Dorian O'Daniel (born September 4, 1994) is an American 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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

. 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

Clemson Tigers The Clemson Tigers are the sport, athletic teams that represent Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level (NCAA Divis ...

Early life

O'Daniel played as a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

for Our Lady of Good Counsel High School where as a senior, he aided the team in finishing the season with an 11–1 record. His senior accolades included making '' Montgomery Sentinel'' Offensive Player-of-the-Year and Gazette Montgomery County Player-of-the-Year. As a senior, O'Daniel also scored 18 touchdowns in 10 games. As an

outside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the lin ...

, O'Daniel was ranked 6th in the nation by Rivals.com, 8th by

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, 11th by Scout.com, 13th by

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and 16th by

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. O'Daniel was a three-year

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

prior to committing to

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

. His commitment to Clemson made him the first athlete from the state of Maryland since Jeff Fortner joined Clemson in 1991."Dorian O'Daniel" Profile
at Clemson Tigers.com. Retrieved December 9, 2023

College career

After his

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) 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 ...

season in 2013, O'Daniel started 1 of 12 total games. During the 2014 season, O'Daniel's 12 games included 31

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

, one

tackle for loss The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see '' Glossary of Canadian football''. 0–9 ...

, one

sack A sack usually refers to a rectangular-shaped bag. Sack may also refer to: Bags * Flour sack * Gunny sack * Hacky sack, sport * Money sack * Paper sack * Sleeping bag * Stuff sack * Knapsack Other uses * Bed, a slang term * Sack (band), ...

and one caused

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful h ...

in 87 snaps. On November 15, 2014, O'Daniel's performance against

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

earned him a team co-defensive player-of-the-game accolade. On December 29, 2014, O'Daniel's performance against

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

earned him the accolade of

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

player-of-the-game. In the 2015, O'Daniel was once more part of Clemson's special teams, recording 32 tackles, 19 made with special teams in 15 total games. By his junior season in 2016, O'Daniel rose to a starting

role. He also started 10 of the total 15 games, recording 116 tackles, making 60 of his tackles in 479 snaps over the course of the season. O'Daniel finished his senior season in 2017 with 104 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss and five sacks."Dorian O'Daniel" NFL Draft Profile
at Draftwire USA Today.com. Retrieved December 9, 2023 At 6 ft 1 in and 220 lbs, O'Daniel was considered undersized by NFL recruiting experts. He was recognized however for his "instincts, athletic ability and a nonstop motor."

Professional career

Pre-draft

O'Daniel attended the

NFL Scouting 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 ...

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

and completed all of the combine and positional drills. On March 15, 2018, he attended Clemson's

pro day The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

, but opted to stand on his combine numbers and only performed positional drills. O'Daniel also attended meetings and private workouts with multiple teams, including the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

, and

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, O'Daniel was projected to be a third or fourth round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked as the sixth best outside linebacker prospect in the draft by DraftScout.com and was ranked the 11th best outside linebacker by

Scouts Inc. Scouts Inc. is a partner of ESPN Inc., that specializes in scouting and evaluating current and future players and teams in professional, college and high school sports. The content is provided on the ESPN television networks, ESPN Radio and ESPN ...

Kansas City Chiefs

The

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

selected O'Daniel in the third round (100th overall) of the

2018 NFL draft The 2018 NFL draft was the 83rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2018 NFL season. The draft was held on April 26–28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington southwest of Dallas; it was ...

. O'Daniel was the 13th linebacker drafted in 2018. On May 30, 2018, the Chiefs signed O'Daniel to a four-year, $3.34 million contract that includes a

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

of $761,516. O'Daniel won his first

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

championship when the Chiefs defeated the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

31–20 in

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. On December 5, 2020, O'Daniel was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

with an ankle injury. On January 16, 2021, O'Daniel was activated off of the injured reserve ahead of the Chiefs' Divisional Round playoff game against the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

Pittsburgh Maulers

On October 5, 2023, O'Daniel signed with the Pittsburgh Maulers of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL). The Maulers folded when the XFL and USFL merged to create the United Football League (UFL).

References

External links

Clemson Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:ODaniel, Dorian 1994 births Living people American football linebackers Clemson Tigers football players Kansas City Chiefs players Sportspeople from Olney, Maryland Players of American football from Montgomery County, Maryland Pittsburgh Maulers (2022) players