David Thornton (American football)
| Indianapolis Colts | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Vice president of player engagement | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born: | November 1, 1978 Goldsboro, North Carolina, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight: | 225 lb (102 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school: | Goldsboro | ||||||||||||
| College: | North Carolina | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2002 / round: 4 / pick: 106 | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
As a player: | |||||||||||||
As a staff member / executive: | |||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||
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David Dontay Thornton (born November 1, 1978) is an American former professional football who played for the Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). In 2012, Thornton joined the Colts as the director of player engagement.
College career
Thornton played college football at the University of North Carolina where he was teammates with Julius Peppers, and Ryan Sims. Originally a walk-on, Thornton's play eventually earned him a scholarship. In his senior year, Thornton was named second-team All-ACC and team MVP.
Professional career
Indianapolis Colts
Thornton was selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the fourth round of the 2002 NFL draft.[1] Thornton best season came in 2003 when he led the Colts with 145 tackles and made two interceptions. In the 2005 season Thornton made 83 tackles and two quarterback sacks.
Tennessee Titans
He became an unrestricted free agent and signed a five-year deal with the Titans on March 13, 2006 [1]. After missing the 2010 season due to a hip injury, he retired on August 5, 2011.[2]
NFL career statistics
| Regular season | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | GP | GS | Comb | Solo | Ast | Sck | PDef | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FF | FR | TD | ||||
| 2002 | IND | 15 | 0 | 45 | 36 | 9 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2003 | IND | 16 | 16 | 145 | 112 | 33 | 1.0 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2004 | IND | 16 | 15 | 94 | 71 | 23 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2005 | IND | 16 | 16 | 83 | 61 | 22 | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2006 | TEN | 16 | 13 | 109 | 87 | 22 | 0.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2007 | TEN | 16 | 16 | 122 | 93 | 29 | 1.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| 2008 | TEN | 15 | 15 | 78 | 60 | 18 | 0.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2009 | TEN | 11 | 11 | 60 | 46 | 14 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2010 | TEN | Did not play due to injury | ||||||||||||||||||
| Career | 121 | 102 | 736 | 566 | 170 | 5.0 | 25 | 3 | 8 | 2.5 | 5.0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 0 | |||||
Post-playing career
In 2012, he became the director of player engagement with the Colts. In 2023, he was promoted to Vice President of Player Engagement with the Colts.[3]
References
- ^ "2002 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
- ^ "Ex-Titans LB Thornton retires after 9 seasons". ESPN.com. August 5, 2011. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
- ^ "David Thornton Uses His NFL Experience to Help Players on and off the Field".