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Jarett Juma Porter Dillard (born December 21, 1985) 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 ...
for the
Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...
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 ...
. Dillard 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 ...
player for the
Rice Owls The Rice Owls are the sports teams representing Houston's Rice University in college sports. The name comes from the owls in Rice's crest. Rice participates in NCAA Division I athletics. A member of the American Athletic Conference, Rice sponsors ...
, earning first-team
All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...
honors in 2008. He was selected by Jacksonville in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL draft. Following his NFL career, Dillard embarked on a successful legal career. He attended the South Texas College of Law, attaining his Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D.) degree. Dillard practices law in the State of Texas.


Early life

Dillard was born and raised in
San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...
, Texas, the son of Porter and Robin Dillard. He has two siblings. Jarett was a valedictorian and Tai was a salutatorian at Sam Houston High School. Darik ranked third in his class at MacArthur High School. Tai played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), where she played for the San Antonio Stars. Tai also played basketball for The
University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...
, while earning her
Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...
in
Kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, Biomechanics, biomechanical, Pathology, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kines ...
. Presently Tai is
Assistant coach An athletic coach is a person coaching in sport, involved in the direction, instruction, and training of a sports team or athlete. History The original sense of the word ''Coach'' is that of a Coach (carriage), horse-drawn carriage, deriving ul ...
of the
University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...
's
women's basketball Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It was first played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large parts via women's college compet ...
team. Brother Darik played football for
Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...
, while earning his
Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...
in
mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...
.


College career

In the 2006 season, Dillard captured national attention as no other Rice Owls football player had done. He shattered school receiving records on the way to becoming a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award, given to the nation's top receiver.
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
's All-America first-team pick broke the NCAA season record for consecutive games with at least one touchdown catch. As a
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 ...
sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...
in 2006, he helped lead Rice to its first bowl game in 45 years (1961
Bluebonnet Bowl The Bluebonnet Bowl was an annual college football bowl game played in Houston, Texas. A civic group was appointed by the Houston Chamber of Commerce Athletics Committee in 1959 to organize the bowl game. It was held at Rice Stadium (Rice Univ ...
). Rice closed the season on a 7–1 run, capped by a come-from-behind victory over SMU to clinch a bowl game. During those 8 games, Dillard caught 55 passes for 826 yards and 16 touchdowns. In 2006, Dillard was named a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award, a first-team
All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...
by
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
, a second-team All-American by
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...
, a second-team All-American by the Walter Camp Foundation, a second-team All-American by
Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...
, and a second-team All-American by the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
. At one point Dillard had a streak of 15 straight games in which he had caught a
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 ...
pass, leaving only Larry Fitzgerald, who had 18 in a row, in front of him. In the New Orleans Bowl, Dillard caught a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to set a new record for games with a touchdown in a single season (13), besting the mark he shared with Fitzgerald and Randy Moss of 12 games in a season. In 2006, he caught a total of 21 touchdown passes, which set both Rice and
C-USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern United States, Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the National Collegiate Athletic Associ ...
records. On four separate occasions (Army, UAB, Tulsa, and SMU) he caught three touchdown passes in the same game. He also accumulated 91 catches for 1,247 yards, including 7 games with at least 90 yards: UCLA (102), Texas (91), Florida St. (113), Army (171), UAB (111), Tulsa (137), and SMU (145). In 2007, Dillard caught another 14 TD passes, earning 1st team C-USA honors and being mentioned by several publications as all-American honorable mention (including 4th team selection by Sports Illustrated). Dillard is one of only 8 players to catch 40 TD passes in a career, a feat he accomplished when he was only a junior. Dillard holds the NCAA record for career touchdown receptions with 60, eclipsing the prior mark of 50 set by Troy Edwards. Dillard and Rice quarterback Chase Clement hold the NCAA Division I-A record for career touchdowns between a quarterback-receiver tandem with 51, which has since been tied by Zach Terrell and Corey Davis of Western Michigan. This total does not include the touchdown pass thrown by Dillard to Clement during the final game for both Rice Seniors in the 2008 Texas Bowl. After his senior year, he became the first Rice player to be named to the Football Writers All America team in 50 years (Buddy Dial in 1958).


Awards and honors

* Biletnikoff Award Finalist (2006) * New Orleans Bowl (2006) * Texas Bowl (2008) * Football Writers Association of America All-American (2008) *
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...
All-American (2006, 2008) * Walter Camp All-American (2006, 2008) * AP All-American (2008) *
Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...
All-American (2008) *
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
All-American (2008) * East–West Shrine Game (2009) * Ed Block Courage Award (2011) * Rice Athletic Hall of Fame (2015)


Professional career


Jacksonville Jaguars

Dillard was selected by the
Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...
in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL draft. He is the second Rice player to be taken by Jacksonville after Brandon Green in 2003. On July 17 he was signed to a contract. Length and terms of the contract were undisclosed. As a rookie, Dillard caught six passes for 106 yards before suffering a broken ankle against the Jets in week 10 of the '09 season. Dillard was placed on the injured reserve list on September 11, 2010, due to a foot injury and did not play a down that year. Dillard was released by the Jaguars on May 7, 2012.


Detroit Lions

Dillard signed with Detroit on June 16, 2012, but was released on August 27, 2012.


Arizona Cardinals

Dillard signed with the
Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...
on April 24, 2013. He was waived after being given an injury settlement on August 24, 2013.


See also

* List of NCAA major college football yearly receiving leaders * List of NCAA Division I FBS career receiving touchdowns leaders


References


External links


Arizona Cardinals bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dillard, Jarett 1985 births Living people American football wide receivers Rice Owls football players Players of American football from San Antonio Jacksonville Jaguars players Detroit Lions players Arizona Cardinals players Texas lawyers 21st-century African-American lawyers 20th-century African-American lawyers South Texas College of Law alumni