David Stewart Ball (born January 4, 1981) 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

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 ...

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 eight seasons. 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

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

, earning

unanimous All-American The College Football All-America Team is an honorific college football all-star team compiled after each NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) season to recognize that season's most outstanding performers at their respective positions. ...

honors in 2003. He was selected by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

in the fifth round of the

2004 NFL draft The 2004 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 from April 24–25, 2004, at the Theate ...

, and has also played for 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

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

of the NFL.

Early life

Ball was born in

Fairfield, California Fairfield is a city in and the county seat of Solano County, California, United States, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay sub-region of the San Francisco Bay Area. The city has a diversified economy, with government, manufac ...

. He attended Dixon High School in

Dixon, California Dixon is a city in northeastern Solano County, California, Solano County, California, United States, located from the state capital, Sacramento, California, Sacramento. It has a Mediterranean climate, hot-summer mediterranean climate on the K� ...

, where he 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 ...

for the Dixon High School football and

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 ...

teams.

College career

Ball attended the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

, where he played defensive end for the

Bruins Bruin, (from Dutch for "brown"), is an English folk term for brown bear. Bruin, Bruins or BRUIN may also refer to: Places * Lake Bruin, ox-bow lake of the Mississippi River located in northeastern Louisiana ** Lake Bruin State Park * Bruin, K ...

from 2000 to 2003. He was a starter during his final three seasons. In 2003, Ball tied for the national lead with 16.5

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackle (football move), tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the l ...

s, setting a UCLA record. He also set the UCLA record for most career sacks with 30.5. Ball earned

honors in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, and was selected as the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

National Defensive Player of the Year, and won the

Pop Warner Glenn Scobey Warner (April 5, 1871 – September 7, 1954), most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American college football coach at various institutions who is responsible for several key aspects of the modern game. Included among his inn ...

Award as the top senior player on the West Coast. Ball was also a two-time first-team All-Pac-10 selection.

Professional career

Ball was selected in the fifth round by the San Diego Chargers (pick no. 133) in the

. He was released by the Chargers during the 2005 season and was picked up by the

. Ball was 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 ...

by the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

on March 26, 2007. On September 1, 2007, Ball was cut from the Panthers before the start of the

NFL regular season The National Football League (NFL) regular season begins on the weekend following the first Monday of September (i.e., the weekend following the Labor Day holiday) and ends in early January, after which that season's playoffs tournament begins. ...

. Ball did not play in the 2007 season, despite being signed by the Titans in January prior to their playoff game against the

. Ball played for Tennessee from 2008 to 2011. In his NFL career, he has had 123 tackles and 15.5 sacks.also an interception and return for touchdown against the lions in 2008"Dave Ball"
nfl.com. Retrieved February 10, 2013.

References

External links

New York Jets bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, Dave 1981 births Living people All-American college football players American football defensive ends New York Jets players Players of American football from Fairfield, California San Diego Chargers players Tennessee Titans players UCLA Bruins football players People from Dixon, California