D'Brickashaw Ferguson
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D'Brickashaw Montgomery Ferguson (born December 10, 1983) is an American former professional
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
player who was an
offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...
for 10 seasons with the
New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...
of the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
(NFL). He played
college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
for the
Virginia Cavaliers The Virginia Cavaliers, also known as Wahoos or Hoos, are the athletic teams representing the University of Virginia, located in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers compete at the NCAA Division I level ( FBS for football), in the Atlantic Coast C ...
and received first-team
All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...
honors. He was picked by the Jets fourth overall in the
2006 NFL draft The 2006 NFL 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 additional coverage offe ...
, and was selected for the
Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...
three times. Ferguson made 160 consecutive regular season starts and never missed a game in his entire career.


Early life

Ferguson's given name was inspired by Father Ralph de Bricassart, a character in the 1977 novel ''
The Thorn Birds ''The Thorn Birds'' is a 1977 novel by Australian author Colleen McCullough. Set primarily on Drogheda—a fictional sheep station in the Australian Outback named after Drogheda, Ireland—the story focuses on the Cleary family and spans 1915 ...
''. He attended Freeport High School in the Long Island village of Freeport,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
. He nearly gave up football during his freshman year in high school. Considered a three-star recruit by '' Rivals.com'', Ferguson was ranked as the No. 29 offensive guard prospect in the nation. He chose to attend the
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...
over
Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...
.


College career

While attending the
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...
, Ferguson played for the
Virginia Cavaliers football The Virginia Cavaliers football team represents the University of Virginia (UVA) in the sport of American football. Established in 1887, Virginia plays its home games at Scott Stadium, capacity 61,500, featured directly on its campus near the ...
team. He started his college career listed at , often dropping to through the regular season. He started 49 games for the Cavaliers, and he was named to the
All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...
first-team during his final season. He was placed on the all-
Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...
first-team two years in a row, and he became Virginia's first All-ACC offensive tackle since 1998. Ferguson started at left tackle in four consecutive bowl games for the Cavaliers. He played linebacker on a special defensive package employed sparingly in 2003. He did this while earning a religious studies degree in only 3.5 years. He was an
All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...
selection in 2004 by ''
Pro Football Weekly ''Pro Football Weekly'' (sometimes shortened to ''PFW'') is an American sports magazine, founded in 1967, and website that covers the National Football League (NFL). It was owned by Pro Football Weekly LLC and headquartered in Riverwoods, Illin ...
''.


Professional career

Considered an undersized tackle after playing at 295 pounds during his senior year at Virginia, Ferguson officially weighed in at 312 for the
NFL combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...
. As a tackle, Ferguson's talent is found in his lower body strength, athleticism and flexibility. This athleticism and flexibility is further evidenced in his attaining a black belt in
Shotokan karate is a style of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi (1868–1957) and his son Gigo (Yoshitaka) Funakoshi (1906–1945). Gichin Funakoshi was born in Okinawa and is widely credited with popularizing "karate do" thr ...
and brown belt in taekwondo. Adding to that ability is his natural build, as Ferguson has an armspan of . Ferguson was one of six players the NFL invited to New York for the
2006 NFL draft The 2006 NFL 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 additional coverage offe ...
events. He was selected 4th overall by the New York Jets. The last time the Jets used their first pick on a tackle was 1988, when they selected Dave Cadigan of
USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...
at No. 8. Ferguson was drafted by the New York Jets in the first round with the fourth overall pick of the
2006 NFL draft The 2006 NFL 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 additional coverage offe ...
. On July 26, 2006, Ferguson signed a five-year deal with the team. The deal was similar to the $35 million deal that
2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
’s No. 4 pick, Cedric Benson, signed with 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...
. Designated as Jason Fabini's successor, Ferguson started every game at left tackle for the Jets since the beginning of the
2006 NFL season The 2006 NFL season was the 87th regular season of the National Football League (NFL). Regular season play was held from September 7 to December 31, 2006. The season began with the reigning Super Bowl XL champion Pittsburgh Steelers defeati ...
. On January 8, 2010,
Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...
Tackle Jake Long withdrew from the
2010 Pro Bowl The 2010 Pro Bowl was the National Football League's all-star game for the 2009 season. It took place at 8:00 PM EST on Sunday, January 31, 2010, at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, the home stadium of the Miami Dolphins and host s ...
due to injuries and Ferguson was named as his replacement. He was invited to the 2011 Pro Bowl. He was ranked 79th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2011. On April 8, 2016, Ferguson announced his retirement from the NFL after 10 seasons, having made 160 consecutive starts and never missing a game. He played 10,707 out of 10,708 regular season offensive snaps in his career. In his retirement statement, Ferguson wrote, "I would like to thank every coach, every teammate, and every fan that has shown me support throughout my career. I sincerely thank you all from the bottom of my heart."


Personal life

Ferguson's hometown of Freeport, New York, dedicated a street to him on September 29, 2009. South Ocean Avenue, where he grew up, received secondary signage as D'Brickashaw Ferguson Way.D'Brickashaw Ferguson Street Dedication
, Freeport, New York official web site. Accessed online October 26, 2009.
His father, Ed Ferguson Sr., is a native of
Nassau, Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital and largest city of The Bahamas. It is on the island of New Providence, which had a population of 246,329 in 2010, or just over 70% of the entire population of The Bahamas. As of April 2023, the preliminary results of ...
, and his older brother, Edwin, also graduated from the University of Virginia. He is also a black belt in
Karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...
and brown belt in
Taekwondo Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...
. Ferguson was the inspiration for the recurring East–West College Bowl sketch on the
Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...
sketch comedy series ''
Key & Peele ''Key & Peele'' (abbreviated to ''K&P'') is an American sketch comedy television series that ran from 2012 to 2015. It was created by Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele for Comedy Central; each had previously worked on ''Mad TV.'' Each episod ...
'', in which comedians
Keegan-Michael Key Keegan-Michael Key (born March 22, 1971) is an American comedian, actor, producer, and writer. He and Jordan Peele co-created and co-starred in the sketch series '' Key & Peele'' (2012–2015) for which he received one Primetime Emmy Award from ...
and
Jordan Peele Jordan Haworth Peele (born February 21, 1979) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is known for his film and television work in the Comedy film, comedy and Horror film, horror genres. He has received List of awards and nominations r ...
portray football players with uncommon names when introducing themselves. One iteration of the sketch featured real-life football players, including Ferguson himself. D'Brickashaw and his first wife, Kirsten, had two children before divorcing in December 2021. He has since welcomed a third child with his fiancé, Stephanie. In May of 2025, Ferguson graduated from Jefferson University's nursing program. He pursued nursing to follow in the footsteps of his mother and grandmother, both of whom were nurses.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, D'Brickashaw 1983 births Living people American people of Bahamian descent American Conference Pro Bowl players American football offensive tackles New York Jets players People from Freeport, New York Sportspeople from Hempstead, New York Players of American football from Nassau County, New York Virginia Cavaliers football players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen