Aaron Jameer Dobson (born July 23, 1991) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach and 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 ...

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 ...

. He was selected by 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 the second round of the

2013 NFL draft The 2013 NFL draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in ...

and 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 ...

at Marshall. He is currently the wide receivers coach at Southern Miss.

Early life

Dobson was born in Dunbar, West Virginia. He attended South Charleston High School in South Charleston, West Virginia, and played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

and high school basketball for the South Charleston Black Eagles. He recorded 45 receptions for 1,298 yards and 17

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 as a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

and added seven

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...

s on defense, and finished his high school career with 108 receptions, 2,365 yards and 32 touchdowns. He had 10 interceptions, two of which he returned for touchdowns, and was a member of the 2008 MSAC Championship team and 2008 West Virginia AAA State Championship, which finished with a 14–0 record. In 2009, he played for USA Football's U.S. Under-19 National Team that won the 2009 IFAF Under-19 World Championship in

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in Stark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, eighth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 70,872 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Canton–Massillo ...

, where he was teammates with future

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

running back, David Wilson.

College career

Dobson attended

Marshall University Marshall University is a public university, public research university in Huntington, West Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States, chief justice of the Uni ...

, where he played for the

Marshall Thundering Herd football The Marshall Thundering Herd football team is an intercollegiate varsity sports program of Marshall University. The team represents the university as a member of the Sun Belt Conference East Division of the National Collegiate Athletic Associat ...

team from 2009 to 2012. During his college career, Dobson had 165 receptions for 2,398 yards and 24

s. As a junior in 2011, he was the MVP of the 2011 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl. He ended his Marshall senior season being named 2nd team All-

Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...

and being invited to play in the Senior Bowl. Dobson gained recognition in 2011 during a game against East Carolina, when he had a one-handed backhand catch for a touchdown in the second quarter. The play went viral and was ranked second on

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

's Top 10 Plays of the Year.

Professional career

New England Patriots

The

selected Dobson in the second round, with the 59th overall pick, of the

. He signed a four-year, $3.4 million contract. His first career catch was for a touchdown against 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 ...

in Week 2. In a Week 9 win against 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 ...

, he had the first 100-yard game of his career. He caught five passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns. He suffered a foot injury in week 12 against the Broncos and missed weeks 13–15. He appeared in 12 games (nine starts) with 519 receiving yards and four touchdowns during his rookie campaign in 2013. Dobson was inactive for eight of the first twelve weeks of the 2014 season before injuring his

hamstring A hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in human anatomy between the hip and the knee: from medial to lateral, the semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris. Etymology The word " ham" is derived from the Old ...

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 ...

in Week 13. On December 4, 2014, he 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 Dobson on IR, the Patriots won

Super Bowl XLIX Super Bowl XLIX was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2014 NFL season, 2014 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2014 New England Patriots season, New Eng ...

after they defeated the defending champion

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

, 28–24. Dobson was active for Week 1 against the Steelers on September 10, 2015. He played sparingly recording one reception for nine yards. In the second week, against the

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 ...

, he tied a career-high with seven catches, for 87 yards. He recorded a 17-yard pass from quarterback

Tom Brady Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 23 seasons. He spent his first 20 seasons with the New Engla ...

in a 20–13 win over the Bills in Week 11; on the play, he injured his

ankle The ankle, the talocrural region or the jumping bone (informal) is the area where the foot and the leg meet. The ankle includes three joints: the ankle joint proper or talocrural joint, the subtalar joint, and the inferior tibiofibular joint. The ...

and had to leave the game. He was diagnosed with a high ankle sprain, and on November 26, 2015, the Patriots placed him on injured reserve, ending his season. On September 3, 2016, Dobson was released by the Patriots as part of final roster cuts.

Detroit Lions

On September 21, 2016, Dobson was signed by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

. He was released on September 24, 2016. On September 27, 2016, he was re-signed by the Lions. He was released again on October 8, 2016.

Arizona Cardinals

On January 5, 2017, Dobson signed a reserve/future contract with the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

. He was placed on injured reserve on September 2, 2017. He was released on September 6, 2017.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

Coaching career

In 2023, Dobson was hired as an offensive quality control analyst at Marshall by head coach Charles Huff. After the season, he was promoted to wide receivers coach. In December 2024, Dobson was named wide receivers coach at Southern Miss, again under Charles Huff.

References

External links

Marshall Thundering Herd bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dobson, Aaron 1991 births Living people American football wide receivers Arizona Cardinals players Coaches of American football from West Virginia Detroit Lions players Marshall Thundering Herd football coaches Marshall Thundering Herd football players New England Patriots players People from Dunbar, West Virginia South Charleston High School alumni Southern Miss Golden Eagles football coaches Sportspeople from South Charleston, West Virginia Players of American football from Kanawha County, West Virginia