Eric Moulds
 Moulds with the Texans in 2006 | |||||||||
| No. 80, 84, 83 | |||||||||
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| Position: | Wide receiver | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Date of birth: | July 17, 1973 | ||||||||
| Place of birth: | Lucedale, Mississippi | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 225 lb (102 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| College: | Mississippi State | ||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 1996 / Round: 1 / Pick: 24 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Eric Shannon Moulds (born July 17, 1973) is a former American football wide receiver who played twelve seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Mississippi State University. He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills 24th overall in the 1996 NFL Draft. In 2009, Moulds was one of three receivers named to the Buffalo Bills 50th Anniversary All-Time Team.[1]
College career
At Mississippi State University, Moulds caught 117 passes for 2,022 yards (averaging 17.1 per catch). He ranks fourth in yards and third in touchdowns on Mississippi State's career receiving list. 1993, he had 17 catches for 398 yards and 4 TD while being utilized as a vertical receiver. In 1994, he had 39 catches for 845 yards and 7 TD. He followed that up in 1995 with 62 catches for 779 yards and 6 TD.
In 1994, Moulds led the NCAA Division I-A in kickoff returns with a 32.8 yds/return average.[2]
Professional career
Buffalo Bills
Moulds was the Bills' first round draft pick (24th overall) in 1996. For his first two seasons, Moulds was stuck on the depth chart behind receivers Andre Reed and Quinn Early.
Moulds finally had his breakout season in 1998, where set a single-season team record with 1,368 receiving yards, a total that led the AFC and was second in the league.[3] (Moulds also has the Bills' second-highest single-season total, with 1,326 in 2002.) Moulds's 20.4 yards per catch was second in the NFL in 1998.
In his eight seasons as the number one receiver for the Bills (1998-2005), Moulds had 626 receptions for 8,523 yards, an average of 78.25 catches and 1,065 yards per season. Moulds's yardage was 7th-most in the NFL over that span.
In 2002, Moulds became the first player in Bills history to log 100 receptions in a single season.[4]
In the playoffs Moulds had NFL playoff record 240 receiving yards against the Miami Dolphins, though he notably lost a fumble on the Bills' first play, a 65-yard pass from Flutie. Buffalo lost 24-17.[5]
Moulds established himself as one of the premier receivers in football in the late 1990s and early 2000s, amassing 764 career receptions and being selected to three Pro Bowls (1998, 2000, 2002).
2006 and 2007 seasons
On April 4, 2006, Moulds was traded to the Houston Texans, in exchange for their fifth round draft pick in the 2006 NFL Draft. Moulds was released from the Texans after the 2006 season. After his release, Moulds criticized then-Texans quarterback David Carr, saying "[t]he quarterback has to show that he can carry [the team]."
The Tennessee Titans signed Moulds on July 25, 2007,[6] and at the beginning of the season he had earned a starting position. Moulds played in all 16 games in 2007, having the 4th most receptions on his team, 2nd most by wide receivers, with 32 catches for 342 yards. The Titans released Eric Moulds after the 2007 season.
Stats
| Year | Team | Games | Receptions | Yards | Yards per Reception | Longest Reception | Touchdowns | First Downs | Fumbles | Fumbles Lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | BUF | 16 | 20 | 279 | 14.0 | 47 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| 1997 | BUF | 16 | 29 | 294 | 10.1 | 32 | 0 | 18 | 1 | 0 |
| 1998 | BUF | 16 | 67 | 1,368 | 20.4 | 84 | 9 | 54 | 0 | 0 |
| 1999 | BUF | 14 | 65 | 994 | 15.3 | 54 | 7 | 44 | 1 | 1 |
| 2000 | BUF | 16 | 94 | 1,326 | 14.1 | 52 | 5 | 62 | 1 | 0 |
| 2001 | BUF | 16 | 67 | 904 | 13.5 | 80 | 5 | 42 | 1 | 1 |
| 2002 | BUF | 16 | 100 | 1,292 | 12.9 | 70 | 10 | 64 | 1 | 0 |
| 2003 | BUF | 13 | 64 | 780 | 12.2 | 49 | 1 | 35 | 0 | 0 |
| 2004 | BUF | 16 | 88 | 1,043 | 11.9 | 49 | 5 | 53 | 1 | 1 |
| 2005 | BUF | 15 | 81 | 816 | 10.1 | 55 | 4 | 38 | 0 | 0 |
| 2006 | HOU | 16 | 57 | 557 | 9.8 | 29 | 1 | 33 | 1 | 0 |
| 2007 | TEN | 16 | 32 | 342 | 10.7 | 46 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 186 | 764 | 9,995 | 13.0 | 84 | 49 | 475 | 7 | 3 |
References
- ↑ Buffalo Bills All-Time Team
- ↑ "Official 2007 NCAA Division I Football Record Book" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. August 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-12-01. Retrieved 2008-01-03.
- ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com: 1998 NFL Leaders and Leaderboards
- ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com: Buffalo Bills Receiving Single-season Register
- ↑ CNNSI.com: Dolphins sink Flutie Flakes in 24-17 wild-card win
- ↑ "Titans agree to terms with Eric Moulds". USA Today. July 25, 2007. Retrieved May 2, 2010.
- ↑ "Eric Moulds Stats". ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved 5 July 2014.