Darion Conner

In high school, Conner was a three-year All-State selection as a fullback and linebacker for Noxubee County High School. He also lettered in track and was second in the state in the 100 meters. He later attended Jackson State, where he was a First-team All-SWAC in his four seasons there. He was named the 1989 SWAC Defensive Player of the Year and attended the Senior Bowl, the East-West Shrine Game, and the Blue-Gray Classic, of which he was named the defensive MVP. He was a three-year NCAA All-America selection and was named to the Kodak and Sheraton All-American teams.

{{NFL predraft

| height ft = 6

| height in = 2 5/8

| weight = 256

| dash = 4.81

| ten split = 1.66

| twenty split = 2.73

| shuttle = 4.43

| vertical = 35.5

| broad ft = 9

| broad in = 2

| bench = 19

| arm span = 32

| hand span = 8 7/8

}}

Conner was selected in the second round (27th overall) of the 1990 NFL draft by the Atlanta Falcons.{{Cite web |title=1990 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1990/draft.htm |access-date=2023-05-24 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}} He played for the Falcons for four seasons before joining the New Orleans Saints where he played for one season, which happened to be the best season of his career, he recorded 10.5 sacks and his only career interception (which he returned 56 yards in a Week 16 Monday Night Football match against the Dallas Cowboys before rookie offensive lineman Larry Allen memorably chased him down). He then went and played for the expansion Carolina Panthers. He was then signed on September 18, 1996, by the Philadelphia Eagles.[http://home.nc.rr.com/rosmith/eagles/ed96.html Eagles Transactions] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080530033027/http://home.nc.rr.com/rosmith/eagles/ed96.html |date=May 30, 2008 }} He played two seasons there before being signed on December 22, 1998, along with defensive back Corey Dowden, as one of the original members of the "new" Cleveland Browns. But was released on June 3, 1999.[https://archive.today/20120716191433/http://www-catalog.cpl.org/CLENIX/ACY-8495 Linebacker Darion Conner and defensive back Corey Dowden – two of the original new Browns signed on Dec 22 – were among six players released by the club yesterday] He never played in the NFL again after being released by the Browns.

After being released by the Cleveland Browns, Conner signed with the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League on July 20. As a rookie in 1999, he played in the final two games of the season. He recorded a sack and two tackles,[http://www.arenafan.com/teams/Tampa_Bay_Storm-12/history/1999/ 1999 Tampa Bay Statistics] in his first game, on the road against the San Jose SaberCats on July 24. He was named Ironman of the Game in his second game, against the New England Sea Wolves. In that game he recorded his first touchdown in the AFL, a 23-yard screen pass.

In 2000, his first full season in the AFL, Conner opened the season by sacking New England quarterback Chad Salisbury. On the play Conner also forced a fumble that led to a Storm touchdown. He missed five games during the season, but had a strong performance on July 1 against the Orlando Predators, recording a career-high six tackles and recording 2.5 sacks in a win. He led the Storm in sacks on the season, he also recorded 15 total tackles.[http://www.arenafan.com/teams/Tampa_Bay_Storm-12/history/2000/ 2000 Tampa Bay Statistics]

In 2001, Conner made his largest impact on defense for the Storm. He played in 12 games and recorded 20 tackles, including three for loss and 2.5 sacks. He also broke up two passes and forced two fumbles.[http://www.arenafan.com/teams/Tampa_Bay_Storm-12/history/2001/ 2001 Tampa Bay Statistics] He tied for second on the team in sacks. As he did in the previous season, he recorded the first team sack of the season in the season opener against the Florida Bobcats. On June 25 at Florida he returned Willie Wyatt's blocked field goal three yards for a touchdown. He forced fumbles in back-to-back games, on the road against the Grand Rapids Rampage at home against the Carolina Cobras.

In 2002, Conner led the team with 3.5 tackles for loss, finishing the regular season with 10.5 total tackles and one sack.[http://www.arenafan.com/teams/Tampa_Bay_Storm-12/history/2002/ 2002 Tampa Bay Statistics] In at least two games on the season he played OL / DL.

In 2003, Conner missed the first two games with an ankle injury. He was placed on injured reserve May 17, 2003. For the season, he recorded seven tackles (two solo), one carry for six yards.[http://www.arenafan.com/teams/Tampa_Bay_Storm-12/history/2003/ 2003 Tampa Bay Statistics]

In 2004, Conner played in ten games and finished tied for second on the team with two sacks. He moved into ninth place on the Storm's career sacks list. He finished the season with 12 total tackles (ten solo), one pass break up, and one forced fumble.[http://www.arenafan.com/teams/?page=history&team=12&year=2004 2004 Tampa Bay Statistics]

In 2005, Conner recorded one pass break up, before being arrested and charged with DUI-manslaughter and vehicular homicide.

In 2005, Conner was arrested and convicted of DUI-manslaughter and vehicular homicide, after a September 4, 2004 car accident while he had a BAC of .27 left a bicyclist, Jonathan Michael Conklin, 32 of Carrollwood, Florida, dead.{{cite news |title=Ex-NFLer Conner sentenced to 15 years in prison |url=https://www.espn.com/nfl/news/story?id=2108067 |access-date=19 July 2024 |work=ESPN (www.espn.com) |agency=Associated Press |publisher=ESPN Enterprises, Inc. |date=14 July 2005 |language=en}} A witness testified at Conner's July 2005 trial, that just before 2 a.m. on September 4, 2004, Conner was driving a Toyota Land Cruiser on Linebaugh Avenue. They also said that Conner's headlights were off when he first turned onto Linebaugh. He then turned them on but swerved across the road lines. The prosecution argued that Conner veered into the bike lane and struck Conklin.

Conner was convicted of DUI-manslaughter and vehicular homicide and served a 15-year prison sentence, the maximum allowed punishment. In July 2008, an appeals court ruled that he would be given a retrial. Regardless of the retrial however, Conner was still sentenced to 15 years in prison (with four years of time served at that point). He was released in 2018.{{cite web |url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2009/05/01/linebacker-gets-no-mercy-in-dui-retrial/ |title=Linebacker Gets No Mercy in DUI Retrial |last=Jenkins |first=Colleen |website=Tampa Bay Times |date=May 1, 2009 |access-date=August 6, 2024}}

{{Reflist|2}}

• [http://www.tampabaystorm.com/storm/sub.cfm?pageid=1312 Tampa Bay Storm bio]{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
• [http://www.arenafan.com/players/Darion_Conner-2122/ Stats at ArenaFan]
• [https://www.espn.com/nfl/player/stats/_/id/7106/darion-conner Philadelphia Eagles profile] at ESPN.com
• [https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/C/ConnDa20.htm Profile] at Pro Football Reference
• [http://www.footballdb.com/players/darion-conner-conneda01 Stats at Football Database]

{{Atlanta Falcons 1990 draft navbox}}

{{1995 Carolina Panthers}}

{{ArenaBowl XVII}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conner, Darion}}

Category:Living people

Category:1967 births

Category:American football linebackers

Category:Jackson State Tigers football players

Category:Atlanta Falcons players

Category:New Orleans Saints players

Category:Carolina Panthers players

Category:Philadelphia Eagles players

Category:Cleveland Browns players

Category:Tampa Bay Storm players

Category:American people convicted of manslaughter

Category:Sportspeople from Macon, Mississippi