Hugh Douglas (American football)


Hugh Lamont Douglas is a former American football defensive end in the National Football League and former football analyst for the ESPN television network. His playing career included stints with the New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles, and the Jacksonville Jaguars. In his first season in 1995, Douglas was named Defensive Rookie of the Year by the Associated Press. He goes by the nickname Turbobird.

Early life

Douglas was born in Mansfield, Ohio and attended Mansfield Senior High School.

College career

At Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, Douglas majored in elementary education and was a two-time NAIA Division I All-American, made 42 sacks in 32 games in a three-year career, turned in 13 multiple-sack games, and helped lead his team to an NAIA national championship as a. As a senior, Douglas was named Defensive Player of the Year by The Pigskin Club of Washington, D.C. He is also a member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity.

NFL career

Douglas was a first-round draft choice of the Jets in the 1995 NFL Draft and was traded to the Eagles prior to the 1998 season for draft picks in the second and fifth round. The Jets would then send the second round pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers for three further picks, in the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th round. Those picks would become Dorian Boose, Kevin Williams and Eric Bateman. The second Philadelphia pick would be used on Casey Dailey. None of the four would leave any sort of lasting mark in the NFL. Douglas spent the 2003 campaign with the Jaguars before re-signing with Philadelphia in 2004. Douglas is ranked fourth behind Reggie White, Trent Cole, and Clyde Simmons, on the Eagles' all-time sack list with 54.5 during his six seasons.
Douglas was cut by the Eagles prior to the 2005 season, but was hired into the front office position of "Good-Will Ambassador" shortly after.
On November 5, 2005, Douglas was reportedly involved in an altercation with former Eagles teammate Terrell Owens, who was in the midst of a very public war of words with the team. Owens was suspended by the team and was later deactivated when he refused to fully apologize for the altercation, as well as for derogatory remarks made about Eagles' quarterback Donovan McNabb.

Broadcasting career

Douglas was employed for a while as an on-air reporter with WTXF-TV in Philadelphia and as a regular personality on Philadelphia’s sports radio station 610 WIP.
In January 2011, Douglas was made co-host of a Six Nations Championship rugby show on BBC America after a successful guest appearance. In his taped segments, Douglas took a stab at the sport, interviewed zookeepers and took an Irish stepdancing lesson.
On August 1, 2011 ESPN announced that Douglas will join the network as an NFL studio analyst. He will provide analysis across a myriad of studio programs such as SportsCenter, NFL Live, ESPN2’s First Take and ESPNEWS.
In September 2012, he joined Jalen Rose as a full-time analyst on ESPN2's Numbers Never Lie - and was reportedly fired on August 13, 2013, after calling colleague Michael Smith an "Uncle Tom ".
Douglas currently works for 92.9 The Game sports talk radio station in Atlanta, GA.