PRO: When the Cowboys chose DeMarcus Ware with the 11th overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft, they were looking for an explosive playmaker on defense. Through four seasons, Ware has emerged as one of the most dominating defensive players in the league and has been named a starter to the NFC Pro Bowl squad in each of the three previous seasons. He has the first, second and fourth-highest sack figures by a club linebacker, has started each of the 66 games in his career and logged nine multiple-sack games. The 2008 season was no exception as Ware led the league with 20.0 sacks to tie Derrick Thomas for the sixth-most sacks in a season in league history. Along the way, he opened the season with a sack in seven straight games, with the three consecutive he had at the end of the 2007 season, tying Simon Fletcher for the longest streak in league history - since sacks became official in 1982. After a promising rookie season, Ware led the Cowboys with a then club linebacker record 11.5 sacks in 2006, becoming the first Cowboy to record 10-or-more sacks in a season since Tony Tolbert, who had 12.0 in 1996. He upped that total in 2007 to establish a club linebacker record with 14.0 sacks while also becoming the first Cowboy to log back-to-back double-digit sack seasons since Charles Haley (12.5 - 1994, 10.5 - 1995). With registering a double-digit sack total again in 2008, Ware became the fourth Cowboy defender - second since 1982 - with three consecutive 10-plus sack seasons. As a rookie, Ware tied Greg Ellis for the team lead with eight sacks, becoming just the second rookie in club history to lead or tie for the team lead in sacks since Jimmie Jones in 1990. Ware is the first player in franchise history to lead or tie for the team lead in sacks through each of his first four seasons with the team.
TRANSACTION SUMMARY:
4/23/05: Drafted in the first round (11th overall) by Dallas.
2008:
Selected to his third consecutive Pro Bowl after pacing the league, establishing an official club record and tying Derrick Thomas for the sixth in league history with 20.0 sacks.
Had a career-high 110 tackles - his first 100-tackle season - while also leading the team in tackles for losses (eight) and forced fumbles (six) and finishing second with 20 pressures.
Had a sack in his fourth consecutive game - dating back to the 2007 season - along with seven tackles, two pressures and a forced fumble on the sack in the season-opening win at Cleveland (9/7).
Had a sack to mark the first time in his career he opened the season with a sack in each of the first two games, six tackles and one pressure in the home-opening win against Philadelphia (9/15).
Had five tackles, three pressures and sack while helping to limit the Packers to less than 100 rushing yards at Green Bay (9/21).
Extended his sack streak to seven games - the fourth-longest streak in club history - with a season and career-high 11 tackles against Washington (9/28).
Tied George Andrie for the third-longest streak in team history with his eighth game with a sack with five tackles, one for a loss and three pressures against Cincinnati (10/5).
Had five tackles, one for a loss, three pressures and a sack - ninth consecutive game with a sack to tie the second-longest streak in league history (since 1982) and team history - in the overtime loss at Arizona (10/12).
Tied his season high with 11 tackles and tied his single-game career-high with three sacks to tie Simon Fletcher for the longest sack streak in the NFL since sacks became official in 1982 at St. Louis (10/19).
Finished with seven tackles, two pressures and a breakup as the defense did not allow a touchdown against Tampa Bay (10/26). Failed to record a sack for the first time in the last 11 games, stopping his streak at 10 games.
Had seven tackles, a forced fumble and his 10th sack of the season - his third consecutive 10-plus sack season - at the N.Y. Giants (11/2).
Notched his 11th sack of the season - the third-highest linebacker single-season total in club history - to go with six tackles, two pressures and a deflection at Washington (11/16).
Added three tackles, a sack, one tackle for a loss and a pass breakup in the win over San Francisco (11/23).
On Thanksgiving Day against Seattle (11/27), led the team with a season and career-high tying three sacks - his second three-sack game of the season and fourth of his career - to give him 15.0 on the season, establishing a single-season career-high and club linebacker record. Added three tackles and one for a loss before leaving the game at the end of the third quarter with a knee injury.
Started and played the entire game at Pittsburgh (12/7) with a knee brace and finished with eight tackles, a sack and a pressure. The sack gave him his 16th on the season to up his club record since sacks became an official stat in 1982 and marked the most since Randy White had 16.0 in 1978.
Had his third three-sack game of the season, fifth of his career and ninth career multi-sack game with three takedowns against the N.Y. Giants (12/14). Also upped his career sack figure to 52.5 to become the 11th player in franchise history to reach 50.0. Reached that mark in 62 games to tie Tim Harris as the fourth-fastest league defender to 50 career sacks. His 19.0 sacks on the year tied him with Mark Gastineau (N.Y. Jets - 1983), Clyde Simmons (Phi - 1992) and Bruce Smith (Buf - 1990) for the eighth-most sacks in a season in league history.
