Adrion Dante "Dri" Archer (born August 9, 1991) 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 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 ...

and

return specialist A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

for 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 ...

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

Kent State Golden Flashes The Kent State Golden Flashes are the athletic teams that represent Kent State University. The university fields 19 varsity athletic teams in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the NCAA Division I, Division I level with footba ...

, earning consensus

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 on 2012. He was selected by the Steelers in the third round of the

2014 NFL draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

. He was also a member of 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 ...

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 ...

Early life

Archer attended Venice High School, where he was a member of the

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, and track teams. In track, he finished second in the

100 meters The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

final of state track meet in his first full season of running (behind World Class sprinter Dentarius Locke and ahead of third place

Denard Robinson Denard Xavier Robinson (born September 22, 1990) is an American former professional football player and a former staff member for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Jacksonville University and the University of Michigan. He played four seasons as a runn ...

), with a time of 10.49 seconds. He also ran the

200 meters The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

in 21.46 seconds. As a senior, he was named to the all-area first-team in football. He helped Venice High School win two district titles."Dri Archer"
kentstatesports.com. Retrieved February 8, 2013.

College career

Archer was offered track scholarships from both Clemson and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

. Kent State was the only school to offer him a football scholarship where he elected to attend. As a freshman at

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a Public university, public research university in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Kent State University at Ashtabula, Ashtabula, Kent State ...

, in 2009, he played in 11 games as a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

and had 246

rushing Rushing means a sudden forward motion, or a surge or onslaught. Rushing may refer to: Tactics * Rush (gridiron football), advancing the ball by running on offense. On defense, charging the quarterback or kicker is a pass rush. * Human wave atta ...

yards and 231 receiving yards. The following season, he had 140 rushing yards and 75 receiving yards. Before the 2011 season, Archer was ruled ineligible for academic reasons. In 2012, Archer had 1,429 rushing yards, 16 rushing

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 ...

s, 561 receiving yards, and four receiving touchdowns. His 24 total touchdowns led the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...

(MAC) and set a single-season school record. Against

Ball State Ball State University (Ball State or BSU) is a public university, public research university in Muncie, Indiana, United States. The university has three off-campus centers in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Fort Wayne, and Fishers, Indiana. T ...

, Archer had a 99-yard

kick return A kick is a physical strike using the leg, in unison usually with an area of the knee or lower using the foot, heel, tibia (shin), ball of the foot, blade of the foot, toes or knee (the latter is also known as a knee strike). This type of atta ...

for a touchdown and set a career-high with 350

all-purpose yards All-purpose yards or all-purpose yardage is a gridiron football statistical measure. It is virtually the same as the statistic that some football leagues refer to as combined net yards. In the game of football, progress is measured by advancing ...

. Against

Eastern Michigan Eastern Michigan University (EMU, EMich, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern) is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Michigan State Normal School, it was the fourth normal school (teachers' ...

, he had a rushing touchdown, a receiving touchdown, and a kick return touchdown. Against

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

, he had 222 rushing yards, a rushing touchdown, and a passing touchdown. Archer was named the MAC Special Teams Player of the Year. He made the All-MAC first-team as a running back and kick returner. He was also a finalist for the

Paul Hornung Award The Paul Hornung Award is a college football award that was created in January 2010 by the Louisville Sports Commission in Louisville, Kentucky, with the support of Paul Hornung, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football ...

. Archer was a consensus

Statistics

Source:

Professional career

Pre-draft

At 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 ...

, Archer ran the

40-yard dash The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed and acceleration of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time can have a he ...

in 4.26 seconds, which is the fifth-fastest time ever recorded since the NFL began electronic timing.

Pittsburgh Steelers

He was drafted by the

in the 3rd round with the 97th overall pick in the

. On September 7, 2014, Archer made his NFL debut 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 ...

. In his rookie season, Archer totaled ten carries for 40 yards and seven receptions for 23 yards to go along with occasional kickoff return duties in 12 games. In 2015, Archer saw more action in the kick return game but did not factor into the offense. He finished with 14 kickoff returns for 324 net yards for a 25.29 average. On November 5, 2015, Archer was waived by the Steelers.

New York Jets

On February 3, 2016, Archer signed a reserve/future contract with the

. On May 9, 2016, Archer was waived by the Jets.

Buffalo Bills

Archer was claimed off waivers by the

on May 10, 2016. When he failed to report to the team, he was placed on the reserve/did not report list on May 18, 2016.

References

External links

Kent State Golden Flashes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Archer, Dri 1991 births Living people All-American college football players American football return specialists American football running backs Buffalo Bills players Kent State Golden Flashes football players New York Jets players Sportspeople from Sarasota County, Florida Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of American football from Florida