Mark Nzeocha
| No. 53 Dallas Cowboys | |||||||
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| Position: | Linebacker | ||||||
| Personal information | |||||||
| Date of birth: | January 19, 1990 | ||||||
| Place of birth: | Ansbach, Germany | ||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||
| Weight: | 240 lb (109 kg) | ||||||
| Career information | |||||||
| High school: | Ansbach (GER) | ||||||
| College: | Wyoming | ||||||
| NFL Draft: | 2015 / Round: 7 / Pick: 236 | ||||||
| Career history | |||||||
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| Roster status: | Active | ||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||
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| Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2016 | |||||||
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| Player stats at PFR | |||||||
Mark Nzeocha (/ɛnˈzɒtʃə/ en-ZOTCH-ə; born January 19, 1990) is a German American football linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Wyoming.
Early years
Nzeocha attended high school at FOS Ansbach. He began playing flag football as a 13-year old for the Franken Knights youth team, before moving up to the junior football team at 16.
He was a safety for the German National Team that won the 2008 European Junior Championships and that finished fifth in the 2009 IFAF Junior World Cup in Canton, Ohio. He received recognition by being named to the All-tournament team.
College career
His international exposure earned him a scholarship to play for the University of Wyoming. As a freshman, he played as an outside linebacker in 10 games, before being moved to free safety during the latter part of the season. The next year, he was moved to strong safety, finishing with 11 games played (two starts), 32 tackles and a forced fumble.[1]
After earning the starting strongside linebacker position as a junior, he had a break-out season with 101 tackles (10-for-loss), one sack, two forced fumbles and two passes defensed.
In his last year, he was playing strongside linebacker in the base defense, middle linebacker in the nickel defense, and was a core special teams player.[2] He was also leading the team in multiple defensive categories, before suffering a season ending ACL tear in the seventh game against San Jose State University, finishing with 59 tackles (three-for-loss), two sacks, two forced fumbles and five passes defensed. He was named to the Academic All-Conference team in three-straight seasons.
Professional career
Nzeocha was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the seventh round (236th overall) of the 2015 NFL Draft. Due to his limited football experience, Nzeocha was targeted primarily because of his athletic ability.[3] Entering the league as a 25-year-old rookie, he missed all of the preseason while recovering from a knee injury he suffered in college. He began the regular season on the Reserve/Non-Football injury list and was activated until November 18. He only played in two games and was declared inactive for five.
In 2016, he was used at middle linebacker during the preseason, posting one interception against the Los Angeles Rams. He suffered a strained Achilles tendon in the second game against the Miami Dolphins, which not only forced him to miss the rest of the preseason, but also the first 4 games of the regular season. He played in 5 games mainly on special teams and was declared inactive in 7 contests.
Personal life
His brother Eric currently plays linebacker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on their practice squad. Nzeocha is half Nigerian.
References
- ↑ "Transition to strong safety easy for former linebacker". Retrieved January 3, 2016.
- ↑ "Wyoming linebacker Mark Nzeocha thriving in senior season". Retrieved January 3, 2016.
- ↑ "Cowboys draft LB Mark Nzeocha in seventh round". Retrieved January 3, 2016.