With seven NFL
seasons under his belt the NFL finally rewarded Rod Coleman with a trip
to the Pro Bowl. Rod has had the career that we all knew he
would, after leaving East Carolina as the all-time sack leader with
39. Fast seven years, add on 40 pounds and change positions from
linebacker/defensive end to defensive tackle, and you can vision Rod’s
transcendence in the NFL. Rod was drafted in the 5th round in
1999 by the Oakland Raiders after a senior season where he was second
in the nation in sacks. Let’s take a look at some of his
accolades at East Carolina:
COLLEGE
- Four-year letterman at East Carolina and established
a school-record 39 career sacks.
- Started 33 consecutive contests from his sophomore to
senior seasons and played in every game as a true freshman.
- First-team All-Conference USA selection and candidate
for the 1998 Butkus Award in 1998.
- Recorded 13 sacks to lead Conference USA defenders
during as a senior. Also registered a school record four sacks vs. Wake
Forest and added three sacks apiece vs. South Carolina and North
Carolina State.
After spending 5 seasons in Oakland, Rod proved he was one of the top
defensive linemen in the NFL and was rewarded with a multi-year
contract worth more than 30 million dollars. Rod has been to the
Super Bowl, losing to Devonne Claybrooks and the Tampa Bay Bucs in
2003, but he has yet to go to a Pro Bowl. This is in spite of the
fact that no interior defensive lineman has more sacks than Rod over
the last 4 years (34). After his career high 11.5 sack
performance in 2004, the world started to take notice, and Rod has
become a household name ever since. He received the 8th most
votes by any defensive player in this year’s Pro Bowl getting more than
300,000 votes. Here are some of his accolades in the NFL:
CAREER
- Strong, versatile lineman who collared four
multi-sack games in 2004.
- Recorded a productive 40.0 sacks in just 34 starts
and 73 career games played.
- Finished second among NFL interior linemen in sacks
with 11.5 in 2004 after leading the NFL in sacks for interior lineman
in 2002.
- Totaled the most sacks in the NFL by interior lineman
over the past four seasons with 34.
- Solid against the run, tallying 103 tackles over the
past two seasons, including 51 tackles in 2004 and a career-high 52
tackles in 2003.
Congratulations Rod, this year’s Pro Bowl bid was well deserved.
Even though the Falcons won’t go to the playoffs this year.
