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| No. 25, 28 | |||||||||||||||
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| Position | Running back | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | (1970-05-21)May 21, 1970 (age 55) Syracuse, New York, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 230 lb (104 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | Nottingham (Syracuse) | ||||||||||||||
| College |
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| NFL draft | 1994: 5th round, 149th overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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Herbert Dorsey Levens (born May 21, 1970) is an American former professionalfootball player who was arunning back in theNational Football League (NFL), primarily for theGreen Bay Packers. He playedcollege football for theNotre Dame Fighting Irish and later theGeorgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Levens was selected by Green Bay in the fifth round of the1994 NFL draft. He helped the Packers win theVince Lombardi Trophy inSuper Bowl XXXI against theNew England Patriots.
In his career, Levens also played for thePhiladelphia Eagles andNew York Giants. While playing for the Packers, he rushed for 1,000 or more yards twice and was selected to thePro Bowl after the1997 season.
Levens was born inSyracuse, New York and attendedNottingham High School. He representedCentral New York inbasketball at theEmpire State Games in 1987.[1]
He began hiscollege football career at theUniversity of Notre Dame. However, he found himself in competition withRicky Watters,Jerome Bettis,Rodney Culver,Reggie Brooks, andAnthony Johnson, all of whom would play in the NFL, at running back. Levens eventually earned the starting spot, but injured his knee before the season started.
The next year, he transferred toGeorgia Tech, where—after sitting out a year—he set a school record by averaging 7.2 yards-per-carry. In his senior season, he was voted First-teamAll-ACC. He rushed for 823 yards and scored eight touchdowns that season.
Due in part to his injury, Levens was considered to be a marginal pick in the1994 NFL draft, andMel Kiper Jr. labeled him the most overrated pick on the board. He was selected in thefifth round (149th overall) by theGreen Bay Packers.[2]
In his first two seasons with the Packers, Levens was primarily used as a fullback, winning the starting job in 1995.
In 1996, he would play as back-up at halfback to starterEdgar Bennett, withWilliam Henderson as the starter at fullback. In the 1996 NFC Championship game against theCarolina Panthers, Levens had a breakout game, carrying the ball 10 times for 88 yards and caught 5 passes including the Packers' first touchdown on a contested 29-yarder in the endzone in the first quarter of the 30–13 win.[3][4] InSuper Bowl XXXI, Levens was the Packers' leading rusher, carrying the ball 14 times for 61 yards, as the Packers won their first Super Bowl in 29 years, 35–21.[5]
In 1997, Levens became the starting halfback after Edgar Bennett tore hisachilles tendon in the 1997 pre-season. Levens rushed for over 1,400 yards and was voted to thePro Bowl.[6][7]
He broke his fibula during the1998 season and was never the same. He was able to come back into the starting lineup late in the season, and showed some major flashes against theSan Francisco 49ers in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs, rushing 27 times for 116 yards and a touchdown. He also caught 6 passes for 37 yards in a game that would later be dubbedThe Catch II afterTerrell Owens' last-second, game-winning touchdown catch.[8]
He gained 1,034 yards for the Packers in the1999 season, but suffered a pair of knee injuries during the2000 season, and was mostly used in a reserve role afterAhman Green supplanted him as the starter.[9]
During the final game of the1999 NFL season, Levens and the Packers were involved in what has been described[by whom?] as abizarre tie-breaking scenario, involving four teams that finished with 8–8 records fighting for two playoff spots. The two losers of the tie breaker would be eliminated. Going into their season finale against theArizona Cardinals, the Packers needed to win their game, as well as have theDallas Cowboys lose later that afternoon. In addition, the Packers also needed to win the net points scored tie-breaker vs. theCarolina Panthers (who were facing theNew Orleans Saints). The Packers and Panthers were playing during the noon time slot and the Packers held a net 18 point advantage going into the day. As the games progressed, Carolina had built a sizable lead to the point that they were momentarily able to take the lead over the Packers in net points. Since both teams were neck and neck for the advantage in the tie breaker, both teams were frantically trying to score as many points as possible despite leading on the scoreboard by a blowout margin. The Cardinals and Saints also tried to score frantically as the game progressed to stop their opponents from gaining the net points advantage. Ultimately, the Packers prevailed in net points by +11. It was all for naught in the end, however, as the Cowboys won their afternoon contest against theNew York Giants to claim the final playoff spot and thus eliminate the Packers from playoff contention. Levens ran for 146 yards and scored four times during the contest. The Packers won their game 49–24 and the Panthers won their game 45–13.[10]
Levens was featured on the cover ofEA SportsMadden NFL 2000 in thePAL editions. As a result, he is viewed as one of the first victims of the "Madden Curse".
