David LaFleur
No. 89 | |||||||||
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| Tight end | |||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||
| Date of birth: January 29, 1974 | |||||||||
| Place of birth: Lake Charles, Louisiana | |||||||||
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Career information | |||||||||
| High school: Westlake (LA) | |||||||||
| College: Louisiana State | |||||||||
| NFL Draft: 1997 / Round: 1 / Pick: 22 | |||||||||
| Debuted in 1997 for the Dallas Cowboys | |||||||||
| Last played in 2000 for the Dallas Cowboys | |||||||||
Career history
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Career highlights and awards
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Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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| Stats at pro-football-reference.com | |||||||||
| Stats at DatabaseFootball.com | |||||||||
David Alan LaFleur (born January 29, 1974) is a former American football tight end in the National Football League who played from 1997 to 2000 for the Dallas Cowboys. He was drafted in the first round (22nd overall) by the Cowboys in the 1997 NFL Draft. LaFleur played college football at Louisiana State University. In 1996, he was chosen as a first team All-American tight end.
Early years
Lafleur attended Westlake High School in Louisiana, where he played tight end and defensive end. As a tight end, in 1991 he was named the Louisiana High School player of the year, All-American and was part of the USA Today All-USA high school football team.
He accepted a scholarship to play at Louisiana State University, where he concentrated on playing tight end. His blocking was so impressive, that as a sophomore after having only 21 receptions for 263 yards and two touchdowns, he was still voted All-SEC.
As a senior in 1996, he helped LSU along with teammate Kevin Faulk, become the top rushing team in the SEC. He also led his team in receiving with 30 catches for 439 yards and three touchdowns. At the end of the season he was named All-American, All-SEC, LSU offensive MVP and played in the Senior Bowl. He finished his career with 71 receptions for 881 yards and five touchdowns.
Professional career
After the team's offense suffered because of a lack of production at tight end, the Dallas Cowboys were determined to solve that situation in the 1997 NFL Draft, even going as far as soliciting quarterback's Troy Aikman input in private workouts of the two top ranked players at the position: Tony Gonzalez and LaFleur, that were reported by the Sports Illustrated magazine.[1] It was eventually published in the media that both the Cowboys and Aikman, had LaFleur rated ahead of Gonzalez, because they considered him to possess a rare combination of skills.[2]
The Cowboys traded up with the Philadelphia Eagles moving from the 25th to the 22nd position, in exchange for a third and a fifth round draft choices, to select LaFleur in the first round.[3] In his rookie year he mostly blocked for the team (recording five pancake blocks in one game), but his receiving production was disappointing (18 receptions for 122 yards, 6.8 yards average and two touchdowns).
In 1999 he had the best season of his short career, registering 35 receptions for 322 yards, while leading the NFC tight ends and his team with his seven touchdowns. LaFleur had back problems dating back to his college years and it started to affect his play in the 2000 season, eventually forcing the team to waive him injured on August 22, 2001, when he couldn't pass a physical exam.[4]
He finished his career with 85 receptions for 729 yards and 12 touchdowns. His size and lack of agility would prove to be a detriment as a receiver, never recording a reception of over 25 yards and only once gaining more than 200 receiving yards in a season.
Personal life
He currently resides in Sulphur, Louisiana and is a part-owner of the health care company COL Management.
References
External links
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