Michael Allen Doss (born March 24, 1981) is an American former football

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly di ...

who played in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL) for six seasons. He played college football for

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best pu ...

, earned consensus All-American honors, and was a member of a national championship team. The

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 20 ...

chose him in the second round of the

2003 NFL Draft The 2003 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League (NFL) teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936. ...

, and he played professionally for the Colts,

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

and

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The club's home ...

of the NFL. Doss was a member of the Colts

Super Bowl XLI Super Bowl XLI was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Chicago Bears to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

team in its 2007 win over 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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...

Early years

Doss was born in

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in and the county seat of Stark County, Ohio. It is located approximately south of Cleveland and south of Akron in Northeast Ohio. The city lies on the edge of Ohio's extensive Amish country, particularly in Holmes ...

. He attended

Canton McKinley High School McKinley Senior High School is a public high school in Canton, Ohio, United States. It is the only high school in the Canton City School District and has two campuses: Downtown Campus (mostly known as Early College High School or Timken High Sc ...

, and played high school football for the McKinley Bulldogs. He led the Bulldogs to back-to-back state football championships, as well as a ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virg ...

'' national championship, as a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. The ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, pl ...

, and safety. As a senior, he had 1,454 yards rushing, 22

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Americ ...

s, 111 tackles, and three

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...

s and won all-state honors and an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

honorable mention by ''USA Today''.

College career

Doss attended

, where he played for the

Ohio State Buckeyes football The Ohio State Buckeyes football team competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, representing Ohio State University in the East Division of the Big Ten Conference. Ohio State has played their home games at Ohio Stadium in ...

team from 1999 to 2002. He started 40 out of 50 career games and was a three-time first-team All-

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

selection and a three-time first-team All-America choice by the ''Sporting News''. He had 331 career tackles, eight interceptions, eight

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful h ...

s recovered, and six

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in t ...

s. With Doss starting all 14 games as a senior, Doss intercepted a Ken Dorsey pass to give Ohio State the lead in the BCS national championship game. As a senior, he was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, and a unanimous first-team All-American.''2011 NCAA Football Records Book''
Award Winners
National Collegiate Athletic Association, Indianapolis, Indiana, p. 11 (2011). Retrieved June 22, 2012. Doss was inducted into the Ohio State University Football Hall of Fame in 2011.

Professional career

Indianapolis Colts

In 2003, the

drafted Doss in the second round of the

. In that season, he started 15 games at strong safety, amassing 101 tackles and three interceptions. Doss was released by the Colts after the 2006 season.

Minnesota Vikings

On April 4, 2007 Doss was signed to a one-year contract by the

. He played in eight games.

Cincinnati Bengals

Doss was then signed by the

on December 9, 2008 after the team released

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is p ...

Josh Mallard Josh Mallard (born March 21, 1980) is a former American football defensive end. He was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the seventh round of the 2002 NFL Draft. He played college football at Georgia. Mallard has also played for the Atla ...

. He was released by the team on April 27, 2009.

NFL statistics

Key * GP: games played * COMB: combined tackles * TOTAL: total tackles * AST: assisted tackles * SACK: sacks * FF: forced fumbles * FR: fumble recoveries * FR YDS: fumble return yards * INT: interceptions * IR YDS: interception return yards * AVG IR: average interception return * LNG: longest interception return * TD: interceptions returned for touchdown * PD: passes defensed

Personal

In 2005, Mike Doss founded The Michael A. Doss Foundation (Make A Difference campaign). MDF was founded to assist in the advancement of education, relief of the underprivileged and underserved youth and the promotion of social welfare by lessening neighborhood tensions, eliminating prejudice and discrimination, and combating community deterioration and juvenile delinquency. More information is available at www.MADifference.org. In 2010 Doss was named the winner of the Canton Jaycees Distinguished Service Award. Doss and the Mike Doss Foundation have been responsible for the Make A Difference Youth Football Camp at Fawcett Stadium. Approximately 200 children, ages 8–12, have participated annually. Doss also is responsible for the Back to School Block Party for Canton City Schools students. By partnering with local companies and organizations, Doss’ organization has distributed goods with a total value of $20,000. Doss also continues to provide gifts to local children during the holiday season and serves as a motivational speaker for students in Canton City Schools as requested. As of 2017, Doss works for Zimmer Biomet as a medical sales representative in Columbus, Ohio . He is married with three children and has now taken up golf.

References

External links

Official WebsiteCincinnati Bengals bioIndianapolis Colts bioMinnesota Vikings bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doss, Mike 1981 births Living people Players of American football from Canton, Ohio American football safeties Ohio State Buckeyes football players All-American college football players Indianapolis Colts players Minnesota Vikings players Cincinnati Bengals players