The Darrelle Revis Story

Few places in the NFL are lonelier than Revis Island. That’s where the league’s top receivers find themselves stranded whenever they play the New York Jets and their All-Pro cornerback, Darrelle Revis. Immensely talented and insanely competitive, Darrelle is the very definition of a “lockdown” defender. When he arrived in New York, the Jets had one of the most abysmal secondaries in the AFC. Today it might be the best in the sport. And there’s no doubt that Darrelle is the league’s top cover man. This is his story…

GROWING UP 

 Darrelle Shavar Revis was born on July 14, 1985 in Alquippa, Pennsylvania—a tough, working-class enclave north of Pittsburgh. (Click here for a complete listing of today's sports birthdays.) His mother, Diana, was a high school track star. His father, Darryl, left the family when Darrelle was a boy. Darrelle has a sister, DeAudra, and a brother, Terry. Life was chaotic in the family’s rambling home, perched on one of the town’s many hills. Four generations shared 13 rooms.

Darrelle’s mother worked multiple jobs to keep food on the table, while other family members steered Darrelle and his siblings away from the trouble that lurked nearby at the gang-infested Griffin Heights apartment complex. Darrelle’s interests as a boy included singing, drawing and playing the drums.
In Alquippa, nothing is more important than high school sports, especially football. As a boy, Darrelle could see the stadium lights at Alquippa High School light up Friday nights from his home. Before he ever caught a pass or made a tackle, he knew what he wanted to do.

Darrelle came from an ultra competitive and athletic family, which included uncle Sean Gilbert, who led the Quips to a state title, earned All-America honors at Pitt, and made his first Pro Bowl—all before Darrelle turned 10. Another uncle, Mark, who played college hoops for Duquesne, made Darrelle write and rewrite his goals to keep him focused.

Darrelle’s front yard was steeply slanted, but it nevertheless saw many a football game before he and his friends outgrew it. He emulated Brett Favre on offense and Deion Sanders on defense. Later, he modeled himself after Ty Law, another star who made the leap from Alquippa High to NFL stardom.
When Darrelle couldn’t scare up a decent football game, he turned to basketball. He was always dribbling—and always dunking. It wasn’t uncommon for him to break a rim. When he did, he would put the next one a bit higher than the previous one. By the time Darrelle got to high school himself, he was already a standout in two sports. He later made it three on the Quips’ track team.
Not surprisingly, there was a lot of talent on the Alquippa football team. In fact,, Darrelle was overshadowed by other players for much of his high school career. But as a senior in the 2003 state playoffs, he grabbed the spotlight with 14 touchdowns in five games, including five in the championship game against North Lehigh—three on catches, one on a punt return and another on a blocked punt. He also had an interception and completed a 39-yard pass. He was named Player of the Year by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

That winter Darrelle had to make a decision. At 5–11 and just under 200 pounds, he was being offered college scholarships as a cornerback and a point guard. Basketball was a very real option. He hadled the Quips to the state championship as a junior and senior, averaging more than 20 points a game in his final year with the team. Gilbert helped Darrelle sort through his career options. He pointed out that in the NBA there are around 60 jobs for point guards. In the NFL, by contrast, there are three times as many defensive backs. Darrelle opted for football and decided to stay local, attending the University of Pittsburgh, just like his uncle.

After earning Freshman All-America honors in 2004, Darrelle flirted briefly with the idea of trying out for the Pitt basketball team as a walk-on. He decided instead to dedicate himself fully to football.

Darrelle earned All-Big East honors for the Panthers in 2005 and 2006. After his junior campaign, he decided to skip his senior year and go pro. Darrelle finished his time at Pitt with 129 tackles and 8eight interceptions—not eye-popping numbers by any means but a testament to how infrequently opponents ran plays his way.

Darrelle’s most memorable moment as a Panther came in the 2006 “Backyard Brawl” with West Virginia. He fielded a punt on his 27-yard-line, ran backwards with four Mountaineers on his tail, and then suddenly turned it upfield. From there, he picked his way through the rest of the team for a miraculous 73-yard touchdown. The play became a YouTube sensation and was voted the best play of the college football season at the ESPYs. ESPN also honored Darrelle as the College Football Player of the Year in 2006.

Heading into the 2007 NFL draft, Darrelle was considered a top-flight cornerback. But scouts did not think of him as a game-changer until a March workout, when he did something in the three-cone drill no one had seen before. Instead of moving quickly from side to side, he came up with a lightning-fast reverse-spin that takes incredible balance, quickness and agility. Darrelle later admitted he just “pulled it out of the woodwork.”
As draft day approached, Darrelle’s stock continued to rise. The Jets targeted him as their must-have first-round pick. They traded up with the Carolina Panthers to #14 in order to get him, and then signed him after a long contract negotiation. New York wanted to tie him up for six seasons, but Darrelle preferred a shorter deal. He missed the first 20 days of training camp, but the rookie learned Eric Mangini’s defense quickly and was in the starting lineup for Opening Day. He was the first block in rebuilding of the team’s secondary.

Unfortunately, the entire team needed to be rebuilt, as was evident from New York’s struggles during Darrelle’s first season. The Jets won only four games—two in overtime and one by a mere field goal. Darrelle’s biggest test as a rookie came against the Cowboys on Thanksgiving. In the run-up to the game, Dallas receiver Terrell Owens claimed he had no idea who Darrelle was. He learned quickly, as the first-year corner blanketed him all game. The lone blemish was a touchdown on a perfectly thrown pass in the fourth quarter. By then the game was out of hand, with the Jets on the wrong end of a 34–3 score.

Despite New York’s poor record, Darrelle established himself as one of the league’s up-and-coming stars. The only other touchdowns he allowed in ’07 were to Lee Evans and Braylon Edwards. Darrelle finished the year with three interceptions, one fumble recovery and 74 tackles.