John Ulysses Mobley (born October 10, 1973) is an American former professionalfootball player who was alinebacker for eight seasons with theDenver Broncos of theNational Football League (NFL) from 1996 to 2003.

He is the cousin of former NBA playerCuttino Mobley.

One of nine children born to parents, Lee and Vera, who divorced when he was thirteen years old, Mobley lived with his father until the age of sixteen. After his father suffered a stroke, Mobley moved in with his mother, who demanded he leave high school to help support his family. Mobley spent a year living on the street in an old car before a friend's family took him in.

Lacking the academic credentials for a Division I school, Mobley went on to playcollege football forKutztown University in 1991. Mobley made the starting lineup as a freshman and recorded nine tackles and a sack in his first college game, and earned an honorable mention on the All-American team as a sophomore. Mobley's college career came to a sudden halt in 1993, however, when coachBarry Fetterman was fired as a result of an NCAA investigation into academic violations at the school. The team's new coach,Al Leonzi, carried out his own investigation and ended up declaring Mobley ineligible for the upcoming season.^[1]

Mobley subsequently resolved his academic status, and returned for the 1994 and 1995 seasons, earning first-team AP Little All-American selections as a junior and senior and a Division II invitation to the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. He was drafted in the first round of the1996 NFL draft by the Denver Broncos, making him the highest drafted player in the history of thePennsylvania State Athletic Conference,^[2][1] and just the third player from Kutztown ever to be drafted.^[3]

Mobley's best season occurred in1997. He had 132tackles and foursacks and was an All-Pro that season; however, he missed most of the1999 season because of an injury.

Mobley suffered a bruisedspinal column during the 2003 season after colliding with his teammateKelly Herndon in a game against theBaltimore Ravens.^[4] The injury was severe enough that the Broncos cut him before the2004 season in order to allow him time for recovery.^[5] He later re-signed with the Broncos and retired because of the injury.

Mobley served seven days in prison for aDUI conviction in 2004 after being pulled over and arrested on December 28, 2002. He was found guilty by a jury in April 2004 and was sentenced to 365 days behind bars,^[6] but the judge in the case later reduced it to seven days.

InSuper Bowl XXXII, Mobley deflected aBrett Favre pass on 4th and 6 from the 31-yard-line with just over 30 seconds left in the game. The deflection sealed a 31–24 victory for the Broncos and ended the NFC's run of 13 straight wins over the AFC in Super Bowl competition. In the 1998 AFC Championship game, Mobley recovered aKeith Byars fumble on the Broncos 18-yard-line in the second quarter to stop a scoring drive.

During his career, Mobley played in 105 career games,starting 102 of them, including twoSuper Bowls, during which he made 608 career tackles, 10.5 quarterback sacks, and fiveinterceptions for 45 yards and atouchdown.

• [1]
• sportsillustrated.cnn.com

• 1973 births
• Living people
• Players of American football from Delaware County, Pennsylvania
• Players of American football from Chester, Pennsylvania
• American football linebackers
• Kutztown Golden Bears football players
• Denver Broncos players

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