Eric Decker
Encyclopedia
Eric Decker is an American football
wide receiver
for the Denver Broncos
of the National Football League
(NFL). He was drafted by the Broncos in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft
. He played college football
and college baseball
at Minnesota
, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business and marketing.
in Cold Spring, Minnesota, where he was a three-sport athlete in football, basketball, and baseball. In each sport he was awarded all-conference, all-area and all-section honors. Additionally, he was named football team MVP two years in a row. During his prep football career he had 2,156 receiving yards and 28 touchdowns.
columnist Stewart Mandel
declared Decker the 3rd best wide receiver
in college football, behind Oklahoma State's Dez Bryant
and Georgia's A. J. Green
.
On October 27, it was announced that Decker was going to miss the rest of the season after suffering a sprained foot against Ohio State
.
for the Minnesota baseball team. He was selected in the 39th round of the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft
by the Milwaukee Brewers
and the 27th round of the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft
by the Minnesota Twins
.
in the third round (87th overall) of the 2010 NFL Draft
. Because of a foot surgery, Decker sat out the Broncos Rookie Mini Camp and OTA's. Broncos Head Coach Josh McDaniels
said he hopes he'll be ready for the season opener, “At this point we’re going to err on the side of being real careful and not put them in a situation where (it’s) the last day of minicamp on June 13th and all of a sudden we have a foot injury," said McDaniels."Hopefully everybody will be ready by August.”
On July 27, 2010, the Denver Broncos signed Decker to a 4 year contract. In preseason, Decker led all NFL rookies in receptions, but due to the Broncos depth at receiver, Decker didn't see much action in the offense until late in the regular season. He did contribute on special teams however, recording seven special teams tackles while returning 17 kickoffs for 429 yards giving him a 25.2 yards per return average.
Toward the end of the 2010 season the Broncos did start to mix Decker into the offense more, after fellow rookie Demaryius Thomas—a first round draft pick—went down with an ankle injury. Decker finished his rookie season with 6 catches that went for 106 yards and one touchdown—a six-yard score off a Tim Tebow pass.
loss to the Oakland Raiders
, Decker returned a fourth quarter punt 90 yards for a touchdown but the Broncos fell 23-20.
In week 2, making his first career start, Decker hauled in 5 passes for 113 yards and 2 touchdowns, the second on a 52 yard catch in the 4th quarter as Denver recorded their first win of the 2011 season, 24-22 over the Cincinnati Bengals
. On September 25, in Denvers week 3 17-14 loss to the Tennessee Titans
, Decker had a career high 7 catches for 48 yards. Over the next 4 weeks, Decker continued his steady play by hauling in 18 passes for 192 yards and 4 touchdowns.
On November 13, in a week 10 divisional road game at Arrowhead Stadium
against the Kansas City Chiefs
, starting quarterback
Tim Tebow
attempted a pair of deep passes for Decker, the first almost being hauled in off a deflection and the other being knocked down by the defender. But in the 4th quarter, with Denver hanging on the a slim 10-7 lead, Tebow hit Decker on a go route deep for a 56 yard touchdown catch, Decker's only catch of the game and only Tebow's 2nd completion, as the Broncos won 17-10 to move into a second place tie in the AFC West
with the San Diego Chargers
& the Chiefs.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
wide receiver
Wide receiver
A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...
for the Denver Broncos
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
(NFL). He was drafted by the Broncos in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft
2010 NFL Draft
The 2010 NFL Draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League franchises to select newly eligible football players. Unlike previous years, the 2010 draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, with the first round on Thursday, April 22, 2010, at 7:30 pm...
. He played college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
and college baseball
College baseball
College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. Compared to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a less significant contribution to cultivating professional players, as the minor leagues primarily...
at Minnesota
Minnesota Golden Gophers
The Minnesota Golden Gophers are the college sports team for the University of Minnesota. The university fields both men's and women's teams in basketball, cross country, gymnastics, golf, ice hockey, swimming, tennis, and track and field. Men's-specific sports include baseball, football, and...
, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business and marketing.
Early years
Decker attended Rocori High SchoolRocori high school
ROCORI High School is a high school that serves three Minnesota towns, whose names form the acronym "ROCORI": Rockville, Cold Spring, and Richmond. The school is located in Cold Spring, Minnesota about twenty miles southwest of St. Cloud. The school received its greatest media attention for a...
in Cold Spring, Minnesota, where he was a three-sport athlete in football, basketball, and baseball. In each sport he was awarded all-conference, all-area and all-section honors. Additionally, he was named football team MVP two years in a row. During his prep football career he had 2,156 receiving yards and 28 touchdowns.
2008 season
Decker finished his junior season with 84 catches for 1,074 yards and seven touchdowns. He either sat out or played with leg injuries in several games.2009 season
Decker began the season with the consistent play that had been a hallmark of his Gopher career. Through 3 games, Decker was 6th in the nation in receiving yards, averaging 124.8 per game. Sports IllustratedSports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
columnist Stewart Mandel
Stewart Mandel
Stewart Lance Mandel is an American sports writer who focuses on college football and college basketball. Mandel was raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, attending Sycamore High School, and is a graduate of Northwestern University with a degree in Journalism....
declared Decker the 3rd best wide receiver
Wide receiver
A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...
in college football, behind Oklahoma State's Dez Bryant
Dez Bryant
- 2010 - Rookie Season :Bryant was signed by the Cowboys to a contract very similar to that of Vikings wide receiver Percy Harvin on July 22, 2010. On July 23, 2010, it was announced that Bryant will wear number 88, the same as Hall of Famer Michael Irvin, and Cowboys legend Drew Pearson...
and Georgia's A. J. Green
A. J. Green
Adriel Jeremiah "A. J." Green is an American football wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League. He was selected fourth overall by the Bengals in the 2011 NFL Draft...
