Solomon Page

Solomon Page
No. 77, 79
Position: Guard / Tackle
Personal information
Date of birth: (1976-02-27) February 27, 1976
Place of birth: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Career information
College: West Virginia
NFL Draft: 1999 / Round: 2 / Pick: 55
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Games played: 67
Games started: 58
Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

Solomon Page (born February 27, 1976) is a former American football guard and tackle of the National Football League. He was originally drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round of the 1999 NFL Draft. He played college football at West Virginia.

Early years

Page was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he played football at Brashear High School and was an All-city selection at offensive tackle. After graduating from high school, he spent a year at Hargrave Military Academy improving his grades.[1]

College career

He accepted a scholarship to play for West Virginia University. After being red-shirted for his first season, he became a three-year start at left tackle. As a redshirt freshman, he graded out at 84% consistency, becoming just the 11th freshman since 1980 to earn a spot in the Mountaineer Club for players who grade at least 80 percent. As a sophomore, he earned All-Big East honors as a sophomore for an offense that amassed 4,602 yards. As a junior, he was an All-Big East selection while grading out at 89% consistency for an offense that generated 5,546 total yards.

During his career at West Virginia, Page helped to anchor an offensive line that helped the offense produced at least 300 yards in each of his final 21 career games. He also helped All-American running back Amos Zereoue become the school and Big East's all-time leading rusher (4,054 yards) and quarterback Marc Bulger become the school's career passing yards leader (5,995). While there, Page was an athletic coaching education major. He declared as a junior for the NFL Draft.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Page was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the second-round (55th overall) of the 1999 NFL Draft. During training camp he was moved to offensive guard.[2]

He made his NFL debut against the Arizona Cardinals on October 3, which was also his first professional start, as a right tackle replacement for injured starter Erik Williams. Beginning on November 21, Page started five consecutive games at left guard replacing injured starter Larry Allen. As a rookie, he contributed to the Cowboys offensive line allowing just 24 sacks, the second fewest in the NFL,[3] while allowing one or fewer sacks in nine-of-16 games. In addition, the offensive line helped running back Emmitt Smith to his highest single-season rushing total (1,397) since 1995.[4]

In 2000, Page began the season as the starting right guard and was part of an offensive line that surrendered 35 sacks, only 12 teams allowed fewer on the season.[5] In the opener against Philadelphia, he started the game at right guard but was shifted to right tackle after start Williams was ejected. Later in the season on December 10, against the Washington Redskins Page started at guard but moved to right tackle again when Williams suffered a neck injury early in the second half. In 2000, Page was part of a unit the allowed just four sacks of quarterback Troy Aikman in his last 172 career passing attempts.

After starting at right guard, Page moved to right tackle in 2001, to replace Williams who had left to play for the Baltimore Ravens. He was part of an offensive line that helped the Cowboys finish third in the league in rushing with 136.5 yards-per-game. The offensive line also helped Emmitt Smith rush for a league record 11th consecutive 1,000-yard season, while he also moved into second place on the NFL's all-time career rushing list with 16,187 career yards. The offensive line also allowed just 34 sacks in 447 pass plays on the season.[6] Just 12 teams allowed fewer sacks for the year and only eight teams lost fewer yards due to sacks than the 190 lost by the Cowboys.[6]

It is believed 2002 was the first time a NFL franchise had five African American starters on their offensive line, when the Cowboys lined up rookie center Andre Gurode, tackles Flozell Adams and Page, guards Larry Allen and Kelvin Garmon.[7] That season he started in 15 games (10 at right tackle and 5 at right guard). He also became part of history as the starting guard on the Cowboys offensive line that helped Emmitt Smith eclipse Walter Payton as the NFL's all-time leading rusher, playing against the Seattle Seahawks on October 27.

San Diego Chargers

On June 5, 2003, Page left the Cowboys and signed with the San Diego Chargers as a free agent.[8] In his one season with the Chargers, he played in eight games (missed eight with a sprained left ankle injury), with seven starts at right guard, helping the team rush for 2,146 and pass for 3,226, sixth and 22nd in the league respectively.[9]

Detroit Lions

On July 27, 2004, he was signed as a free agent by the Detroit Lions.[10] He was waived on August 23.[11]

New York Giants

On August 25, 2004, he signed with the New York Giants as a free agent.[12] He was released on September 5.[13]

Personal life

Page is currently an offensive line coach at Carrollton Christian Academy in Carrollton, Texas.

See also

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/25/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.