Erik Visits an American Grave, Part 1,883
By This is the grave of Chris Doleman.
Born in 1961 in Indianapolis, Doleman’s family was in York, Pennsylvania by the time he reached high school. Doleman was already a fantastic athlete and excellent football player in high school. He took an extra year after that to play at Valley Forge Military Academy, probably to get his grades in order too. Then he went to play at the University of Pittsburgh. With the Panthers, he was an absolutely devastating linebacker. Between 1981 and 1984, he had 25 sacks, third all time in school history and is still sixth all time today.
But it would be in the NFL where Doleman would become a legend of sacking the quarterback. He was seen as a complete gamechanger by the time he was a senior in college. With the 4th pick of the 1984 draft, the Minnesota Vikings selected Doleman. He played his first year at linebacker, as the Vikings used a 3-4 defensive front and that was where we at in college. He was really good and actually led the NFL in tackles that year, with 113, which is really remarkable for an outside linebacker. However, he was barely used as a pass rusher and only had a half-sack, definitely not up to his standards. But after his rookie season, the Vikings hired a new defensive coordinator who ran a 4-3 package. In that, Doleman was moved from outside linebacker to defensive end. It did not take long for him to go from promising young player to absolute terror for offensive linemen. His second year took some adjustment, but by 1987, he had 11 sacks and led the league with 5 forced fumbles.
1989 though, now that was ridiculous. Doleman had a remarkable 21 sacks that year, obviously leading the NFL, as well as leading it with 5 fumble recoveries. There can be a bit of luck in that one, but given that he also forced 5 fumbles, at least most of those were strip sacks that he recovered. But really, he was pretty awesome through the 1993 season. He moved on from the Vikings after that season. He had a good two years with the Atlanta Falcons in 1994 and 95, but they were a bit low on the sack side for him, not getting to ten in either. Then he signed with the San Francisco 49ers in 1995 and his totals popped right back, including a pretty great 15 sacks in 1998. After that, he signed with the Vikings for one final year and got 8 sacks in it too. Perhaps he could have kept playing, but it was a long career and he hung up his cleats after the 1999 season.
Over his career, Doleman made 8 Pro Bowls and was named first team All Pro twice. I’m surprised it was only twice to be honest. Usually, that puts someone a bit on the border for the Hall of Fame (except QBs where there’s only one spot), but no one really ever questioned whether Doleman was a HOF level player. Obviously he was. He finished his career with 150.5 sacks, which was 5th all time at that time. He was so consistent, having at least seven sacks every year from 1987-99. He also was a king of the strip sack, forcing 44 fumbles over his career and recovering 24 of them. So not surprisingly, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012. It took a few years of eligibility for him, but that’s not really unusual. It’s so hard to get into the HOF.
Unfortunately, Doleman developed brain cancer. Glioblastoma, which is pretty much the worst kind. He underwent surgery for it in 2018. That bought him two years and he died in 2020, at the age of 58.
Chris Doleman is buried in Green Lawn Cemetery, Roswell, Georgia.
If you would like this series to visit other NFL Hall of Fame players inducted in 2012, you can donate to cover the required expenses here. Jack Butler, the cornerback for the Steelers in the 50s inducted by the Veterans Committee, is in Pittsburgh. Finally, the great Seahawk legend Cortez Kennedy, one of the four retired numbers for my team (Steve Largent, Walter Jones, and Kenny Easley being the others), is in Osceola, Arkansas. Unfortunately. Tez was not able to get the weight off after he retired and a heart attack felled him. Ugh. Previous posts in this series are archived here and here.