Lawyer Milloy

Lawyer Marzell Milloy (born November 14, 1973) is a former American college and professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL) for fifteen seasons. He played college football for the University of Washington, and earned All-American honors. He was drafted by the New England Patriots in the second round of the 1996 NFL Draft, and also played for the Buffalo Bills, Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks of the NFL. He was four-time Pro Bowl selection, a three-time All-Pro, and a member of the Patriots' Super Bowl XXXVI championship team.

Early years
Milloy was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He attended Lincoln High School in Tacoma, Washington and excelled in high school football, baseball, and basketball. He was a teammate of Jon Kitna at Lincoln High School. He earned Parade magazine high school All-American honors his senior year after rushing for 1,056 yards and 15 touchdowns as a tailback and intercepting seven passes as a safety. He was also a three-time All-Narrows League choice and was considered the top prep prospect in the state his senior year.

College career
Milloy attended the University of Washington, where he played for the Washington Huskies football team from 1993 to 1995. He was the only sophomore in the Pac-10 to earn all-conference honors as he led the team and finished third in the Pacific-10 Conference with 106 tackles (67 solos), he became the first Husky defensive back to lead the team in tackles since Tony Bonwell, recorded 142 tackles in 1972, also credited with an interception, two forced fumbles and one recovered fumble. He started all year at free safety as a junior, leading the team in tackles for the second consecutive season with 115 stops in addition to tallying 3 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery and one interception. In 1995, he was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American, having earned first-team honors from the Associated Press, the Walter Camp Foundation, UPI, the American Football Coaches Association, the Football Writers Association and the Football News. Milloy also earned first-team All Pac-10 honors, and was a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award. While at the University of Washington Milloy prematurely ended the career of one of UW's most promising Wide Receivers, Joseph B. Linggi. During practice Linggi was on a "dig" route coming across the middle and Milloy flattened him. Linggi recovered and has gone on to a career in the U.S. Marine Corps as a tactical jet pilot. To this day Linggi barely recalls what happened, but has nothing but praise for Milloy.

Milloy was drafted by the Cleveland Indians as a pitching prospect out of high school and lettered three seasons in baseball at the University of Washington. He was also drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 19th round of the 1995 MLB Draft. In 1994, he played baseball on a Washington team that played Georgia Tech in the College World Series regional finals and featured future Major League Baseball players Jason Varitek and Nomar Garciaparra.

New England Patriots
Milloy was drafted in the second round (36th pick overall) of the 1996 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots. He made an impact in the Patriots' secondary as a rookie, playing in every game and starting the final ten games of the season in addition to each of the team's three playoff games. He was ranked third on the team in tackles with 85, while also tallying eight passes defensed, two interceptions, two forced fumbles, one sack and one fumble recovery. Milloy made his NFL starting debut at Indianapolis (October 20), posting eight tackles (5 solos) and forcing his first career fumble. He led the team with 10 tackles vs. Miami and forced his second fumble of the season. Milloy played in Super Bowl XXXI and ranked third on the team with eight tackles vs. Green Bay Packers, but New England fell against Green Bay. In 1997 he started every game at strong safety, eclipsing the 100-tackle mark for the first time in his NFL career with 112 stops and added three interceptions. He recorded his first double-digit tackle total of the season with 10 stops vs Denver Broncos and intercepted his first pass of the season vs. Buffalo (10/12), recovered a fumble and ranked second on the team with 12 tackles at Tampa Bay and led the team with 10 tackles in the AFC Divisional Playoff Game at Pittsburgh Steelers and ranked second on the team in the postseason with 14 stops.

In 1998 he earned first Pro Bowl nod after starting every game at strong safety and leading the team in tackles with 151 stops. Also finished the season with a career-high six interceptions. During the season he recorded 12 stops and intercepted a Steve McNair pass at the 30-yard line and returned it for a touchdown vs. Tennessee Titans in the 27–16 victory. He led the team with 12 tackles, including his only sack of the season, vs. New York Jets. Milloy was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week after he led the team with 12 tackles and intercepted a pair of QB Peyton Manning passes, which he returned for 24 yards, in a 21–16 victory vs the Colts. Finished the season with 11 tackles and intercepted his sixth pass of the season vs the Jets; his six interceptions eclipsed his career total of five interceptions in his first two seasons. In 1999, Milloy earned his second trip to the Pro Bowl and lead the team in tackles for second consecutive year. He started the season intercepting a Vinny Testaverde pass in the second quarter of the season-opening game and shared the team lead with 14 tackles at New York Jets, led the team with a season-high 16 tackles at Kansas City and intercepted his second pass of the season when he picked off Elvis Grbac in the second quarter. He repeated this 16 performance in the season finale vs Baltimore and tallied his second sack on the season. He also intercepted his fourth pass of the year off Stoney Case at the goalline to preserve a 20–3 victory. Milloy led the team with 4 interceptions in addition to tallying 2 sacks, 10 passes defensed and 2 fumble recoveries. In the 2000 season, Milloy led the Patriots with 121 tackles and also ranked first on the team with 4 forced fumbles and tied for the team lead with two interceptions. He led the team with 14 tackles vs. Cincinnati and recorded 2 Bengals turnovers, he shared the team lead with 12 tackles vs Chicago and recorded double-digit tackles for the sixth time in 2000 vs. Miami, leading the team with 12 tackles.

In 2001 he was voted defensive co-captain by his teammates, part of his season performance was when he tied a season-high with a team-high 10 tackles vs. New Orleans Saints and also recorded his first interception of the season and the 18th of his career when he snagged an Aaron Brooks pass in the end zone. After this, he registered a game-high eight tackles in a 12–9 overtime victory vs Buffalo Bills and intercepted a Alex Van Pelt pass. The Patriots reached the Super Bowl XXXVI, where Milloy recorded 7 tackles and led the team with 3 pass defenses in the Patriots 20–17 victory vs St. Louis Rams earning him his first and only Super Bowl ring. He led the Patriots with 113 tackles in addition of 4 passes defensed, 3 sacks and 1 fumble recovery. After the Super Bowl victory he played his third Pro Bowl for his efforts and was named first-team All-AFC team by Pro Football Weekly, CNNSI and Football Digest. In 2002 he ranked third on the team with 91 tackles and ranked second on the team with a season high 11 tackles vs Tennessee.

Buffalo Bills
After failing to renegotiate his contract, he was released by the Patriots five days before the opening game of the 2003 NFL season and was subsequently signed by the Buffalo Bills. In his first season with Buffalo, Milloy started all 16 games for the team, which continued his streak to 122 consecutive starts. He finished fourth on the team with 120 tackles and tied for the team lead with 14 passes defensed in addition to registering three sacks on the season. He finished second on the team with 12 tackles vs. Houston Texans and posted 8 tackles and 1 forced fumble vs. Indianapolis Colts and he tied a then career-high with 16 tackles in addition to one forced fumble and 1 pass defensed vs. Miami.

In the 2004 season, he finished the year with 108 tackles; 55 solo, marking his seventh career 100+ tackle season. He also tallied a career-high 4 sacks in addition to 2 interceptions, tied for a team-high 12 tackles in his first start of the season vs the Baltimore Ravens. He led team with a career-high 18 tackles vs. Arizona Cardinals. He posted his first interception with the Bills vs. New York Jets. Milloy tallied a career-high 3 sacks to the St. Louis Rams QB Marc Bulger, adding 9 tackles in a performance that garnered him AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors. He also posted 7 tackles and 1 sack to Luke McCown in the 37-7 victory over Cleveland, in addition to a team-high 10 tackles at Cincinnati.

In 2005, he started all games for the eighth time in his career and tallied 170 tackles, 1 sack, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery and 5 passes defensed, posting 7 tackles, 1 fumble recovery and 1 interception in the season opener vs. Houston. He recorded a team-high 15 tackles, while adding one sack at Tampa Bay. Later he tallied 11 tackles at New Orleans and against Oakland Raiders. He had 15 tackles vs. Kansas City and followed up with 14 tackles at San Diego and 13 stops vs. Carolina. Milloy was released by the Bills on March 1, 2006 in a salary cap-related move.

Atlanta Falcons
After he was released by the Bills, he subsequently signed a three-year contract with the Atlanta Falcons. Milloy started all the games in his first season as a Falcon and led the secondary with 106 tackles, marking his ninth career 100-tackle season. He also tallied five passes defensed. He led the team in tackles with a season-high 11 vs. New York Giants. He recorded a team-high 8 tackles vs. Pittsburgh while helping a run defense hold the Steelers to 55 rushing yards. He earned NFC Defensive Player of the Week after tallying 10 tackles for the second consecutive game to go along with two passes defensed at Washington Redskins.

For the 2007 season, he finished third on the Falcons with 119 tackles (86 solo) while adding two interceptions and five passes defensed, collared 11 tackles vs. New York Giants; the 11 stops marked the 60th time in his 12-year NFL career that he collared double-digit tackles in a single-game, tallied 11 tackles, one pass defensed and his first interception as a Falcon vs. San Francisco 49ers, when he picked off Alex Smith. Led all defensive backs with 10 tackles at St. Louis Rams in addition to adding 1 interception and 1 pass defensed. He reached a season-high 15 tackles and one pass defensed at Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a defense that allowed a season-low 109 passing yards.

Seattle Seahawks
Milloy signed with the Seattle Seahawks on September 5, 2009. After the 2010 game against the Bears, Lawyer Milloy joined the 20-20 club after getting 2 sacks.