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Mark Fields (linebacker)

{{Short description|American football player (born 1972)}}

{{distinguish|Mark Fields (cornerback)}}

{{Use American English|date=May 2023}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}

{{Infobox NFL biography

| name = Mark Fields

| position = Linebacker

| number = 55, 58

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1972|11|9}}

| birth_place = Los Angeles California, U.S.

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 2

| weight_lbs = 244

| draftyear = 1995

| draftround = 1

| draftpick = 13

| high_school = Washington Preparatory {{nowrap|(Los Angeles)}}

| college = Washington State

| teams =

| statlabel1 = Tackles

| statvalue1 = 769

| statlabel2 = Sacks

| statvalue2 = 34.5

| statlabel3 = Interceptions

| statvalue3 = 5

| pfr = FielMa99

| highlights =

| HOF =

| CollegeHOF =

}}

Mark Lee Fields (born November 9, 1972) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He had a ten-year career with the New Orleans Saints, St. Louis Rams, and the Carolina Panthers before missing the 2005 NFL season due to being diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma for the second time in three seasons and subsequently retiring.

Early life

Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Fields attended Washington Preparatory High School, Southwest College, and Compton College. He transferred to Washington State University in Pullman, and played middle linebacker under head coach Mike Price. As a senior in 1994, he was All-Pac-10,{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=L89eAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8TIMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5798%2C4276107 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=(Idaho) |agency=Associated Press |title=WSU puts four on Pac-10 team |date=November 29, 1994 |page=2D}} and its Defensive Player of the Year.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HLIyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=PvEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5480%2C8599533 |work=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington) |agency=staff and wire reports |title=WSU dominates defensive stars |date=November 29, 1994 |page=C3}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=L89eAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8TIMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2276%2C4268082 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=(Idaho) |agency=Associated Press |title=WSU's Fields earns honor|date=November 29, 1994 |page=1D}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=G74jAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xNAFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6468%2C4362944 |work=Moscow-Pullman Daily News |location=(Idaho-Washington) |agency=staff and wire reports |title=Fields tabbed Pac-10's top defensive player |date=November 29, 1994 |page=1C}}

NFL

Fields was the thirteenth overall selection in the first round of the 1995 NFL draft, taken by the New Orleans Saints.{{Cite web |title=1995 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1995/draft.htm |access-date=2023-03-31|website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XcBeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=YDEMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2865%2C2180737 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=(Idaho) |last=Grummert |first=Dale |title=Saints take Fields|date=April 23, 1995 |page=1D}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=B_QqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jdAFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6036%2C2228859|work=Moscow-Pullman Daily News |location=(Idaho-Washington) |last=Miedema |first=Laurence |title=Fields goes in the first round |date=April 25, 1995 |page=1C}} He played six years in New Orleans, leading or coming close to the team lead in tackles. He later played one year with the St. Louis Rams, appearing in Super Bowl XXXVI (losing to the New England Patriots) then signed with the Carolina Panthers in 2002.

However, before the start of the 2003 season, he learned he had Hodgkin's disease, and he was forced to sit the season out. Both he and linebackers coach Sam Mills were sources of inspiration for the team, which made it to Super Bowl XXXVIII, but Fields again lost to the New England Patriots. Fields returned to play in 2004

Fields learned before the start of the 2005 season that his Hodgkin's had returned, and so he turned down a new contract offer from Carolina.{{cite web| url=https://www.espn.com/nfl/news/story?id=2053827 |title= Doctors discover Hodgkin's disease has returned| publisher=ESPN | date=May 6, 2005| access-date=July 22, 2011}}

NFL career statistics

class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"

! colspan="3"| Legend

Bold

| Career high

= Regular season =

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
rowspan="2"| Year

!rowspan="2"| Team

!colspan="2"| Games

!colspan="5"| Tackles

!colspan="5"| Interceptions

!colspan="4"| Fumbles

GPGSCmbSoloAstSckTFLIntYdsTDLngPDFFFRYdsTD
1995NOR

| 16 || 3 || 40 || 31 || 9 || 1.0 || - || - || - || 0 || - || - || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0

1996NOR

| 16 || 15 || 107 || 85 || 22 || 2.0 || - || - || - || 0 || - || - || 1 || 1 || 20 || 0

1997NOR

| 16 || 15 || 108 || 88 || 20 || 8.0 || - || - || - || 0 || - || - || 4 || 2 || 28 || 1

1998NOR

| 15 || 15 || 109 || 82 || 27 || 6.0 || - || - || - || 0 || - || - || 1 || 1 || 36 || 1

1999NOR

| 14 || 14 || 80 || 63 || 17 || 4.0 || 7 || 2 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 5 || 2 || 1 || 0 || 0

2000NOR

| 16 || 14 || 83 || 63 || 20 || 2.0 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0

2001STL

| 14 || 12 || 63 || 48 || 15 || 0.0 || 4 || 1 || 30 || 0 || 30 || 6 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0

2002CAR

| 15 || 15 || 103 || 76 || 27 || 7.5 || 14 || 1 || 37 || 0 || 30 || 7 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 0

2004CAR

| 14 || 10 || 62 || 50 || 12 || 4.0 || 10 || 1 || 14 || 0 || 14 || 3 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0

colspan="2"|13611375558616934.5385810302298842

=Playoffs=

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
rowspan="2"| Year

!rowspan="2"| Team

!colspan="2"| Games

!colspan="5"| Tackles

!colspan="5"| Interceptions

!colspan="4"| Fumbles

GPGSCmbSoloAstSckTFLIntYdsTDLngPDFFFRYdsTD
2000NOR

| 2 || 1 || 7 || 5 || 2 || 0.0 || 1 || - || - || 0 || - || - || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0

2001STL

| 3 || 0 || 2 || 2 || 0 || 0.0 || 0 || - || - || 0 || - || - || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0

colspan="2"|519720.01----00000

Personal life

On August 10, 2010, Fields was arrested for assaulting the mother of his then-six-year-old daughter while she was picking her daughter up from daycare. Mark would be charged for aggravated assault, endangerment, disorderly conduct, and interfering with an educational institution as a result.{{Cite web |title=Ex-NFL Star Accused of Beating, Choking Baby Mama |url=https://www.tmz.com/2010/08/10/mark-fields-carolina-panthers-nfl-aggravated-assault-baby-mama-beatdown/ |access-date=2023-10-09 |website=TMZ |date=August 10, 2010 |language=en}}

His son, Mark Fields II played cornerback in the NFL.{{cite web|url=https://chiefswire.usatoday.com/2019/08/31/report-kansas-city-chiefs-trade-cb-mark-fields-to-minnesota-vikings/ |title= Report: Chiefs trade CB Mark Fields to Vikings | publisher=ChiefsWire | date=August 31, 2019 | access-date=October 11, 2019}}

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • {{Football stats |nfl=mark-fields-2 |cfl= |afl= |espn= |cbs= |yahoo= |fox= |si= |pfr=FielMa99 |dbf= |rotoworld=}}

{{Pac-12 Player of the Year}}

{{1995 NFL Draft}}

{{Saints1995DraftPicks}}

{{SaintsFirstPick}}

{{ESPY Comeback Athlete}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fields, Mark}}

Category:1972 births

Category:Living people

Category:American football outside linebackers

Category:Carolina Panthers players

Category:National Conference Pro Bowl players

Category:New Orleans Saints players

Category:Players of American football from Los Angeles

Category:St. Louis Rams players

Category:Washington State Cougars football players