 Doleman in 2013 | |||||||||||||||||
| No. 56 | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Defensive end | ||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1961-10-16)October 16, 1961 Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||
| Died | January 28, 2020(2020-01-28) (aged 58) Duluth, Georgia, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 289 lb (131 kg) | ||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||
| High school | William Penn (York, Pennsylvania) | ||||||||||||||||
| College | Pittsburgh (1981–1984) | ||||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1985: 1st round, 4th overall pick | ||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
Christopher John Doleman (October 16, 1961 – January 28, 2020) was an American professionalfootballdefensive end who played in theNational Football League (NFL). He spent the majority of his career with theMinnesota Vikings, and also played for theAtlanta Falcons and theSan Francisco 49ers.[1] Doleman was an eight-timePro Bowl selection and a twice first-teamAll-Pro, recording 150.5 careersacks.[2] He is a member of thePro Football Hall of Fame class of 2012.[3]
Doleman attendedWilliam Penn Senior High School inYork, Pennsylvania, and graduated in 1980. He spent apostgraduate year atValley Forge Military Academy in 1981.[4]
Doleman played football collegiately at theUniversity of Pittsburgh.[5] He was a star linebacker and defensive end for the Pitt Panthers from 1981 to 1984. He ended his career at Pitt with 25 sacks which was good for third all-time at the time of his departure. That total still ranks sixth in the Pitt annals.
Doleman was selected by theMinnesota Vikings in the first round (4th overall) of the1985 NFL draft.[6][7] He began his NFL career as an outside linebacker (OLB) in the Vikings' 3–4 defense, but for the 1987 season (Doleman's third season) the team decided to switch to a 4–3 defense, which resulted in him being moved from his spot at OLB up to the defensive line to play as a defensive end. The move paid off for Doleman, who recorded 21 sacks in the 1989 season, the highest total recorded that season and the fourth-highest total ever.[8][9] The 21 sacks in a single season was a Vikings record untilJared Allen recorded 22 sacks in 2011. Doleman later played for theAtlanta Falcons and theSan Francisco 49ers before returning to the Vikings in 1999 for his final season.[10]
He was a first-team All-Pro in1987,1989 and1992. He garnered second-team All-Pro selections in1990 and1993.[11]
In 2012, Doleman was elected to thePro Football Hall of Fame.[12]
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | PD | FF | FR | Yds | ||
| 1985 | MIN | 16 | 13 | 113 | — | — | 0.5 | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 1986 | MIN | 16 | 9 | 49 | — | — | 3.0 | 1 | 59 | 59.0 | 59 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 1987 | MIN | 12 | 12 | 57 | — | — | 11.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 1988 | MIN | 16 | 16 | 58 | — | — | 8.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 1989 | MIN | 16 | 16 | 94 | — | — | 21.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 7 |
| 1990 | MIN | 16 | 16 | 92 | — | — | 11.0 | 1 | 30 | 30.0 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 1991 | MIN | 16 | 16 | 101 | — | — | 7.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| 1992 | MIN | 16 | 16 | 64 | — | — | 14.5 | 1 | 27 | 27.0 | 27 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 0 |
| 1993 | MIN | 16 | 16 | 68 | — | — | 12.5 | 1 | −3 | −3.0 | −3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 1994 | ATL | 14 | 7 | 30 | 26 | 4 | 7.0 | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1995 | ATL | 16 | 16 | 51 | 36 | 15 | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 1996 | SF | 16 | 16 | 54 | 45 | 9 | 11.0 | 2 | 1 | 0.5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 13 |
| 1997 | SF | 16 | 16 | 46 | 39 | 7 | 12.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 1998 | SF | 16 | 16 | 45 | 31 | 14 | 15.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| 1999 | MIN | 14 | 12 | 53 | 41 | 12 | 8.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| Career[13] | 232 | 213 | 975 | 218 | 61 | 150.5 | 8 | 121 | 15.1 | 59 | 2 | 2 | 44 | 24 | 34 | |
On January 25, 2018, Doleman had brain surgery for a condition which was later diagnosed asglioblastoma.[14] On January 28, 2020, Doleman died from the disease at the age of 58.[15] He was honored prior to kickoff atSuper Bowl LIV five days later.[16]
Media related toChris Doleman at Wikimedia Commons