Divine Ahmad Deablo (born August 17, 1998) is an American 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 ...

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 ...

for the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

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

Virginia Tech Hokies The Virginia Tech Hokies are the athletic teams representing Virginia Tech in intercollegiate athletics. The Hokies participate in the NCAA's Division I Atlantic Coast Conference in 22 varsity sports. Virginia Tech's men's sports are football, b ...

and was selected by the Raiders in the third round of the

2021 NFL draft The 2021 NFL draft was the 86th National Football League draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland, Ohio from April 29 to May ...

Early life

Deablo grew up in

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the List of municipalities in North Carolina, fifth-most populous ...

, and attended

Mount Tabor High School Mount Tabor High School is a high school located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It is part of the WS/FCS School System. School demographics During the 2010–2011 school year, there were 1,622 students enrolled at Mount Tabor. The racial ...

. He was named All-Central Piedmont Conference at wide receiver in each of his final three seasons as well as All-Northwest North Carolina in his senior season after averaging 21 yards per reception with 10 touchdown receptions. As a senior, Deablo committed to play

at Virginia Tech over offers from North Carolina and N.C. State.

College career

Deablo was a member of the

for five seasons. He played in all of the team's games as a true freshman, playing mostly on special teams and catching one pass for eight yards. Following his freshman year, Deablo moved to the safety position from wide receiver. Deablo saw significant playing time in the Hokies defensive backfield rotation to start his sophomore year before suffering a foot injury in the fourth game of the season and using a medical

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) 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 ...

. Deablo finished his redshirt junior season as Virginia Tech's second-leading tackler with 84. He was also named the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

(ACC) Defensive Back of the Week in week 10 after recovering a fumble and returning it 98 yards for a touchdown against Notre Dame. As a redshirt senior, Deablo had 55 tackles with four interceptions and four passes broken up and was named first-team All-ACC.

Professional career

Las Vegas Raiders

Deablo was selected by the

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West ...

in the third round (80th overall) of the

. Deablo signed his four-year rookie contract with Las Vegas on July 23, 2021. He played in all 17 games with five starts as a rookie, recording 45 tackles. Deablo entered the 2022 season as a starting linebacker for the Raiders. He started the first eight games, leading the team in tackles over that span, before being 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 ...

on November 7, 2022.

Atlanta Falcons

On March 14, 2025, Deablo signed a two-year, $14 million contract with the

References

External links

Atlanta Falcons bioVirginia Tech Hokies bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deablo, Divine Living people Virginia Tech Hokies football players Players of American football from Winston-Salem, North Carolina American football safeties Las Vegas Raiders players American football linebackers 1998 births Atlanta Falcons players