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Tackles:	557
Sacks:	32.5
Interceptions:	1
	Stats at Pro Football Reference

Jerry Ball
No. 93, 96
Position:	Defensive tackle
Personal information
Born:	December 15, 1964 (age 60); Beaumont, Texas, U.S.
Height:	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight:	330 lb (150 kg)
Career information
High school:	Hebert (Beaumont); West Brook (Beaumont)
College:	SMU
NFL draft:	1987 / round: 3 / pick: 63
Career history
	Detroit Lions (1987–1992); Cleveland Browns (1993); Los Angeles / Oakland Raiders (1994–1996); Minnesota Vikings (1997–1998); Cleveland Browns (1999); Minnesota Vikings (1999);
Career highlights and awards
	First-team All-Pro (1991); 3× Pro Bowl (1989–1991); PFWA All-Rookie Team (1987); Second-team All-American (1986); Third-team All-American (1985); 2× First-team All-SWC (1984, 1986);
Career NFL statistics
Tackles:
Tackles:	557
Sacks:	32.5
Interceptions:	1
	Stats at Pro Football Reference

Jerry Lee Ball Jr. (born December 15, 1964) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL), playing primarily as a nose tackle. He played college football for the SMU Mustangs. Ball played in the NFL for the Detroit Lions, Cleveland Browns, Los Angeles / Oakland Raiders, and Minnesota Vikings.

Biography

Ball was born in Beaumont, Texas, and attended Hebert High School, then after integration graduated from West Brook High School, where he played fullback and rushed for 1,000 yards and LB for 1982 5A State Championship All State honors. He was All District in three positions and was selected to play in the Texas high school all star game. Ball was selected as one of the top 100 players over the last 100 years by Dave Campbell's Texas Football and Texas UIL football organizations 1920 to 2020.

Ball was selected as a Texas Gridiron Legend in 2020 for contributions to the game of football.

He played college football at Southern Methodist University in University Park, Texas. He was a four-year letter-winner and ranks 4th on the all-time sack list at SMU. He was selected as All-Southwest Conference 84–86.

Ball was a third-team All-American as a junior^[1] and a second-team All-American as a senior.^[2] He was a two-time Outland and Lombardi award finalist, and a Christian-Terrell 3-time winner. Ball was inducted to SMU athletics Hall of Fame in 2015.

Professional career

Ball was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the 3rd round (63rd overall) of the 1987 NFL draft.^[3]^[4] During his career he went to three Pro Bowls with the Detroit Lions.^[5]

Ball played in the NFL for 13 seasons.^[6] He recorded 32.5 sacks during his career, most of them coming as a nose tackle with the Detroit Lions. Despite this fact, Ball spent his entire career being double teamed and often triple teamed by opposing teams. Ball's dominance was such a force that teams would realign their best players to help centers deal with the pressure Ball kept on the middle of the offense. Known mostly as a run stuffer later in his career, he has been considered one of the best nose tackles of this era. Anchoring the Minnesota Viking defense alongside John Randle, also a Pro Bowl defensive tackle, Ball re-emerged as a leader and dominant force on the Vikings 15–1 record setting team.

NFL career statistics

Legend
Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	Games		Tackles				Interceptions				Fumbles
Year	Team	GP	GS	Comb	Solo	Ast	Sck	Int	Yds	TD	Lng	FF	FR	Yds	TD
1987	DET	12	12	36	—	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1988	DET	16	16	68	—	—	2.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1989	DET	16	16	73	—	—	9.0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0
1990	DET	15	15	50	—	—	2.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1991	DET	13	13	36	—	—	2.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
1992	DET	12	12	43	—	—	2.5	0	0	0	0	0	3	21	1
1993	CLE	16	7	46	—	—	3.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
1994	RAI	16	14	52	44	8	3.0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
1995	OAK	15	14	41	33	8	3.0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0
1996	OAK	16	0	26	22	4	3.0	1	66	1	66	0	1	0	0
1997	MIN	12	6	30	17	13	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
1998	MIN	16	16	31	24	7	0.0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0
1999	MIN	13	10	24	16	8	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1999	CLE	3	3	1	1	0	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
		191	154	557	157	48	32.5	1	66	1	66	5	12	21	1

Playoffs

Year	Team	Games		Tackles				Interceptions				Fumbles
Year	Team	GP	GS	Comb	Solo	Ast	Sck	Int	Yds	TD	Lng	FF	FR	Yds	TD
1997	MIN	2	2	6	3	3	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
1998	MIN	2	2	3	2	1	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1999	MIN	2	1	1	1	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
		6	5	10	6	4	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0

Personal life

Ball became a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity at Southern Methodist University Spring 1984.

Ball has three daughters and four grandchildren

References

^ "All-America". Akron Beacon Journal. December 10, 1985. p. D2.
^ "All-America News: Football News". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. November 23, 1986. p. 14D.
^ "1987 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
^ "Jerry Lee Ball". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 23, 2012.
^ "Game Ball: When Lion nose tackle Jerry Ball comes to play, somebody has to pay". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on June 5, 2012. Retrieved November 23, 2012.
^ "Jerry Ball". NFL Enterprises LLC. Retrieved November 23, 2012.