Highlighted Year: John Abraham, 2001

Defensive End, New York Jets

Age:  23

2^nd season in pro football & with Jets

College: South Carolina

Height: 6’3”   Weight: 265

Prelude:

Abraham totaled 23.5 sacks in college and was a first-team All-Southeastern Conference selection in 1999. He was chosen by the Jets in the first round of the 2000 NFL draft (13^th overall) and was used effectively as a pass-rushing outside linebacker as a rookie, garnering 4.5 sacks in six games until a hernia injury that required surgery ended his season. With the Jets shifting to a 3-4 defense for 2001, Abraham was moved to right defensive end.

2001 Season Summary

Appeared in 16 games

[Bracketed numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]

Sacks – 13 [6, tied with Jamir Miller & Marcellus Wiley]

Most sacks, game – 4 at New Orleans 11/4

Multi-sack games – 1

Interceptions – 0

Fumble recoveries – 3

Fumble recovery TDs – 1

Forced fumbles – 6

Tackles – 58

Assists – 8

Postseason: 1 G (AFC Wild Card playoff at Oakland)

Sacks – 0

Interceptions – 0

TD – 0

Awards & Honors:

1^st team All-NFL: AP, PFWA, Sporting News

1^st team All-AFC: Pro Football Weekly

Pro Bowl

Jets went 10-6 to finish third in the AFC East and qualify for the postseason as a Wild Card. Lost AFC Wild Card playoff to Oakland Raiders (38-24).

Aftermath:

With his great speed and ability to pursue plays, Abraham had another Pro Bowl season in 2002 with 10 sacks, although he was regularly double-teamed. A groin injury limited him to seven games in ’03, but he still recorded six sacks, and bounced back in 2004, despite missing four more games to injury, with 9.5 sacks and selection to the Pro Bowl for the third time. Following a 10.5-sack season in 2005, the Jets traded Abraham to the Atlanta Falcons. He endured another injury-plagued year before coming back to record 10 sacks in 2007 and a career-high 16.5 in ’08 while appearing in all 32 games. A relative down year in 2009 was followed by a 2010 season in which Abraham had 13 sacks and achieved consensus first-team All-NFL as well as Pro Bowl recognition. He played two more years with the Falcons, recording a franchise-high 68.5 sacks over seven years, and moved on to the Arizona Cardinals in 2013, where he played outside linebacker, recorded 11.5 sacks, and returned to the Pro Bowl. He was placed on injured reserve following the first game of the 2014 season due to a concussion. Overall, through 2013, he had appeared in 192 games and accumulated 133.5 sacks, ranking ninth all-time in NFL history. He has twice been a consensus first-team All-NFL selection, received at least some all-league recognition in one other season, and has been chosen to the Pro Bowl five times.

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Highlighted Years features players who were consensus first-team All-League* selections or league* or conference** leaders in the following statistical categories:

Rushing: Yards, TDs (min. 10)

Passing: Yards, Completion Pct., Yards per Attempt, TDs, Rating

Receiving: Catches, Yards, TDs (min. 10)

Scoring: TDs, Points, Field Goals (min. 5)

All-Purpose: Total Yards

Defense: Interceptions, Sacks

Kickoff Returns: Average

Punt Returns: Average

Punting: Average

*Leagues include NFL (1920 to date), AFL (1926), AFL (1936-37), AAFC (1946-49), AFL (1960-69), WFL (1974-75), USFL (1983-85)

**NFC/AFC since 1970