Duce Staley

Duce Staley

Philadelphia Eagles
Special teams quality control coach
Running back
Personal information
Date of birth: February 27, 1975 (1975-02-27) (age 36)
Place of birth: Tampa, Florida
Height: 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)	Weight: 242 lb (110 kg)
Career information
College: South Carolina
NFL Draft: 1997 / Round: 3 / Pick: 71
Debuted in 1997 for the Philadelphia Eagles
Last played in 2006 for the Pittsburgh Steelers
Career history
As player: Philadelphia Eagles (1997–2003) Pittsburgh Steelers (2004–2006)
As coach: Philadelphia Eagles (2011–present) (Special teams quality control coach)
Career highlights and awards
Super Bowl champion (XL) Eagles Ed Block Courage Award recipient (2001)
Career NFL statistics as of 2006
Rushing yards	5,785
Average	4.0
Touchdowns	24
Stats at NFL.com
Stats at pro-football-reference.com

Duce Staley (born February 27, 1975) is a former American football running back in the National Football League best known for his tenure with the Philadelphia Eagles. He also played for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college football at University of South Carolina. Staley is currently the special teams quality control coach for the Eagles.

Early years

Staley attended Airport High School in West Columbia, South Carolina and was an All-State wide receiver, as he did not play running back until college.

College career

As a senior at the University of South Carolina in 1996, Staley was ranked 13th in the nation in rushing with 1,116 rushing yards. In his South Carolina years, he attempted 345 rushes for 1,582 yards (4.58 per average). He also caught 59 passes for 489 yards and two touchdowns. Staley attended Itawamba Community College in Fulton, Mississippi in 1993 and 1994 where he was a community college all American.

Professional career

Philadelphia Eagles

Staley was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1997 NFL Draft and played for the Eagles through the 2003 season. After his rookie season and the departure of Ricky Watters, Staley became the starter in a tumultuous 3–13 season which led to the dismissal of head coach Ray Rhodes. Under Andy Reid, Staley developed into the team's perennial leading receiver through Reid's screen-heavy West Coast offense. However, he played in only five games of the 2000 season due to a serious Lisfranc fracture. Staley also missed some playing time in 2001 due to a shoulder injury. Entering the 2003 season, Staley held out of training camp in an attempt to bargain for a new contract, as he was in the last year of his deal.^[1] With Correll Buckhalter coming back from a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and Brian Westbrook entering his second season, the Eagles decided not to budge. This resulted in shared playing time among the three, as Westbrook became the premier back by season's end. They were known as the "Three-Headed Monster". Consequently, the Eagles decided to not re-sign Staley.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Staley signed a five-year, $14 million contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers on March 9, 2004. Staley had rooted for the Steelers when he was growing up.^[2] He instantly became the number one running back for his new team. However, he scored few touchdowns as handoffs in the redzone went to veteran back Jerome Bettis. After Staley was injured in mid-2004, Bettis took over the starting job.

In 2005, after both he and Bettis were injured, Willie Parker, an undrafted free agent, had a stellar season, and Staley, in another injury plagued season, was dropped to third-string, managing only 148 yards in five games, with a 3.9 yard per carry average.

Despite a preseason in which he ran for just 92 yards on 42 carries, Staley made the Steelers' 53-man roster in 2006. After week one, the Steelers signed former Packers' running back Najeh Davenport to replace him as the Steelers' power back. The true signal of Staley's demise was when third-down back Verron Haynes went down with a season-ending injury, and the Steelers promoted John Kuhn from the practice squad instead of activating Staley. On December 3, 2006, the Steelers released Staley.^[3] In his three year tenure with the team, Staley played in just 16 games.

Retirement

Staley officially retired as a Philadelphia Eagle during the Eagles-Giants game on December 9, 2007. At halftime, Staley was escorted onto the field by former teammates for his retirement celebration featuring a brief ceremony and two highlight videos.^[4]

Statistics

Year	Games Played	Games Started	Attempts	Yards	Touchdowns	Avg.	Receptions	Rec. Yards	Rec. Touchdowns	Rec. Avg.	Fumbles
1997	16	0	7	29	0	4.1	2	22	0	11.0	0
1998	16	13	258	1,065	5	4.1	57	432	1	7.6	2
1999	16	16	325	1,273	4	3.9	41	294	2	7.2	5
2000	5	5	79	344	1	4.4	25	201	0	8.0	3
2001	13	10	166	604	2	3.6	63	626	2	9.9	3
2002	16	16	269	1,029	5	3.8	51	541	3	10.6	3
2003	16	4	96	463	5	4.8	36	382	2	10.6	2
2004	10	10	192	830	1	4.3	6	55	0	9.2	3
2005	5	1	38	148	1	3.9	6	34	0	5.7	1
2006	1	0	0	0	0	--	0	0	0	--	0
Totals	114	75	1,430	5,785	24	4.1	287	2,587	10	8.9	22

Coaching career

Philadelphia Eagles

Staley became a coaching intern for the Philadelphia Eagles during the 2010 offseason.^[5] On February 8, 2011, Staley was promoted special teams quality control coach.^[6]

Personal

Staley is single and has a daughter, Shakia, and a son, Damani Zihir. He is a native of Columbia, South Carolina, which is where he resided during the offseason. He underwent a grueling yet innovative rehabilitation period prior to the 2001 season to become the first successful return from a Lisfranc injury. He annually holds The Duce Staley Football Camp at West Chester (PA) University, which benefits several charities, including First Steps Program in South Carolina, the Variety Club and Direct Care for Kids. He launched Catch 22 Foundation to help single mothers. He donated $25,000 to South Carolina Governor Jim Hodges First Steps early childhood education program in 1999 (Dec. 23) to help improve education in the state.

References

1. ^ O'Rourke, Larry (August 1, 2003). "Eagles sign their top pick McDougle". Chicago Tribune. http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/all-eaglesaug01,0,545925.story. Retrieved 2010-01-16. 
2. ^ Blass, Eileen (March 9, 2004). "Steelers sign free-agent Duce Staley". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/steelers/2004-03-09-staley_x.htm. Retrieved 2010-01-16. 
3. ^ "Steelers Release Staley, Place Reid on Injured List; Sign Familiar Faces". Steelers.com. http://news.steelers.com/article/72484/. Retrieved 2010-01-16. 
4. ^ "DUUUUUCE!!!! To Retire As An Eagle". PhiladelphiaEagles.com. December 6, 2007. http://org-www.philadelphiaeagles.com/news/Story.asp?story_id=14681. Retrieved 2010-01-16. 
5. ^ Kapadia, Sheil (July 27, 2010). "Practice observations: Ingram, Jauron, the WRs". philly.com. http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/moving_the_chains/Expectations_for_Stewart_Bradley.html. Retrieved 2010-07-27. 
6. ^ http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/dneagles/Eagles_finalize_coaching_staff.html

External links

• Philadelphia Eagles bio

Sporting positions
Preceded by Ricky Watters	Philadelphia Eagles Starting Running Back 1998–2004	Succeeded by Brian Westbrook

Persondata
Name	Staley, Duce
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	February 27, 1975
Place of birth	Tampa, Florida
Date of death
Place of death