Darrell Nicholson (born August 23, 1959) is a former

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 ...

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 ...

. After a career at

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, where he earned first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors in 1980 when the Tar Heels finished 11–1 and won the ACC with a 6–0 record, Nicholson was selected by the

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 ...

in the

1982 NFL draft The 1982 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 27–28, 1982, at the New York Sh ...

. After only one season, he joined the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

and helped the team win the 71st Grey Cup. In his junior season at UNC, where he was a teammate of

Lawrence Taylor Lawrence Julius Taylor (born February 4, 1959), nicknamed "L.T.", is an American former professional football linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the New York Giants. He is almost universally regard ...

, Nicholson led the Tar Heels in tackles with 75 solos and 42 assists. He had been the ACC Rookie of the Year in 1978. His sons A. J. Nicholson and Derek Nicholson played 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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholson, Darrell 1959 births Living people American football linebackers Canadian football linebackers Players of Canadian football from North Carolina North Carolina Tar Heels football players Toronto Argonauts players New York Giants players Players of American football from Winston-Salem, North Carolina Calgary Stampeders players Ottawa Rough Riders players