Darryl Talley
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Darryl Talley (born July 10, 1960 in East Cleveland, Ohio) is a former American football linebacker who played for the Buffalo Bills, Atlanta Falcons, and Minnesota Vikings.
[edit] College career
Darryl started his football career at West Virginia University. In 1982, Darryl was elected an All-American. During his four year tenture, Darryl amassed a school record of 484 career tackles. Starting from 1979-'82, Darryl led the Mountaineers to the 1981 Peach Bowl and the 1982 Gator Bowl.
Five tackles for a loss against Penn State University stand as a single-game record. For his career, Darryl had 282 unassisted tackles (first all-time), 202 assisted tackles (second), 28 tackles for loss (second) and 19 quarterback sacks (fourth). Darryl was uncluded in Don Nehlen's, their coach, nine-win season and the rout of the University of Florida in the Peach Bowl. They also notched wins against University of Virginia, University of Maryland, College Park, Colorado State University, Boston College, Virginia Tech, East Carolina University, Temple, and Rutgers that season with Darryl's help.
He was named Sports Illustrated Player of the Week for his 15 tackles versus Boston College. But against University of Pittsburgh, Darryl intercepted Dan Marino to set up a Mountaineer field goal and blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown.
Darryl started the 1982 season off with a win over University of Oklahoma and was named WVU's MVP of the season and was named All-American. Darryl played in the 1983 Hula Bowl and then was selected in the NFL Draft by the Bills.
[edit] Pro Career
After being selected in the second round by the Bills he played with them for 12 amazing seasons. He's the Bills' all-time leading tackler with 1137 tackles, and also record 38.5 sacks, 12 interceptions(with 189 return yards and 2 touchdowns), and 14 fumble recoveries(with 76 return yards). He averaged 120 tackles, 3.5 sacks and 6.2 takeaways per season and his 188 regular season games rank fifth-most in team history.
Darryl also continued to hunt down Dan Marino, from Pittsburgh, who played for the Miami Dolphins. During a 1983 38-35 overtime victory, Darryl sacked Marino five times.
Darryl played in the Bills' four Super Bowls and played in two Pro Bowls himself. Darryl left the Bills to play with the Falcons in the 1995 campaign and then with the Vikings. He ended his career in the 1996 season and won the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Distinguished Service Award in 2000.
[edit] Trivia
He is also known as 'the man', 'the bomb', 'the duke of awesome', and 'the hammer'. His cheering section at Rich Stadium was known as the "Talley-whackers" and he remains one of the most popular player in Bills history.
Talley achieved great notoriety throughout the NFL for his remarkable physical unattractiveness. In 2006, on the weekly HBO football wrap show Inside the NFL, commentator and former NFL quarterback Dan Marino said that the ugliest play he had ever seen on a football field was Darryl Talley taking off his helmet.
