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Irving Dale Fryar Sr. (born September 28, 1962) 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
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 ...
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 17 seasons. Fryar 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 Nebraska Cornhuskers, and was recognized as a unanimous All-American. He was selected with the first overall pick of the
1984 NFL draft The 1984 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 NFL draft, draft was held May 1–2, 1984 NFL season, ...
, becoming the second wide receiver to be taken number one overall, the first being Dave Parks in 1964. Fryar played professionally for 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 ...
,
Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...
,
Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...
, and
Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...
of the NFL. Known for his longevity, his best seasons statistically came well into his 30s, at a time when many receivers are on the tail end of their careers, and he played for 17 seasons, retiring at the age of 39 holding several NFL longevity records for receivers.


Early life

Fryar grew up in Mount Holly Township, New Jersey, 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 ...
at Rancocas Valley Regional High School.


College career

A unanimous All-American at the
University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the M ...
in 1983, Fryar played alongside
Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...
winner
Mike Rozier Michael M. Rozier (born March 1, 1961) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the United States Football League (USFL) for two seasons and the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons from 1985 to 1 ...
(running back) and Heisman finalist
Turner Gill Turner Hillery Gill (born August 13, 1962) is an American college athletic administrator and former football player and coach. He is the Executive Director of Student-Athlete and Staff Development at the University of Arkansas, a position he as ...
(quarterback).


Statistics


Professional career

Fryar was the second wide receiver to be selected first overall in an
NFL draft The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...
when 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 ...
made him the top selection of the
1984 NFL draft The 1984 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 NFL draft, draft was held May 1–2, 1984 NFL season, ...
. With the Patriots, Fryar saw success on a receiving corps that featured Stephen Starring and perennial Pro Bowler Stanley Morgan. He also served as the team's primary
punt returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punt (gridiron football), punts and kickoff (gridiron football), kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusivel ...
. Following the 1985 season, in which Fryar was named to his first
Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...
, he played in Super Bowl XX, where he scored New England's only touchdown in their 46–10 loss to the
Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...
. He was one of the few marquee players on the 1–15 1990 team, and in 1991 he had his first 1000-yard receiving season. Traded to the Dolphins in 1993 for a pair of high-round draft picks, he made an immediate impact, having two further 1000-yard seasons in 1993 and 1994, and making the Pro Bowl both years. Following the 1995 season, he signed as a free agent with the Eagles, with whom he played in a fourth and fifth Pro Bowl following the 1996 and 1997 seasons. After retiring from football briefly following the 1998 season, he was signed by the Redskins, with whom he played the final two seasons of his career. Fryar retired from the NFL in 2001 after completing 17 NFL seasons. During that time, he caught 851 passes for 12,785 yards and 84
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, along with one rushing and three punt return touchdowns. He also gained 242 rushing yards, 2,055 yards returning punts, 505 yards on kickoff returns, and 7 fumble return yards, giving him 15,594 all-purpose yards. Fryar's 255 played games are the most ever for a New Jersey-born player.


NFL career statistics


Regular season


Playoffs


Personal life

Fryar has had several off field incidents during and after his career. In 1985, he missed the
AFC championship game The AFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the American Football Conference (AFC) and one of the two semifinal NFL playoffs, playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football lea ...
after injuring his hand in a domestic dispute with his pregnant wife. He was arrested in 1988 on weapons charges after a New Jersey state trooper found a loaded shotgun and handgun and a hunting knife in Fryar's car. On November 23, 1986, Fryar separated his shoulder during a game 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 ...
. Instead of watching the rest of the game from the sidelines, Fryar left the stadium and was listening to the game while driving his car through Foxboro. He crashed into a tree and suffered a slight concussion. His wife filed for divorce in 2014 after 29 years of marriage. They have four children. On August 7, 2015, Fryar and his mother, Allene McGhee, were found guilty of conspiring to defraud six banks and a mortgage company by a New Jersey Superior Court jury. The prosecution maintained that Fryar and McGhee conspired with real estate consultant William Barksdale in a scheme to fraudulently obtain six home-equity loans totaling about $850,000 in November and December 2009, and a $414,000 mortgage in October 2009, using McGhee's home as collateral in each instance. Fryar and McGhee maintain they were victims of Barksdale, who is serving a 20-month sentence in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud for his role in the scheme, and plans to appeal. Fryar's son, Londen, was signed 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 ...
as an undrafted free agent in 2009 out of Western Michigan University. On October 2, 2015, Pro Football Talk reported that Fryar and his mother were convicted of mortgage fraud. Fryar will receive a five-year prison sentence while his mother will receive probation. According to the New Jersey AG who oversaw the case, John Hoffman, "The fact that Fryar had the means to succeed and do good things and instead chose this criminal path makes his actions all the more reprehensible". On December 7, 2015, a NJ Judge handed up an order that Irving Fryar and his mother to pay $615,600 in restitution to five lending institutions that were cheated in a mortgage scam. Fryar and his mother, Allene McGhee, were convicted of applying for multiple mortgage loans in quick succession while using the same property as collateral. Fryar was sentenced in October to five years in prison while his mother received three years of probation. In June 2016, Fryar was released from prison after serving eight months of his sentence. He was placed under the state's Supervision Program for non-violent offenders.


NFL records

* Touchdown receptions from 19 different passers * First player to record a touchdown in 17 consecutive seasons (1984–2000) - (broken by Jerry Rice who ended up with 20 consecutive seasons with a touchdown reception) * Oldest player to score 4 touchdowns (all receptions) in a single game (October 20, 1996) - 34 years, 22 days * Third most receiving yards in a half - 211 (2nd half, September 4, 1994)


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fryar, Irving 1962 births Living people All-American college football players American Conference Pro Bowl players American football return specialists American football wide receivers American Christian clergy Miami Dolphins players First overall NFL draft picks National Conference Pro Bowl players Nebraska Cornhuskers football players New England Patriots players Sportspeople from Mount Holly, New Jersey People from Springfield Township, Burlington County, New Jersey Philadelphia Eagles players Rancocas Valley Regional High School alumni Players of American football from Burlington County, New Jersey Washington Redskins players American sportspeople convicted of crimes 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen