DIGGS DECIDES – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/4/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
Jan. 4, 2000
Video Press Conference
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State junior linebacker Na’il Diggs announced today (Tuesday, Jan. 4) that he has decided to give up his final season of collegiate eligibility to pursue a career in the National Football League.
“I learned at the young age of 13 when my mother passed away that the future is not promised to anyone,” Diggs said at a packed press conference at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. “I feel that I must seize the opportunity that is presently before me and act on it.”
Diggs emerged as one of the top outside linebackers in the Big Ten Conference and nationally in his three seasons – 1997-99 – at Ohio State. A 37-game veteran who started 26-consecutive games dating to the Michigan game of his red-shirt freshman season in 1997, Diggs was named a first-team All-American in 1999 by the Football News after garnering Playboy preseason All-American honors heading into the season. He was also named a semifinalist for the Butkus Award and the Football News Defensive Player of the Year Award and he was named second-team all-Big Ten Conference.
Diggs led the Buckeyes in tackles as a junior with 94 (64 solo). He also led the team with 15 tackles-for-loss, totalling 53 yards, six quarterback sacks and three forced fumbles. He had a career-high 14 tackles vs. Wisconsin with additional high games of 11 tackles vs. Iowa, 10 vs. Miami in the Kickoff Classic – including four tackles-for-loss – and 10 vs. Cincinnati. He was outstanding on the field vs. Penn State, notching six tackles and two tackles-for-loss, including an end zone, fumble-forcing quarterback sack that led to an Ohio State touchdown. His junior totals raise his career statistics to 202 total tackles, 39 tackles-for-loss (tie for seventh all-time at Ohio State), 18 quarterback sacks (tie for fifth at OSU), 165 tackles-for-loss yards (seventh at OSU) and 118 quarterback sack yards (fifth at OSU). His overall statistics totals also include five pass break-ups, four forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, including one he returned 47 yards for a touchdown in 1998 vs. Illinois, and an interception.
Diggs exploded onto the national scene as a sophomore in 1998, being named first-team all-Big Ten Conference in his first full season as a collegiate linebacker (he played as a rush defensive end his first two years at Ohio State). A key performer on the nation’s No. 1 defense against the run and No. 2 total defensive unit, Diggs was second on the team with 80 tackles and he led the squad with 16 tackles-for-losses totalling 73 yards. His six sacks ranked second among Buckeyes.
As a red-shirt freshman in 1997, Diggs played in all 13 games at defensive end and started the final two: against Michigan and in the Sugar Bowl vs. Florida State. He led the team in sacks with six, including three vs. Minnesota (the second-highest game sack total in OSU history).
Diggs was one of the top players in the state of California as a senior and originally committed to attend Southern California, but later changed his mind. He was then offered a scholarship to attend Ohio State, and he accepted.
He is the 13th Buckeye in the 1990s to leave school early and declare for the NFL Draft. Ten of the first 12 who left early were selected in the first round of the NFL Draft, including No. 1 picks Dan Wilkinson in 1994 and Orlando Pace in 1997.
NA’IL DIGGS’ CAREER STATISTICS
Year G/GS Solo Asts. Total TFLs Yards Sacks 1996 Red-shirt 1997 13/2 21 7 28 8 39 6 1998 12/12 59 21 80 16 73 6 1999 12/12 64 30 94 15 53 6 Totals 37/26 144 58 202 37 165 18
