Donté Stallworth

Donté Lamar Stallworth (born November 10, 1980) is an American football wide receiver for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the first round (13th overall) of the 2002 NFL Draft. He played college football at Tennessee.

Stallworth has also played for the Philadelphia Eagles, Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens, and Washington Redskins. He was suspended by the NFL for the 2009 season after pleading guilty to DUI manslaughter charges in Florida.

Early years
Stallworth was born in Sacramento, California. He attended Grant Union High School in Sacramento, California where he was a star in football and track and field. He was a high school teammate of former Minnesota Vikings running back Onterrio Smith, Seattle Seahawks safety C. J. Wallace and Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Paris Warren.

College career
Stallworth played college football at the University of Tennessee for the Volunteers, where his nickname was "Hands," as his teammates watched his ability to come up with seemingly impossible catches on a regular basis. Upon leaving for the NFL, his 1,747 reception yards ranked ninth in the school's all-time list. He majored in psychology.

New Orleans Saints
Stallworth was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the first round (13th overall) of the 2002 NFL Draft. He made his NFL debut versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on September 8. He caught eight touchdown passes in 2002, his rookie year, but saw less action the next season. As a full-time starter in 2005, he had 767 receiving yards and five touchdowns. In 2005, he recorded a career-high 70 receptions for 945 yards with seven touchdowns.

Philadelphia Eagles
On August 28, 2006, Stallworth was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles for linebacker Mark Simoneau and a conditional fourth round pick in the 2007 NFL Draft. In Stallworth's first game with the Eagles, less than two weeks after the trade, he caught six passes for 141 yards and a touchdown. Due to a nagging hamstring injury, he missed three games early in the regular season, but finished the year with 725 yards and five touchdowns. Hamstring injuries have been a persistent problem throughout his professional career.

In March 2007, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Stallworth was in the league substance abuse program.

First stint with Patriots
On March 11, 2007, Stallworth agreed to terms with the New England Patriots on a reported six-year deal worth $30 million with $3.5 million guaranteed. The contract was incentive laden, meaning that the Patriots could release him if he underperformed for a small fraction of the full contract. On February 22, 2008, the Patriots declined the option on his contract and he became a free agent.

Cleveland Browns
On March 1, 2008, Stallworth signed a seven-year, $35 million deal with the Cleveland Browns. However, he had just 17 catches for 170 yards and one touchdown for the Browns in 2008 and then missed the entire 2009 season after being suspended by the NFL following his conviction on manslaughter charges. On February 8, 2010, after being reinstated by the NFL, the Browns terminated Stallworth's contract.

Baltimore Ravens
On February 16, 2010, Stallworth signed a one-year, $900,000 deal with the Baltimore Ravens.

On August 28, 2010, Stallworth broke his foot in a preseason game against the New York Giants. Head Coach John Harbaugh stated that this injury was not season-ending and Stallworth would be back after the Ravens' bye week. Stallworth made his return to the active Ravens roster in October, but his highlight of the season came during a game against the Carolina Panthers where he made his first catch as a wide receiver for the franchise during a regular season game.

On December 23, 2010, Stallworth was voted by his teammates and awarded the Ed Block Courage Award for 2010. But his stats were grim. He had just two receptions for 82 yards, and seven rushes for 45 yards.

Washington Redskins
Stallworth signed a one-year deal with the Washington Redskins on July 29, 2011. On November 8, 2011, Stallworth was released by the Washington Redskins and put on waivers. On November 15, 2011, he re-signed with the Redskins after wide receiver, Leonard Hankerson, and defensive end, Kedric Golston, were put on injured reserve. After his return to the team, Stallworth would catch a touchdown pass in the endzone in Week 11 against the Dallas Cowboys allowing the Redskins to go into overtime. At the end of 2011 season, Stallworth recorded 22 receptions, 309 receiving yards, and two touchdowns.

Second stint with Patriots
On March 19, 2012, Stallworth signed with the New England Patriots. On August 27, 2012, Stallworth was released by Patriots. On December 3, 2012, Stallworth re-signed with the Patriots because of a broken right foot suffered by wide receiver Julian Edelman and lack of depth at the wide receiver position. On December 11, it was reported that Stallworth was placed on injured reserve with an ankle injury after only playing in one game during his brief return and making a 63 yard reception for a touchdown.

DUI manslaughter charges
On the morning of March 14, 2009, a 2005 Bentley coupé driven by Stallworth struck and killed a pedestrian at the eastern end of the MacArthur Causeway in Miami Beach, Florida. Stallworth was headed toward the beach when he hit Mario Reyes, 59. Police initially investigated the accident further to see if charges against Stallworth would be warranted.

Stallworth admitted to drinking the night prior to the accident. According to early reports Stallworth was legally drunk at the time of the accident; news sources reported that his blood alcohol content was 0.12, over the nationwide legal limit of 0.08. Stallworth claims that he flashed his car's headlights to warn Reyes before striking him. A Miami Beach police report said Reyes was not in a crosswalk on the busy causeway when he was struck by the black 2005 Bentley Continental GT driven by Stallworth. Police estimated Stallworth was driving about 50 mph in a 40 mph zone. The construction crane operator was trying to catch a bus home after finishing his shift around 7:15 a.m.

Stallworth was charged with DUI manslaughter on April 1, 2009; he surrendered to police on April 2, 2009, and was released on $200,000 bail. As a result of a plea deal, he received a sentence of 30 days in the county jail, plus 1,000 hours of community service, 2 years of community control, and 8 years probation. He has also received a life-time suspension of his Florida state driver's license.

On July 10, 2009, Stallworth was released from county jail after serving 24 days of a 30-day sentence.

The Associated Press reported on June 16, 2009, that Stallworth and the Reyes family reached a financial agreement, avoiding a civil lawsuit. The amount of the settlement was not disclosed.

On August 13, 2009, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell stated that Stallworth would be suspended for the entire 2009 season without pay. Stallworth was reinstated after Super Bowl XLIV.

A Yahoo! Sports story published August 12, 2010, reported that Stallworth's lawyers indicated he could have fought all charges with "an excellent chance of being found innocent," but that Stallworth chose to be convicted of a felony to do what he felt was morally right. The article later notes that David Cornwell, one of Stallworth's attorneys, felt there was irony in the reaction to Stallworth's decision because the public and media criticized the plea deal without knowing the full story.