Also added seven tackles, two pressures and two forced fumbles on two of his sacks in the Giants game.
Finished third on the team with eight tackles along with a sack - his 20th of the season - two tackles for losses and two forced fumbles in the final game at Texas Stadium against Baltimore (12/20).
Tied his season-high with 11 tackles along with one for a loss and a pressure in the season-ending loss at Philadelphia (12/28).
2007:
One of an NFL record 13 Cowboys in the Pro Bowl - his second consecutive selection as a starter.
Was a First-Team All-Pro by the Associated Press and named to the All-NFL Team by the Pro Football Writers.
Was second in the league - first among linebackers - with a club linebacker record 14.0 sacks - the most by a Dallas defender since Jim Jeffcoat had 14.0 in 1986.
With his 11.5 sacks in 2006 and the 14.0 in 2007, was the first Dallas defender to have back-to-back double-digit sack totals since Haley (12.5 in 1994 and 10.5 in 1995).
Along with Ellis's 12.5 sacks, the duo became Dallas's first pass rushing tandem to record 10-or-more sacks each in a season since Ed Jones (13.0) and Jeffcoat (12.0) in 1985.
Also led the team in quarterback pressures (27), tackles for losses (eight) and forced fumbles (four) while finishing fifth with 80 tackles.
Had a breakout game at Chicago (9/23), recording his third career multiple-sack game with the first two sacks of the season while also leading the team with three quarterback pressures.
Had six tackles, three pressures, a pass deflection that led to a Terence Newman interception and 1.5 sacks - one with a forced fumble - at Buffalo (10/8).
Logged his fourth consecutive game with a sack - tying the longest streak of his career - with a takedown of Tom Brady against New England (10/14).
Had a then career-high 10 tackles in the Patriots game.
Tied for the team lead with eight tackles while tallying his fifth career multi-sack game with 1.5 at Philadelphia (11/4).
Tied his then career-best with 10 tackles to go along with his eighth sack of the season at the N.Y. Giants (11/11).
Notched his fourth multi-sack game of the season with two at Carolina (12/22).
In the Divisional Playoff loss to the N.Y. Giants (1/13/08), finished with four tackles, a pressure and a sack.
2006:
Finished his second season with 11.5 sacks, the most ever by a Cowboys linebacker, breaking Anthony Dickerson's record of 10.5 in 1983.
Named a starter on the NFC Pro Bowl team and was also named second-team All-Pro by The Associated Press and first-team All-NFC by The Pro Football Writers Association.
Became the first Cowboy to have 10-or-more sacks in a season since defensive end Tony Tolbert had 12.0 in 1996.
Became the only player in Cowboys history to have led or tied for the team lead in sacks in each of his first two pro seasons while also becoming the first Cowboy since Roy Williams in 2002 and the first linebacker since Dexter Coakley in 2001 to score two defensive touchdowns in a season.
Finished fifth on the team with 82 tackles, and led the team with five tackles for a loss and five forced fumbles while finishing fourth on the team with four quarterback pressures.
Recorded his first sack of the season in the Cowboys win over Washington (9/17), dropping Mark Brunell for an 11-yard loss in the second quarter. Also had four tackles as the Cowboys held the Redskins to just three points.
At Philadelphia (10/8), had his first career fumble recovery, catching a Donovan McNabb fumble following a Ellis sack and returning it 69 yards for his first NFL touchdown. The 69-yard return was the seventh-longest in club history. It was also the team's longest defensive touchdown return by a non-defensive back since 1999, when Ellis returned a fumble 98 yards for a touchdown against Arizona.
Against the N.Y. Giants (10/23), recorded a season-high eight tackles and his third sack of the season along with forcing a Tiki Barber fumble just before halftime which was recovered by Bradie James.
Had three sacks, three forced fumbles and five tackles at Carolina (10/29).
In a loss to Washington (11/5), tied for the team lead with six tackles, all solo, while adding his first career pass breakup and his fourth sack of the season.
Notched his fifth sack in Arizona (11/12), forcing his second fumble of the season on the play.
Added his sixth sack of the year against Indianapolis (11/19) and also forced a fumble as the Colts suffered their first loss of the season and were held to a season-low 14 points.
Had seven more tackles in a loss to New Orleans (12/10) and posted the team's only sack of the game.
Logged his first career interception, picking off a Michael Vick pass and outrunning him for a 41-yard touchdown - his second of the season - at Atlanta (12/16).
Also had six tackles, forced a fumble and split a sack with Bobby Carpenter.
Tied a career-high with three sacks in the season finale against Detroit (12/31) and finished the game with eight tackles.
In his playoff debut in Seattle (1/6/07), had one tackle for a loss.
2005:
In tying Ellis with a team-best eight sacks, Ware joined Howley (1961) and Jones (1990) as the only rookies to lead or tie for the team lead in sacks.