Levens was released by the Packers after2001. In 2009, he was inducted into theGreen Bay Packers Hall of Fame.[11]
During the2002 season, Levens played for thePhiladelphia Eagles,[12] replacing the injuredCorrell Buckhalter, and in2003, with theNew York Giants, both times as a backup. He was released by the Giants after 2003. After Buckhalter was again injured during the 2004preseason, Levens was signed by the Eagles as afree agent. He shared duties withBrian Westbrook through the season, also appearing inSuper Bowl XXXIX that year. He retired during the 2006 offseason as a Green Bay Packer.
Rushing stats[13]
| Year | Team | GP | Att | Yards | Avg | Lng | TD | FD | Fum | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | GB | 14 | 5 | 15 | 3.0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1995 | GB | 15 | 36 | 120 | 3.3 | 22 | 3 | 18 | 0 | 0 |
| 1996 | GB | 16 | 121 | 566 | 4.7 | 24 | 5 | 31 | 2 | 0 |
| 1997 | GB | 16 | 329 | 1,435 | 4.4 | 52 | 7 | 68 | 5 | 3 |
| 1998 | GB | 7 | 115 | 378 | 3.3 | 50 | 1 | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| 1999 | GB | 14 | 279 | 1,034 | 3.7 | 36 | 9 | 56 | 5 | 5 |
| 2000 | GB | 5 | 77 | 224 | 2.9 | 17 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| 2001 | GB | 15 | 44 | 165 | 3.8 | 40 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 2002 | PHI | 16 | 75 | 411 | 5.5 | 47 | 1 | 13 | 1 | 1 |
| 2003 | NYG | 11 | 68 | 197 | 2.9 | 17 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| 2004 | PHI | 15 | 94 | 410 | 4.4 | 45 | 4 | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 144 | 1,243 | 4,955 | 4.0 | 52 | 36 | 264 | 13 | 9 | |
Receiving stats[13]
| Year | Team | GP | Rec | Yards | Avg | Lng | TD | FD | Fum | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | GB | 14 | 1 | 9 | 9.0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1995 | GB | 15 | 48 | 434 | 9.0 | 27 | 4 | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 1996 | GB | 16 | 31 | 226 | 7.3 | 49 | 5 | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| 1997 | GB | 16 | 53 | 370 | 7.0 | 56 | 5 | 18 | 0 | 0 |
| 1998 | GB | 7 | 27 | 162 | 6.0 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 1999 | GB | 14 | 71 | 573 | 8.1 | 53 | 1 | 26 | 0 | 0 |
| 2000 | GB | 5 | 16 | 146 | 9.1 | 37 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 2001 | GB | 15 | 24 | 159 | 6.6 | 19 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 2002 | PHI | 16 | 19 | 124 | 6.5 | 24 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 2003 | NYG | 11 | 5 | 39 | 7.8 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2004 | PHI | 15 | 9 | 92 | 10.2 | 23 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 144 | 304 | 2,334 | 7.7 | 56 | 17 | 118 | 0 | 0 | |
After retiring from the NFL, Levens became an NFL analyst for the sports website PlayerPress.com. There, he picks NFL games against thespread, and against other professional athletes and experts. He also became an analyst forSprint Exclusive Entertainment'sNFL Mobile Gamecenter, where he breaks down all the NFL games for viewers each week. In 2009, Levens was elected to theGreen Bay Packers Hall of Fame.
In2006, Levens had acameo appearance as thehead coach for Xavier in the filmWe Are Marshall.
In2012, it was confirmed that Levens is to play the role of Coach James inGridiron UK.
In 2015, Levens had a major role in Tyler Perry's playMadea on the Run.
In 2017, Levens had a recurring role as Benny on the 6th and final season of Tyler Perry'sFor Better or Worse