John Abraham (American football)

For other persons named John Abraham, see John Abraham (disambiguation). John Abraham Atlanta Falcons— No.55 Defensive endDate of birth: May 6, 1978(1978-05-06) (age 30) Place of birth: Timmonsville, South CarolinaHeight: 6 ft 4 in(1.93 m) Weight: 258 lb(117 kg) National Football League debut 2000for the New York JetsCareer history College: University of South Carolina NFL Draft: 2000/ Round: 1 / Pick: 13 Teams:

New York Jets (2000-2005)
Atlanta Falcons (2006-present)

Career highlights and awards

Pro Bowl (2001, 2002, 2004)

Stats at NFL.com

John Abraham (born May 6, 1978 in Timmonsville, South Carolina) is an NFL defensive end currently playing for the Atlanta Falcons.

Personal Bio

John has done some charity work, as he attended the Jets' May 5, 2003 blood drive to benefit hospitals throughout Queens, Nassau and Suffolk counties. He enjoys watching basketball in his spare time and his favorite team is the Los Angeles Lakers. He cites his childhood idols as RB Walter Payton and WR Jerry Rice.

Football Career

Abraham was born in Timmonsville, South Carolina. In his high school years at Lamar High School in Lamar, South Carolina, he was primarily an athlete in the track program, where he set the current South Carolina record for the 200-meter dash. He played just one season of high school football but was nonetheless recruited to play at the University of South Carolina. While there, he amassed 23.5 sacks, ranking second on South Carolina's career list, and was named an all-SEC first-team player.

Drafted in the first round of the 2000 NFL Draft, he made an immediate impact for the Jets; in his rookie season, he recorded 12 tackles and 4.5 sacks in only six games before being injured. In 2001, he recorded 82 tackles and 13 sacks, and was named to the AFC Pro Bowl. In 2002, he again recorded 82 tackles, with 10 sacks, and was again named to the Pro Bowl. In 2003, he only recorded 37 tackles and six sacks, due to being injured mid-season.

In the 2004 season, Abraham recorded 10 sacks before sustaining a knee injury in December that kept him out for the rest of the season. The following year, the Jets tagged him as a franchise player to keep him with the team, but a contract holdout kept him from training camp; he ended up sigining a one-year contract with the Jets less than two weeks before the start of the season.

Prior to the 2005 season he switched his jersey number from #94 to #56. He chose this number because it correspond to his birth date (5/6/1978), and because it was unavailable the seasons before, mainly because of Sam Cowart, who was traded to Minnesota earlier in the off-season.

Abraham was once again franchised for the 2006 season, which would have led to a 1 year contract for $8.33 million, though Abraham indicated he no longer wished to play for the Jets. On March 21, 2006, the Jets completed a long-anticipated trade, trading Abraham to the Atlanta Falcons in exchange for the 29th overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft, which the Falcons had acquired from the Denver Broncos in exchange for the 15th pick. The Falcons also received a pair of middle round selections in the trade.

After the trade, Abraham signed a 6-year $45 million contract with the Atlanta Falcons, where he wears #55. [1]

In 2006, Abraham was the player with the highest salary on the Atlanta falcons, at over 15 million dollars.