The eight sacks were good for second in the league among rookies and third among club rookies behind Willie Townes (1966) and Martin (1973), who had nine sacks.
Added 65 tackles (fifth on the team and first among club rookies) with a club-best 11 tackles for a loss, 19 quarterback pressures (second on the team) and tied for the team lead with three forced fumbles.
Posted 41 tackles, four sacks, seven tackles for a loss, three forced fumbles and 10 quarterback pressures through the final eight games of the season.
Made his NFL debut in the season opener at San Diego (9/11), and posted three tackles, a tackle for a loss and a quarterback pressure.
Recorded his first career sack at San Francisco (9/25) when he took down Tim Rattay.
Against the N.Y. Giants (10/16), recorded a sack for the fourth straight game, the longest streak on the team since 2004 when Ellis did it from Week 2 to Week 5.
Against Arizona (10/30), posted four tackles and three quarterback pressures, including one that led to Anthony Henry's interception and 58-yard return for a touchdown.
Earned NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month honors in October after recording 16 tackles, three sacks and seven quarterback pressures to help Dallas go 3-2.
At the N.Y. Giants (12/4), finished second on the team with seven tackles along with two tackles for a loss and a season-high four pressures, one of which led to an Aaron Glenn interception in the end zone.
Named NFC Defensive Player of the Week and the Diet Pepsi Rookie of the Week for his play at Carolina (12/24), when he tied Randy White's rookie record with three sacks. He forced a fumble on all three sacks, becoming the first Cowboy to force three fumbles in a game since 1984, when records were first kept. Was also second on the team with a career-high eight tackles and had a tackle for a loss.
Against St. Louis (1/1/06), recorded his eighth sack of the season, tying the team high, and the Rams were held to 253 total yards.
COLLEGE:
As a senior, earned third-team All-America, All-Sun Belt, and Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year honors, finishing with 53 tackles, 29 pressures, 19 tackles for a loss, a career-high 10.5 sacks and four forced fumbles to lead Troy to its first bowl appearance.
Finalist for the Ted Hendricks Award, which is given annually to the top defensive end in college football.
As a junior, started every game at left defensive end and logged 62 tackles, a career-high 32 pressures, 16 tackles for a loss, six sacks and a career-high five forced fumbles to earn first-team All-Independent honors from ESPN and College Football News.
Began his sophomore season as a reserve but moved into the starting lineup at left end the second week of the season and finished with a career-high 72 tackles, a career-high 20 tackles for a loss, 13 pressures and nine sacks.
As a true freshman, played in eight games as a reserve defensive end and tallied 14 tackles, three tackles for a loss and two sacks.
PERSONAL:
DeMarcus Ware played football only during his junior and senior seasons at Auburn, Ala., High School.
Earned all-area honors as a senior, posting 55 tackles and seven sacks while also earning most valuable linebacker, wide receiver and leadership honors from the team.
Also a member of the basketball, baseball and track teams.
Graduated from Troy with a degree in business information systems, becoming the first member of his family to graduate from college.
He and wife, Taniqua, have one daughter, Marley.
COMMUNITY:
2005 Dallas Cowboys Rookie Club.
Ribbon cutting ceremony for the Dallas Cowboys/Rent-A-Center RAC Room, a teen recreational room located at the Oak Cliff Boys and Girls Club.
2006-2009 Co-Chair with Marcus Spears for the Taste of the NFL: The Ultimate Dallas Cowboys Tailgate Party for the North Texas Food Bank.
2007 Ware and wife Taniqua - formerly in the Air Force - participated in the Welcome Home A Hero program at DFW International Airport which included welcoming home the 500,000th solider to take part in the R&R program.
Children's Cancer Fund Fashion Show.
Dallas Cowboys Early Thanksgiving Day Meal at The Salvation Army.
2006 Duncanville Ford Christmas Toy Drive.
April 2007, joined teammates, Roy Williams, Tony Romo and Terence Newman to attend The Salvation Army National Advisory Organizations Conference.
2007 Arlington National Youth Volunteer Day, spoke to a group of youth about the importance of education and volunteerism.
2007 Arlington Public Library Celebrity Reads Poster Project - designed to encourage the importance of reading. Ware's �Poster' featured him with his favorite classic novel Of Mice and Men.
2008-09 Poker for Pets for SPCA of Texas.
2008 Dallas Cowboys Fitness Zone Dedication Event at Boys & Girls Clubs of Arlington.
2008-09 Dallas Cowboys Youth Football Camps.
2008 Dallas Cowboy Chris Canty Youth Football Camp.
Dallas Cowboys United Way Hometown Huddle.
Dallas Cowboys What Moves U.
Annual team Holiday Hospital Visits.
Salvation Army Angel Tree Christmas Program.
Dallas Cowboys Kickoff Luncheon and Cowboys Family Cookbook benefitting Happy Hill Farm.
