Dorsey Levens
 |
|||||||||
| No. 25, 28 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Running back | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Date of birth: | 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 | |||||||||
|
|||||||||
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 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.
Contents
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.
- 1989 (Notre Dame): 25 carries for 132 yards and 1 TD. 3 catches for 27 yards.
- 1990 (Notre Dame): 13 carries for 53 yards and 2 TD. 1 catch for 20 yards.
- 1992 (Georgia Tech): 55 carries for 213 yards and 2 TD. 13 catches for 142 yards and 1 TD.
- 1993 (Georgia Tech): 114 carries for 823 yards and 8 TD. 8 catches for 134 yards and 1 TD.
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
External links
- NFL player using deprecated currentteam parameter
- NFL player with pastcoaching parameter
- NFL player with pastexecutive parameter
- Infobox NFL player article missing alt text and caption
- Infobox NFL player with debut/final parameters
- 1970 births
- Living people
- Nottingham High School (Syracuse, New York) alumni
- Sportspeople from Syracuse, New York
- African-American players of American football
- American football running backs
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football players
- Green Bay Packers players
- National Conference Pro Bowl players
- New York Giants players
- Philadelphia Eagles players
- Super Bowl champions
