Eric Felece Curry (born February 3, 1970) is an

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 ...

player who was 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 ...

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) for seven seasons during the 1990s. He played college football for the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publi ...

, and earned consensus All-American honors. A first-round pick in the

1993 NFL Draft The 1993 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 25–26, 1993, at the Marriot Ma ...

, he played professionally for the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...

, Green Bay Packers and

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...

of the NFL.

Early years

Curry was born in

Thomasville, Georgia Thomasville is the county seat of Thomas County, Georgia, United States. The population was 18,413 at the 2010 United States Census, making it the second largest city in southwest Georgia after Albany. The city deems itself the "City of Roses" an ...

.National Football League, Historical Players
Eric Curry
Retrieved February 16, 2012. He graduated from

Thomasville High School Thomasville High School is a public secondary school located in Thomasville, Georgia, United States. It is one of only a handful of city school systems left in the state of Georgia. It is considered by the Georgia High School Association to be a ...

,databaseFootball.com, Players
Eric Curry
. Retrieved February 16, 2012. and played for the Thomasville High School Bulldogs

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 ...

team.

College career

Curry accepted an

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the United ...

to attend the University of Alabama, where he played for coach

Bill Curry William Alexander Curry (born October 21, 1942) is a retired American football coach and former player. Most recently, Curry was the head coach at Georgia State University, which began competing in college football in 2010. Previously, Curry s ...

and coach

Gene Stallings Eugene Clifton Stallings Jr. (born March 2, 1935) is a retired American football player and coach. He played college football at Texas A&M University (1954–1956), where he was one of the "Junction Boys", and later served as the head coach at ...

Alabama Crimson Tide football The Alabama Crimson Tide football program represents the University of Alabama (variously Alabama, UA, or Bama) in the sport of American football. The team competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Ass ...

teams from 1989 to 1992. As a senior in 1992, Curry was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American and the United Press International Lineman of the Year. He was a member of the Crimson Tide squad that won the first

SEC Championship Game The SEC Championship Game is an annual American football game that has determined the Southeastern Conference's season champion since 1992. The championship game pits the SEC East Division regular season champion against the West Division regula ...

in 1992, and a consensus national championship by defeating the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes (known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes) are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic A ...

34–13 in the Sugar Bowl. Curry and fellow defensive end John Copeland were known as the "bookends" during their time at Alabama, and were key players in the Crimson Tide's No. 1 rated defense in 1992.

Professional career

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Curry in the first round, with the sixth overall pick, of the 1993 NFL Draft. He gained notoriety for happily hugging the NFL Commissioner,

Paul Tagliabue Paul John Tagliabue (; born November 24, 1940) is an American lawyer who was the commissioner of the National Football League (NFL). He took the position in 1989 and served until September 1, 2006. He had previously served as a lawyer for the NFL ...

, after he was picked by the Buccaneers in the draft. He played for the Buccaneers from to . He signed a free agent deal with the Green Bay Packers in , but was released during the preseason. Curry played for the Jacksonville Jaguars from to .Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players
Eric Curry
Retrieved February 16, 2012. In seven NFL seasons, Curry played in 75 regular season games, started 44 of them, and contributed 95 tackles, 12.5 quarterback sacks, and seven forced fumbles.

NFL statistics

Life after football

As of 2020, Curry resides in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curry, Eric 1970 births Living people Alabama Crimson Tide football players All-American college football players American football defensive ends Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Jacksonville Jaguars players Players of American football from Thomasville, Georgia Green Bay Packers players