Jesse William Solomon (born November 4, 1963) 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 ...

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 ...

in 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) for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

, and

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 ...

. 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

Florida State Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University (FSU) located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I, prima ...

and was selected by the Vikings in the 12th round of the 1986 NFL draft.

Early life

Solomon attended Madison High School but he didn't play football until his junior year when he started on the

defensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line (D ...

. He was not allowed to play in his senior season because of differences with the school administration. He also practiced track. He moved on to North Florida Junior College where he played intramural football for one season. In 1983, he walked on at

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

and spent a year with the scout team. As a junior, he became a backup

and

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. As a senior, he blocked a punt and recovered it in the end zone for a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

against

Tulane University The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it b ...

. He finished his college career with 99 tackles, one interception and 2 fumble recoveries.

Professional career

Minnesota Vikings

Solomon was selected by the

in the twelfth round (318th overall) of the 1986 NFL draft, after a private workout with scout Ralph Kohl and being rated high for his athletic abilities. As a rookie he led the team with 17

tackles and was third on the team with 96 defensive tackles, despite missing 3 games due to an injury and starting only 4 others. One of his starts came at

middle 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 li ...

. In his second season, he became a full-time starter at left outside linebacker and led the team in tackles (126) when Chris Doleman was moved to

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 formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

. He also had 2 sacks, one interception, 3 passes defensed and 3 forced fumbles. In 1988, he led the top-ranked Vikings defense with 121 tackles (95 solo), while also making 4 interceptions, one pass defensed, one forced fumble, 2 fumble recoveries and 2.5 sacks. He suffered a knee injury in the season finale 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

, forcing him to sit out the playoffs. Against the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

, he had 10 tackles, one sack and returned an interception 78 yards for a

. Against the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

, he had a career-high 17 tackles. On October 12,

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

, he was sent to the

as part of the

Herschel Walker trade The Herschel Walker trade was the largest player trade in the history of the National Football League (NFL). The deal, completed on October 12, 1989, centered on sending running back Herschel Walker from the Dallas Cowboys to the Minnesota Vikin ...

. At the time he started one game and had 8 tackles.

Dallas Cowboys

, he didn't start because there were conditional draft picks attached to the Vikings traded players and the

wanted the selections instead of keeping Solomon and the others. Head coach Jimmy Johnson eventually had second thoughts on the February 1 deadline and traded three future draft choices (third-round and tenth-round in

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

and a third-round in

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

) to the Vikings for the right to retain the original full package of draft choices, plus Solomon,

Issiac Holt Issiac Holt III (born October 4, 1962) is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Minnesota Vikings and Dallas Cowboys. He played college football for the Alcorn State ...

and David Howard. He split snaps with

Ken Norton Kenneth Howard Norton Sr. (August 9, 1943 – September 18, 2013) was an American actor and professional boxer who competed from 1967 to 1981. He was awarded the World Boxing Council, WBC world heavyweight championship in 1978, after winning a ...

at weakside linebacker during the second half of the season, with his only start coming 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 ...

when the team went to a 3-4 defense against the

. He had 7 tackles in the twelfth game against the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

. He finished with 43 tackles (15 solo), one quarterback pressure and one forced fumble. In

, he missed all of training camp in a contract holdout and reported to the team after the seventh game of the regular season. He played mostly in pass situations rest of the season, registering 13 tackles, one sack, one quarterback pressure, 2 passes defensed and 2 forced fumbles. On August 21,

, when told of his demotion to the second team from his starting strongside linebacker position, he walked out of the Cowboys' training camp and would eventually be traded to the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

in exchange for a sixth round draft choice (#149-Fallon Wacasey) on September 15.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On September 18,

, the

traded Solomon to the

in exchange for a fifth round draft choice (#116- Dwayne Sabb). It has been speculated that the Patriots were used as a bridge team, because of a clause in the

that prohibited the

from sending any of the players involved to a team in the NFC Central division. Reunited with his former Vikings defensive coordinator Floyd Peters, Solomon went on to record 128 tackles (91 solo) in just 12 starts. On August 21,

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, a contract holdout caused him to be released.

Atlanta Falcons

On September 4,

, he signed with the

. On December 13, when he played against his former team the Buccaneers, he persuaded head coach Jerry Glanville to let him carry the ball 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 ...

after the Falcons had run up the score, posting 2 carries for 12 yards. He finished with 147 tackles as the starter at inside linebacker. In

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

, the team changed to a 4-3 defense and he was moved to

. He wasn't re-signed at the end of the year.

Miami Dolphins

On September 14,

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, he signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

with the

. He only made one tackle in two stints with the team, even though the Dolphins reached the AFC Divisional Playoff game. He wasn't re-signed at the end of the season.

Coaching career

Solomon earned a coaching certificate and degree from

and was the head coach for Forest Hill High School in

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, Florida, Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lag ...

between 2001 and 2003.

References

External links

A New Song For SolomonVikings' Wise Move - Solomon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Solomon, Jesse 1963 births Living people People from Madison, Florida Players of American football from Florida American football linebackers Florida State Seminoles football players Minnesota Vikings players Dallas Cowboys players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Atlanta Falcons players Miami Dolphins players High school football coaches in Florida