Demarcus Dobbs (born November 30, 1987) 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 ...

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 was signed by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

as an

undrafted 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 ...

in 2011. 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

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

Early years

Dobbs was born on November 30, 1987, in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Brita ...

, and attende
Calvary Baptist Day School
where he played on the Cavalier

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 ...

team. When Dobbs was seven years old, he left home and moved into Bethesda Home for Boys with his brother Daniel. He excelled in school and was recruited to play football at Calvary Baptist Day by Danny Britt, the current athletic director at Benedictine Military School. Before high school, "Demarcus had never played football before. Calvary just wanted to give him an education," said Britt. "At that point, I asked him if he would like to try football." Through his freshman and junior years at Calvary Baptist, he remained close with Britt and his family, before eventually being offered to move in with them during his senior year of high school. "Our girls were very small – just 4 and 5 years old at the time – and we were poor. We wondered, 'Can we raise a teenage boy? Can we feed another child?" said Britt's wife, Stephanie. He moved in with the Britts in 2005, forming a close bond with their two daughters. "The girls have always been so excited to be with me, and it's funny when you see us together – I'm so big, and they're so small," said Dobbs. At Calvary Baptist, he played both

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

and defensive end. As a tight end in his senior year, he caught 14 passes for 259 yards and four touchdowns. He was named to the All-Coastal Empire team as a tight end. On defense, he recorded 78

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

and six sacks. He was named to the All-Region first-team as a defensive end. Dobbs also played

high school basketball High school basketball, also known as prep basketball, is the sport of basketball as played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. Top high school athletes often go on to play college basketball after ...

for Calvary Baptist, being named to the ''

Savannah Morning News The ''Savannah Morning News'' is a daily newspaper in Savannah, Georgia. It is published by Gannett. The motto of the paper is "Light of the Coastal Empire and Lowcountry". The paper serves Savannah, its Savannah metropolitan area, metropolitan ...

'' All-City First-team in 2005. After his senior season in football, he was rated as a three-star recruit by ''

Rivals.com Rivals.com (stylized as ''rivals'') is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was found ...

'' and as a four-star recruit by '' Scout.com''. He was recruited by

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

, the

University of Alabama at Birmingham The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a public research university in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. Founded in 1969 and part of the University of Alabama System, UAB has grown to be the state's largest employer, with more than ...

, the

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

, and the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public university, public research university and Institute of technology (United States), institute of technology in Atlanta, ...

, before ultimately accepting a scholarship to play for the

Georgia Bulldogs football The Georgia Bulldogs football program represents the University of Georgia in the sport of American football. The Georgia Bulldogs, Bulldogs compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) a ...

team. Dobbs is a supporter of his former school. When they had an alumni football game put on b
Gridiron Alumni Football
in March 2012, he was there to do the coin toss. He stood on the sidelines for the whole game as his former teammates rallied against an alumni team from Richmond Hill.

College career

As a true

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

in 2006, Dobbs was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

, giving him an extra year of eligibility. The following season, in 2007, he appeared in all 13 of Georgia's games, recording his first collegiate tackle against

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

in the

2008 Sugar Bowl The 2008 Allstate Sugar Bowl was an American college football bowl game. It was part of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) for the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season, and was the 74th Sugar Bowl. It was played on January 1, 2008, in the Lo ...

. He mainly saw playing time on

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 ...

for Georgia. In 2008, as a redshirt sophomore, Dobbs made his first career start against

Central Michigan Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Lower Peninsula of the United States, U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said t ...

, where he recorded a career-high four tackles and an

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 ...

, which he returned 78-yards for a touchdown. Against

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest ...

, he recorded his first college sack and a forced fumble. He finished the season with four total starts, 19 tackles, two sacks, and two interceptions. The following season, he became a starter for the Bulldogs, starting in all 13 games for the team. He recorded a career-high 39 tackles, recording four tackles on three occasions. He also tallied 4.5 sacks for Georgia. As a senior in 2010, he started in 10 of 13 games, recording 28 tackles. He matched his career-high of four tackles in three games during the season. Dobbs received the Joseph E. Espy football scholarship three times during his five seasons at Georgia and graduated in December 2010 with a degree in consumer economics.

Professional career

San Francisco 49ers

After going undrafted in the

2011 NFL draft The 2011 NFL draft was the 76th installment of the annual National Football League draft, NFL draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Rad ...

, Dobbs signed as an undrafted free agent with the

. After impressing during

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events ...

, he made the 49ers' final roster. He was one of two undrafted free agents retained by the 49ers after final cuts, with the other being fellow defensive tackle Ian Williams. During the 2012 preseason, Dobbs began playing the

position and his usual spot on the defensive line. On August 14, 2013, the NFL announced that Dobbs had violated the NFL's policy on substance abuse and would be suspended for the first game of the 2013 regular season. He was waived on November 4, 2014.

Seattle Seahawks

After being waived by the 49ers, Dobbs signed with the

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 ...

. He re-signed with the Seahawks on March 29, 2015.

References

External links

Georgia Bulldogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobbs, Demarcus 1987 births Living people Players of American football from Savannah, Georgia American football defensive tackles American football defensive ends American football tight ends Georgia Bulldogs football players San Francisco 49ers players Seattle Seahawks players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen