David LaFleur

David Alan LaFleur (born January 29, 1974) is a former American football tight end in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at Louisiana State University.

Lafleur attended Westlake High School in Louisiana, where he played tight end and defensive end. As a tight end, in 1991 he was named the Louisiana High School player of the year, All-American, and was part of the USA Today All-USA high school football team.

He accepted a scholarship to play at Louisiana State University, where he concentrated on playing tight end. His blocking was so impressive, that as a sophomore after having only 21 receptions for 263 yards and two touchdowns, he was still voted All-SEC.

As a senior in 1996, he led his team in receiving with 30 catches for 439 yards and 3 touchdowns. At the end of the season he was named All-American, All-SEC, LSU offensive MVP and played in the Senior Bowl. He finished his career with 71 receptions for 881 yards and five touchdowns.

After the team's offense suffered because of a lack of production at tight end, the Dallas Cowboys were determined to solve that situation in the 1997 NFL Draft, even going as far as soliciting quarterback's Troy Aikman input in private workouts of the two top ranked players at the position: Tony Gonzalez and LaFleur, that were reported by the Sports Illustrated magazine. It was eventually published in the media that both the Cowboys and Aikman, had LaFleur rated ahead of Gonzalez, because they considered him to possess a rare combination of skills.

The Cowboys traded up with the Philadelphia Eagles moving from the 25th to the 22nd position, in exchange for a third (#70-Brian Alford) and a fifth round (#155-Luther Broughton) draft choices, to select LaFleur in the first round. In his rookie year he mostly blocked for the team (recording five pancake blocks in one game), but his receiving production was disappointing (18 receptions for 122 yards, 6.8 yards average and two touchdowns).

In 1999 he had the best season of his short career, registering 35 receptions for 322 yards, while leading the NFC tight ends and his team with his seven touchdowns. LaFleur had back problems dating back to his college years and it started to affect his play in the 2000 season, eventually forcing the team to waive him injured on August 22, 2001, when he couldn't pass a physical exam.

He finished his career with 85 receptions for 729 yards and 12 touchdowns.

NFL stats