.
On October 27, it was announced that Decker was going to miss the rest of the season after suffering a sprained foot against Ohio State
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
.
College statistics
| 2006 | MIN Minnesota Golden Gophers football The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers are one of the oldest programs in college football history. They compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the Big Ten Conference. The Golden Gophers have claimed six national championships and have an all time record of 646–481–44 as... |
13 | 12 | 26 | 378 | 14.5 | 39 | 3 |
| 2007 | MIN Minnesota Golden Gophers football The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers are one of the oldest programs in college football history. They compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the Big Ten Conference. The Golden Gophers have claimed six national championships and have an all time record of 646–481–44 as... |
12 | 12 | 68 | 909 | 13.6 | 59 | 9 |
| 2008 | MIN Minnesota Golden Gophers football The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers are one of the oldest programs in college football history. They compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the Big Ten Conference. The Golden Gophers have claimed six national championships and have an all time record of 646–481–44 as... |
12 | 12 | 84 | 1074 | 12.8 | 75 | 7 |
| 2009 | MIN Minnesota Golden Gophers football The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers are one of the oldest programs in college football history. They compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the Big Ten Conference. The Golden Gophers have claimed six national championships and have an all time record of 646–481–44 as... |
8 | 8 | 50 | 758 | 15.2 | 53 | 5 |
| Career | ||||||||
| 45 | 44 | 228 | 3,119 | 14.0 | 75 | 24 |
Baseball career
Decker played outfieldOutfielder
Outfielder is a generic term applied to each of the people playing in the three defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder...
for the Minnesota baseball team. He was selected in the 39th round of the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft
2008 Major League Baseball Draft
The 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft continued Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, and was held on June 5 and 6, 2008.-First round selections:* Did not sign...
by the Milwaukee Brewers
Milwaukee Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers are a professional baseball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, currently playing in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
and the 27th round of the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft
2009 Major League Baseball Draft
The 2009 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held June 9 to June 11 at the MLB Network Studios in New York City.The drafting order is as follows:-First-round selections:Key-Supplemental first-round selections:From Baseball America...
by the Minnesota Twins
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
.
2010 season
Decker was drafted by the Denver BroncosDenver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
in the third round (87th overall) of the 2010 NFL Draft
2010 NFL Draft
The 2010 NFL Draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League franchises to select newly eligible football players. Unlike previous years, the 2010 draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, with the first round on Thursday, April 22, 2010, at 7:30 pm...
. Because of a foot surgery, Decker sat out the Broncos Rookie Mini Camp and OTA's. Broncos Head Coach Josh McDaniels
Josh McDaniels
Josh McDaniels is the former head coach of the Denver Broncos and currently the offensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams. He previously served as the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots...
said he hopes he'll be ready for the season opener, “At this point we’re going to err on the side of being real careful and not put them in a situation where (it’s) the last day of minicamp on June 13th and all of a sudden we have a foot injury," said McDaniels."Hopefully everybody will be ready by August.”
On July 27, 2010, the Denver Broncos signed Decker to a 4 year contract. In preseason, Decker led all NFL rookies in receptions, but due to the Broncos depth at receiver, Decker didn't see much action in the offense until late in the regular season. He did contribute on special teams however, recording seven special teams tackles while returning 17 kickoffs for 429 yards giving him a 25.2 yards per return average.
Toward the end of the 2010 season the Broncos did start to mix Decker into the offense more, after fellow rookie Demaryius Thomas—a first round draft pick—went down with an ankle injury. Decker finished his rookie season with 6 catches that went for 106 yards and one touchdown—a six-yard score off a Tim Tebow pass.
2011 season
Decker's role in Denver's offense expanded in 2011. In a week 1 Monday Night FootballMonday Night Football
Monday Night Football is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From to it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series...
loss to the Oakland Raiders
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, Decker returned a fourth quarter punt 90 yards for a touchdown but the Broncos fell 23-20.
In week 2, making his first career start, Decker hauled in 5 passes for 113 yards and 2 touchdowns, the second on a 52 yard catch in the 4th quarter as Denver recorded their first win of the 2011 season, 24-22 over the Cincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the AFC's North Division in the National Football League . The Bengals began play in 1968 as an expansion team in the American Football League , and joined the NFL in 1970 in the AFL-NFL...
. On September 25, in Denvers week 3 17-14 loss to the Tennessee Titans
Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the team began play in 1960 as a charter...
, Decker had a career high 7 catches for 48 yards. Over the next 4 weeks, Decker continued his steady play by hauling in 18 passes for 192 yards and 4 touchdowns.
On November 13, in a week 10 divisional road game at Arrowhead Stadium
Arrowhead Stadium
Arrowhead Stadium is a stadium located in Kansas City, Missouri and home to the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs....
against the Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
, starting quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
Tim Tebow
Tim Tebow
Timothy Richard "Tim" Tebow is an American football player who is currently the starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League . He was drafted by the Broncos as the 25th overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft...
attempted a pair of deep passes for Decker, the first almost being hauled in off a deflection and the other being knocked down by the defender. But in the 4th quarter, with Denver hanging on the a slim 10-7 lead, Tebow hit Decker on a go route deep for a 56 yard touchdown catch, Decker's only catch of the game and only Tebow's 2nd completion, as the Broncos won 17-10 to move into a second place tie in the AFC West
AFC West
The AFC West is a division of the National Football League's American Football Conference, currently comprising the Denver Broncos, San Diego Chargers, Kansas City Chiefs, and the Oakland Raiders.-History:...
with the San Diego Chargers
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
& the Chiefs.