Jessie Willard Armstead (born October 26, 1970) 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
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 11 seasons 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) with 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 ...
and the
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 ...
between 1993 and 2003. He was a three-time
All-Pro
All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list t ...
and five-time
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 ...
section. 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 ...
at the
University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...
.
Early life
Armstead attended
David W. Carter High School in
Dallas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
, Texas, where he was coached by
Freddie James
Freddie James (born 1937) is a former American football coach. He played college football under Billy Nicks at Prairie View A&M University in the late 1950s, before working in a steel plant for a couple of years, then as a physical therapist i ...
. Armstead was part of a highly talented team that featured four other future NFL players—
Clifton Abraham
Clifton Eugene Abraham Jr. (born December 9, 1971) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive back in the National Football League (NFL) for three seasons. He played college football for the Florida State Seminoles, ...
,
Joe Burch,
Le'Shai Maston, Darius Smith—and won the 1988 5A state championship (which was later stripped by
UIL in 1991 due to eligibility infringements), defeating
Permian High School
Permian High School is a public high school located in Odessa, Texas and is one of two high schools in the Ector County Independent School District. It was the subject of the book '' Friday Night Lights'', which in turn inspired a movie and TV ...
in the state semi-final game, which was portrayed as the state championship game in the 2004 film ''
Friday Night Lights'' and the 2017 ''
ESPN 30 for 30'' documentary "
What Carter Lost" as well as the 2015 film ''
Carter High''.
Armstead was considered the top high school football talent in Texas as well as nationwide by recruiting analysts. He had been an All-American since his sophomore year, and at that time was the only player to be selected as an All-American three years in high school.
Fellow
D-I recruits Derric Evans and Gary Edwards asked Armstead to join them and others in a series of robberies of video stores and fast-food restaurants, but he refused. In September 1989, Evans and Edwards were sentenced to 20 years and 16 years, respectively, in prison.
College career
Recruited by
Jimmy Johnson, Armstead chose to attend the
University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...
. However, weeks later, Johnson left Miami to take over as the head coach of the
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...
. After initial reports that Armstead might seek to be released from his commitment to Miami, since the coach who recruited him to play there had departed, Armstead chose to honor his commitment after
Dennis Erickson
Dennis Brian Erickson (born March 24, 1947) is an American football coach who most recently served as the head coach for the Salt Lake Stallions of the Alliance of American Football (AAF) league. He was also the head coach at the University of ...
was named head coach.
A college standout on 2 of Miami's 5 national championship teams (
1989
1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...
,
1991
It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...
), Armstead's pro prospects were diminished after he tore his
anterior cruciate ligament
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...
his sophomore season. As a result, he was not
drafted until the eighth round of the
1993 NFL draft
The 1993 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 25–26, 1993, at the Marriot M ...
, when he was selected 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 ...
.
Armstead was interviewed about his time at the University of Miami for the documentary ''
The U "The U" is a nickname often given to a university. Specifically, it has been used to refer to:
* The University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida
**Miami Hurricanes, the University of Miami's athletic program and teams
* ''The U'' (film), a 2009 do ...
'', which premiered December 12, 2009 on
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 ...
.
Professional career
Armstead was selected by the Giants in the eighth round of the
1993 NFL draft
The 1993 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 25–26, 1993, at the Marriot M ...
. Armstead was a five-time
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 ...
er, elected between 1997 and 2001. Armstead had 752 career
tackles with forty sacks and 12 interceptions for 175 yards.
Following a nine-year career with the Giants, he was signed to a three-year, $10.5 million deal by the
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 ...
, where he played for two additional seasons.
He signed with the
Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...
for the 2004 season, but he retired that year following a pre-season injury.
On June 13, 2007, Armstead signed a one-day contract with the New York Giants to officially retire a New York Giant.
Coaching career
On September 8, 2008, Armstead was hired by the Giants as a "special assistant / consultant." His responsibilities include special projects, defensive assignments, player development and free agent recruiting. In 2010, he was inducted into the New York Giants
Ring of Honor
Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011; the promotion was subs ...
. He also has a Super Bowl ring from their
Super Bowl XLII
Super Bowl XLII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...
win.
Film and TV career
In February 2008, Armstead was featured as one of the pros on ''
Pros vs Joes'' on
Spike TV
Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel and the flagship property of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, who operates it through the MTV Entertainment Group. The network's headquarters are locate ...
.
References
External links
Jessie Armstead statistics at Pro-football-reference.comJessie Armstead officially retires as a Giant.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Armstead, Jessie
1970 births
Living people
American football linebackers
Miami Hurricanes football players
National Conference Pro Bowl players
New York Giants players
Players of American football from Dallas
Washington Redskins players