ducasse signed a one-year contract with the
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...
on March 24, 2014.
Chicago Bears
Ducasse signed a one-year contract with the
Chicago Bears on March 16, 2015.
Baltimore Ravens
Ducasse signed with 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 it ...
on May 16, 2016. On September 3, 2016, he was released by the Ravens. He was re-signed on October 11, 2016.
Buffalo Bills
On March 9, 2017, Ducasse signed a three-year contract with the
Buffalo Bills. After being inactive the first four games, Ducasse started the rest of the season at right guard in 2017.
Ducasse was named the starting left guard to begin the 2018 season. He started the first nine games before losing the starting job to rookie
Wyatt Teller
Wyatt Teller (born November 21, 1994) is an American football guard for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Virginia Tech.
College career
After high school, Teller committed to play footb ...
.
On August 11, 2019, Ducasse was released by the Bills.
Personal life
Vladimir Ducasse is the son of Delinois Ducasse, an accountant for the
Banque de la République d'Haïti. His mother died when he was 5. He has two older brothers, Reginald and Macarthur, and two younger siblings, Jefferey and Jemima. Vladimir and Macarthur moved to Connecticut in 2002 to live with his aunt and uncle Virginia and Lezanord Ducasse while Reginald moved to Beijing, China to study computer science. The rest of his family still resides in Haiti and was affected by the
2010 earthquake.
References
External links
Minnesota Vikings bioNew York Jets bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ducasse, Vladimir
1987 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Port-au-Prince
Haitian emigrants to the United States
Haitian players of American football
Sportspeople from Stamford, Connecticut
Players of American football from Connecticut
American football offensive tackles
American football offensive guards
UMass Minutemen football players
New York Jets players
Minnesota Vikings players
Chicago Bears players
Baltimore Ravens players
Buffalo Bills players
Stamford High School (Stamford, Connecticut) alumni