Darius Durham

Darius Tyrone Durham (born May 27, 1961) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the San Diego State Aztecs, twice earning all-conference honors in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). He was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 10th round in the 1983 NFL draft and joined the 49ers later that year as a free agent.

Early life Born in Long Beach, California, She moved them from the predominantly Black neighborhood to the more diverse Garden Grove, despite the financial struggles it presented. Durham called the move "the biggest lesson I had in life. I could see life from a different perspective." starring in football, basketball and track.

In February 1979, Durham committed to play college football for the San Diego State Aztecs under head coach Claude Gilbert. He chose them over the Washington Huskies due to the Aztecs' reputation to pass. Tollner said that Durham struggled to adjust to the college game's different defensive coverages and harder hitting. A starter in 1981 under new Aztecs head coach Doug Scovil, It was his best game to date with San Diego State, and the first touchdown of his college career. The following week in their regular season finale against Air Force in the Mirage Bowl in Japan, Durham needed nine receptions to pass Darrin Nelson of Stanford for the most receptions in the nation. He had five catches for 100 yards in the first half, which San Diego State led 16–0, but caught only one pass in the second half, as the Aztecs lost 21–16. Durham finished the season ranked third in the country with 65 receptions for 988 yards and seven touchdowns.

Durham entered the 1982 season named as a preseason honorable mention All-American by a pair of national publications. Through the first five games, he had just 13 catches while often facing double coverage. His production dropped that year to 45 catches for 781 yards and four touchdowns. Durham was also a first-team All-WAC selection and voted the Aztecs' most valuable player. He finished his career ranked fourth at the time in school history in career receptions with 127.

After ranking among the top college receivers in the nation at the beginning of the season, Durham fell on NFL scouting reports, while fellow Aztecs receivers Clint Sampson and Phil Smith went past him. Scouts did not like his 4.6 time in the 40-yard dash.

Professional career Durham was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 10th round of the 1983 NFL draft. Fellow Aztecs receivers Sampson and Smith were chosen in the third and fourth round, respectively. The Buccaneers released Durham before their second preseason game, citing a pulled muscle as one of the reasons. He disputed that his hamstring was an issue, instead saying that the team had "some bad [scouting] information". He was active for their last three regular season games and their two playoff contests, serving as the 49ers' fifth wide receiver behind Dwight Clark, Freddie Solomon, Mike Wilson and Renaldo Nehemiah. and San Francisco cut him during preseason to meet the NFL deadline to trim rosters to 70 players. The 49ers ended the season winning Super Bowl XIX over the Miami Dolphins. Unable to play, Durham called it "the worst feeling to have to watch that."

Later life Durham worked in customer service and sales, as well as the Boys & Girls Club. He also became the athletic director for OC Vision Basketball, a youth organization training players throughout Southern California.