Dorsey Levens

Dorsey Levens
No. 25, 28
Position: Running back
Personal information
Date of birth: (1970-05-21) May 21, 1970
Place of birth: Syracuse, New York
Career information
High school: Syracuse (NY) Nottingham
College: Georgia Tech
NFL Draft: 1994 / Round: 5 / Pick: 149
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Rushing yards: 4,955
Average: 4.0
Touchdowns: 36
Player stats at NFL.com

Herbert Dorsey Levens (born May 21, 1970) is a retired American football running back in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the fifth round (149th overall) of the 1994 NFL Draft. He helped the Packers win the Vince Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl XXXI against the New England Patriots. He played college football at Notre Dame and later Georgia Tech.

In his career, Levens also played for the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. While playing for the Packers, he rushed for 1,000 or more yards twice and was selected to the Pro Bowl after the 1997 season.

Early years

Levens was born in Syracuse, New York and first attended Nottingham High School (Syracuse, New York), then Notre Dame. However, he found himself in competition with Ricky Watters, Jerome Bettis, Rodney Culver, Reggie Brooks, and Anthony Johnson, all of whom would play in the NFL, at running back. Levens eventually earned the starting spot, but injured his knee before the season started.

The next year he transferred to Georgia Tech, where—after sitting out a year—he set a school record by averaging 7.2 yards-per-carry. In his senior season, he was voted First-Team All-ACC. He rushed for 823 yards and scored eight touchdowns that season.

Professional career

Due in part to his injury, Levens was considered to be a marginal pick in the 1994 NFL Draft, and Mel Kiper Jr. labelled him the most overrated pick on the board. He was selected in the fifth round (149th overall) by the Green Bay Packers.

Green Bay Packers

For the first 3 seasons with the Packers, Levens was primarily a back-up halfback to starter Edgar Bennett. In the 1996 NFC Championship game against the Carolina Panthers, Levens had a break-out game, running the ball 10 times for 88 yards and caught 5 passes for 117 yards and a touchdown in a 30-13 win. In Super Bowl XXXI, Levens was the Packers' leading rusher, carrying the ball 14 times for 61 yards, with the Packers winning their first Super Bowl in 29 years, 35-21. In 1997, Levens became the starting halfback after Edgar Bennett tore his achilles tendon in the 1997 pre-season. Levens rushed for over 1,400 yards and was voted to the Pro Bowl. However, he injured his knee again during the 1998 season and was never the same. He gained 1,000 yards for the Packers in the 1999 season, but was mostly used in a reserve role after that.

Levens was featured on the cover of EA Sports Madden NFL 2000 in the PAL editions. As a result, he is viewed as one of the first victims of the "Madden Curse".

Levens was released by the Packers in 2001.

Later career

During the 2002 season, Levens played for the Philadelphia Eagles, replacing the injured Correll Buckhalter, and in 2003, with the New York Giants, both times as a backup. He was released by the Giants after 2003. After Buckhalter was again injured during the 2004 preseason, Levens was signed by the Eagles as a free agent. He shared duties with Brian Westbrook through the season, also appearing in Super Bowl XXXIX that year. He retired during the 2006 offseason as a Green Bay Packer.

NFL stats

Rushing Stats[1]

Year Team Games Carries Yards Yards per Carry Longest Carry Touchdowns First Downs Fumbles Fumbles Lost
1994 GB 14 5 15 3.0 5 0 1 0 0
1995 GB 15 36 120 3.3 22 3 18 0 0
1996 GB 16 121 566 4.7 24 5 31 2 0
1997 GB 16 329 1,435 4.4 52 7 68 5 3
1998 GB 7 115 378 3.3 50 1 20 0 0
1999 GB 14 279 1,034 3.7 36 9 56 5 5
2000 GB 5 77 224 2.9 17 3 13 0 0
2001 GB 15 44 165 3.8 40 0 6 0 0
2002 PHI 16 75 411 5.5 47 1 13 1 1
2003 NYG 11 68 197 2.9 17 3 14 0 0
2004 PHI 15 94 410 4.4 45 4 24 0 0
Career 144 1,243 4,955 4.0 52 36 264 13 9

Receiving Stats[1]

Year Team Games Receptions Yards Yards per Reception Longest Reception Touchdowns First Downs Fumbles Fumbles Lost
1994 GB 14 1 9 9.0 9 0 0 0 0
1995 GB 15 48 434 9.0 27 4 24 0 0
1996 GB 16 31 226 7.3 49 5 14 0 0
1997 GB 16 53 370 7.0 56 5 18 0 0
1998 GB 7 27 162 6.0 17 0 7 0 0
1999 GB 14 71 573 8.1 53 1 26 0 0
2000 GB 5 16 146 9.1 37 0 9 0 0
2001 GB 15 24 159 6.6 19 1 7 0 0
2002 PHI 16 19 124 6.5 24 1 6 0 0
2003 NYG 11 5 39 7.8 11 0 2 0 0
2004 PHI 15 9 92 10.2 23 0 5 0 0
Career 144 304 2,334 7.7 56 17 118 0 0

Retirement

After retiring from the NFL, Levens became an NFL analyst for the sports website PlayerPress.com. There, he picks NFL games against the spread, and against other professional athletes and experts. He also became an analyst for Sprint Exclusive Entertainment's NFL Mobile Gamecenter, where he breaks down all the NFL games for viewers each week. In 2009, Levens was elected to the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame.

In 2006, Levens had a cameo appearance as the head coach for Xavier in the film We Are Marshall.

In 2012, it was confirmed that Levens is to play the role of Coach James in Gridiron UK.

References

  1. 1 2 "Dorsey Levens Stats". ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/3/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.