Oct. 22, 2007
IOWA CITY — Fans of the University of Iowa football program, take note. Here’s a blast from your past: Defensive lineman Jared DeVries.
Selected in the third round of the 1999 NFL Draft after an all-American career at the UI during which he set school records with 43 sacks and 79 tackles for loss, DeVries continues to work his craft for the surging Detroit Lions.
For example, the 6-foot-4, 275 pound product of Aplington-Parkersburg (Iowa) didn’t start yesterday in the Lions’ game against long-time rival Tampa Bay at Ford Field, but he came off the bench to recover a fumble by Buccaneer quarterback Jeff Garcia on Detroit’s one-yard line and advance it to the seven with just under 12 minutes left to play.
Nine plays and 93 yards later, the Lions struck paydirt, salting away a 23-16 victory. The win was Detroit’s fourth of the season in six games and kept them within shouting distance of division-leading Green Bay.
The recovered fumble was his first of the 2007 season to go along with a pair of forced fumbles. It was also his first recovery of a loose ball since the 2005 season when he covered up career-high two.
DeVries entered the game with the Lions with 12 total tackles, a mark that included nine solo stops and a career-high three sacks. He is coming off his best season as a professional, having collected 37 tackles for the 2006 Lions.
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