| No. 94 | |||||||||
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| Position: | Defensive tackle | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | (1979-04-15)April 15, 1979 (age 45) Marksville, Louisiana, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 293 lb (133 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Marksville | ||||||||
| College: | LSU | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2004: 5th round, 142nd pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Chad Douglas Lavalais (born April 15, 1979) is an American former professionalfootball player who was adefensive tackle for two seasons in theNational Football League (NFL). He playedcollege football for theLSU Tigers, earned consensusAll-American honors, and was a member of aBCS National Championship team. Thereafter, he played professionally for the NFL'sAtlanta Falcons.
Lavalais was born inMarksville, Louisiana. He lettered in football andtrack atMarksville High School. He was a Class 3A all-state selection as atight end in 1997, in addition to being selected as an all-district choice on offense and defense.
Lavalais accepted anathletic scholarship to attend Louisiana State University, where he played for coachNick Saban & theLSU Tigers football team from 2000 to 2003. After originally signing with LSU in 1998, he spent two seasons working as aprison guard at a correctional facility near his hometown of Marksville while working to improve hisACT score to become eligible to play. He first played for the Tigers in 2000, and appeared in nine games as a freshman, recording 22tackles and onequarterback sack. While at LSU, he majored in general studies.
Lavalais started in 41 of 47 games in which he appeared for LSU and registered 202 tackles, 12 sacks, 10passes defensed, onefumble recovery, oneinterception and one blockedkick. He was a first-teamAll-Southeastern Conference (SEC) selection and a consensus first-teamAll-American after starting every game as a senior. He was also named National Defensive Player of the Year byThe Sporting News. During his senior season, the Tigers won theSEC Championship and defeated theOklahoma Sooners 21–14 in theSugar Bowl to win theBCS National Championship.
Lavalais was selected as a fifth round (142nd pick overall) choice by theAtlanta Falcons in the2004 NFL draft.[1] He played in every game with five starts at defensive tackle and finished the season with 42 tackles, two fumble recoveries and one pass defensed. He also recorded the following game statistics:
Lavalais started in all fourteen games of the 2005 season. He was credited with 33 tackles, 2.5 sacks and two passes defensed.[1] He speared Philadelphia Eagles quarterbackDonovan McNabb in the first game of the season, causing an injury to McNabb that caused physical problems for the remainder of the season and his life, eventually leading to a diagnosis of a sportshernia. Lavalais was fined $7500 by the NFL for the hit.[2] The Falcons waived Lavalais on September 2, 2006, right before the2006 NFL season. Lavalais reportedly worked out with theCincinnati Bengals as well as theMinnesota Vikings but was not signed. As such he did not play a snap in 2006.[2]
On March 27, 2007, Lavalais signed a one-year contract with theCarolina Panthers.[2] Lavalais was released by the Panthers on August 26, 2007, before the start of the2007 NFL season.[3][dead link] Lavailais did not return to theNFL.