Darnell Maurice Dockett (born May 27, 1981) is an American former football defensive end who played for 11 seasons with the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Cardinals in the third round of the 2004 NFL draft. He played college football for the Florida State Seminoles.

Dockett played defensive tackle for the first five seasons of his career until the Cardinals switched to a 3–4 defense, leading him to move to defensive end.

Dockett started football relatively late. In his first youth league game, he ran the wrong way with a fumble for a safety against his team.^[1] He attended Paint Branch High School in Burtonsville, Maryland, where he set a school record with 47 sacks in his career. As a senior, tallied 171 tackles (109 solo), 15 sacks, two caused fumbles, three recovered, three blocked punts and an interception returned for a touchdown, earning Maryland Player of the Year honors as well as All-American selections by USA Today and Parade.

A highly regarded prospect, Dockett was ranked the No. 17 prospect in the country by The Sporting News. Recruited by numerous schools, Dockett selected Florida State over Ohio State and North Carolina.

Dockett attended Florida State University, where he played for coach Bobby Bowden's Florida State Seminoles football team. After an early season injury, Dockett redshirted his first year at Florida State, as the Seminoles went wire-to-wire as national champions in 1999.^[2] In 2000, they had to replace interior defensive linemen Corey Simon and Jerry Johnson in the starting line-up. Dockett successfully secured a spot, starting the last 10 games of the year at defensive tackle. He recorded 66 total tackles (including 32 unassisted), which was most of any freshmen on the team, and tied for the team lead in tackles for loss (19). Dockett also added a team-high 18 quarterback hurries, and seven sacks (third on the team). His performance earned him freshman All-America honors, and he was named the freshman defensive player of the year by Football News.

As a sophomore, Dockett emerged as one of the best defensive lineman in college football, starting all 12 games for the Seminoles, including the 2002 Gator Bowl. While frequently drawing double-teams, he led all defensive linemen with 68 total tackles and set a new Florida State single season record with 22 tackles for loss. In the final game of the regular season against Georgia Tech, he established a new school record with five tackles for loss in a single game. Dockett also led the team with 19 quarterback hurries and two forced fumbles. He was a first-team All-ACC selection.

Having become a fixture at defensive tackle, Dockett started all 13 games of his junior season, and made at least four tackles in 12 of those games. Constant double-teams resulted in fewer sacks and tackles for loss on the season, still he managed to break Ron Simmons' 22-year-old school record of 44 career tackles for loss against Clemson. He was also second on the team with 15 quarterback hurries. He was suspended from the team for the 2003 Sugar Bowl, after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor theft charge.^[3]

Dockett finished his college career as a four-year starter. He recorded 10.5 sacks, and 247 tackles (123 solo tackles, 124 assisted tackles), and set a school record with 65 tackles for loss.^[4]

Dockett's mother was murdered in her home when Dockett was thirteen; no one was ever arrested for the crime. After his father died of cancer four months later, Dockett was raised by his uncle, Kevin Dockett.^[4]