David Thornton (American football)
American football player and executive (born 1978)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
David Dontay Thornton (born November 1, 1978) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for the Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the North Carolina Tar Heels. In 2012, Thornton joined the Colts as the director of player engagement.
Goldsboro, North Carolina, U.S.
| Indianapolis Colts | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Vice president of player engagement | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born | November 1, 1978 Goldsboro, North Carolina, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 225 lb (102 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school | Goldsboro | ||||||||||||
| College | North Carolina | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 2002: 4th round, 106th overall pick | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
Playing | |||||||||||||
Operations | |||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
College career
Thornton played college football at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was teammates with Julius Peppers, and Ryan Sims. Originally a walk-on for the Tar Heels, Thornton's play eventually earned him a scholarship. In his senior year, he was named second-team All-ACC and team MVP.
Professional career
Indianapolis Colts
Thornton was selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the fourth round of the 2002 NFL draft.[1] Thornton best season came in 2003 when he led the Colts with 145 tackles and made two interceptions. In the 2005 season Thornton made 83 tackles and two quarterback sacks.
Tennessee Titans
He became an unrestricted free agent and signed a five-year deal with the Titans on March 13, 2006 . After missing the 2010 season due to a hip injury, he retired on August 5, 2011.[2]
NFL career statistics
| Regular season | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | GP | GS | Comb | Solo | Ast | Sck | PDef | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FF | FR | TD | ||||
| 2002 | IND | 15 | 0 | 45 | 36 | 9 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2003 | IND | 16 | 16 | 145 | 112 | 33 | 1.0 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2004 | IND | 16 | 15 | 94 | 71 | 23 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2005 | IND | 16 | 16 | 83 | 61 | 22 | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2006 | TEN | 16 | 13 | 109 | 87 | 22 | 0.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2007 | TEN | 16 | 16 | 122 | 93 | 29 | 1.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| 2008 | TEN | 15 | 15 | 78 | 60 | 18 | 0.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2009 | TEN | 11 | 11 | 60 | 46 | 14 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2010 | TEN | Did not play due to injury | ||||||||||||||||||
| Career | 121 | 102 | 736 | 566 | 170 | 5.0 | 25 | 3 | 8 | 2.5 | 5.0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 0 | |||||
Post-playing career
In 2012, he became the director of player engagement with the Colts. In 2023, he was promoted to Vice President of Player Engagement with the Colts.[3]
