Jerry Lee Ball Jr. (born December 15, 1964) 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 lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line (D ...

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), playing primarily as a

nose tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

. 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

SMU Mustangs The SMU Mustangs are the sport, athletic teams that represent Southern Methodist University in University Park, Texas, United States. SMU was founded in 1911 and joined the Southwest Conference, competing against Baylor Bears, Baylor, Rice Owls, ...

. Ball played in the NFL for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

, Los Angeles / Oakland Raiders, and

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

Biography

Ball was born in

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, located in Southeast Texas on the Neches River about east of Houston (city ...

, and attended

Hebert High School Hebert High School was a traditionally black high school in the South Park Independent School District in Beaumont, Texas, US. It was founded in the early 20th century to serve the black community, and became an accredited high school in 1923. In ...

, then after integration graduated from West Brook High School, where he played fullback and rushed for 1,000 yards and LB for 1982 5A State Championship All State honors. He was All District in three positions and was selected to play in the Texas high school all star game. Ball was selected as one of the top 100 players over the last 100 years by Dave Campbell's Texas Football and Texas UIL football organizations 1920 to 2020. Ball was selected as a Texas Gridiron Legend in 2020 for contributions to the game of football. He played

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

University Park, Texas University Park is a city in Dallas County, Texas, United States, in suburban Dallas. The population was 25,278 at the 2020 census. The city is home to Southern Methodist University. University Park is bordered on the north, east and west by Dal ...

. He was a four-year letter-winner and ranks 4th on the all-time sack list at SMU. He was selected as All-Southwest Conference 84–86. Ball was a third-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 ...

as a junior and a second-team All-American as a senior. He was a two-time Outland and Lombardi award finalist, and a Christian-Terrell 3-time winner. Ball was inducted to SMU athletics Hall of Fame in 2015.

Professional career

Ball was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the 3rd round (63rd overall) of the

1987 NFL draft The 1987 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 April 28–29, 1987, at the Marriot Ma ...

. During his career he went to three

Pro Bowls 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 star players. The format has changed throughou ...

with the Detroit Lions. Ball played in the NFL for 13 seasons. He recorded 32.5

sack A sack usually refers to a rectangular-shaped bag. Sack may also refer to: Bags * Flour sack * Gunny sack * Hacky sack, sport * Money sack * Paper sack * Sleeping bag * Stuff sack * Knapsack Other uses * Bed, a slang term * Sack (band), ...

s during his career, most of them coming as a nose tackle with the

. Despite this fact, Ball spent his entire career being double teamed and often triple teamed by opposing teams. Ball's dominance was such a force that teams would realign their best players to help centers deal with the pressure Ball kept on the middle of the offense. Known mostly as a run stuffer later in his career, he has been considered one of the best nose tackles of this era. Anchoring the Minnesota Viking defense alongside

John Randle John Anthony Randle (born December 12, 1967) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle for eleven seasons for the Minnesota Vikings and three seasons for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football Leagu ...

, also a Pro Bowl defensive tackle, Ball re-emerged as a leader and dominant force on the Vikings 15–1 record setting team.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Personal life

Ball became a member of

Omega Psi Phi Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African-American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It was founded on November 17, 1911 at Howard University. Omega Psi Phi is a founding member of ...

fraternity at

Spring 1984. Ball has three daughters and four grandchildren.

References

External links

Po-Football-Reference.Com

NFL Enterprises LLC

* [http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nfl-football-legend-jerry-ball-and-dr-partha-nandi-tackle-the-effects-of-multiple-concussions-in-athletes-165237136.html PRNewswire: NFL football legend Jerry Ball and Dr. Partha Nandi tackle the effects of multiple concussions in athletes]
Official Raiders bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, Jerry 1964 births Living people American football defensive tackles Detroit Lions players Cleveland Browns players Los Angeles Raiders players Oakland Raiders players Minnesota Vikings players National Conference Pro Bowl players Players of American football from Beaumont, Texas SMU Mustangs football players