Donald Driver

Early life

Driver was born in Houston, Texas, on February 2, 1975. He was the middle child of five siblings. Driver's parents, Marvin Driver Jr. and Faye Gray, divorced when he was just a young boy. Donald had a tough childhood living out of a U-Haul truck for a period of time during his early teens, after a collection agency confiscated his family's possessions. Donald spent multiple nights in motel rooms that his mother had purchased with food stamps. Driver and his older brother, Marvin III, began stealing cars and selling drugs during their teenage years in order to make it from day to day. Driver was quoted by USA Today stating, "You try to do anything you can to provide for your family." At 14, Driver moved in with his grandmother, Betty Lofton, and his life started to turn around.

Driver shined as an athlete early in his years at Milby High School in Houston. He lettered four times each in track, football, basketball and baseball. He was a Texas All-State honorable mention in football, where he played at the wide receiver, defensive back and kickoff return positions.

College career

Driver attended Alcorn State University in Mississippi, where he lettered in both football and track & field. He finished his college football career at Alcorn State with 88 receptions for 1993 yards (19.69 yards per catch). He was a five-time "Athlete of the Year" in his conference for his track and football prowess.

Driver is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

Track and field

Driver is a decorated track athlete. He is an Olympic-class high jumper, being able to jump 7 ft. He qualified for the 1996 Olympic Field Trials in the high jump.

He competed for the Alcorn State Braves track team, where he excelled in the high jump and earned all-conference honors his senior year. He leaped 2.30 meters in the high jump, 15.62 meters in the triple jump and 7.75 meters in the long jump.

Professional career

Driver was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the seventh round of the 1999 NFL draft with the 213th overall pick. He spent his entire career with the Packers.

Known as one of the most consistent wide receivers in the game, Driver was not particularly productive his first three seasons in Green Bay (1999–2001), as he remained behind wide receivers Antonio Freeman and Corey Bradford on the depth chart. With the departure of Freeman and Bradford, Driver blossomed in a starting role.

Driver was solid throughout his career, often posting 1,000 receiving yards in a season. Driver had the most catches in the NFL in the middle of the field in 2006. He set a career high for single-game yards on November 12, 2006, when he caught six passes for 191 yards, including an 82-yard touchdown against the Minnesota Vikings. Driver finished the 2006 season in the top five of the league in reception yardage with 1,295 yards. He also recorded the most receptions in his career with 92, earning a spot in the 2007 Pro Bowl. On December 16, 2007, during a 33–14 victory over the St. Louis Rams, veteran Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre broke Dan Marino's all-time record of 61,361 career passing yards. The new record came on a seven-yard completion to Driver. Driver was selected for the 2008 Pro Bowl.

In the NFC Championship game on January 20, 2008, against the New York Giants, Driver had the longest play in the Packers' playoff history, with a 90-yard touchdown catch from Favre.

On October 18, 2009, Driver became the Green Bay Packers' all-time leading receiver in receptions, with 596. He went on to catch six more balls for 107 yards in a 26–0 home victory over the Detroit Lions. On September 8, 2011, Driver caught four balls for 41 yards in the opening game against the New Orleans Saints and was only one yard short of becoming the Packers' all-time leader in receiving yards. Driver finally broke the Packers' all-time receiving yardage record on September 18, 2011, against the Carolina Panthers after he caught a 10-yard pass from Aaron Rodgers, surpassing James Lofton.

On February 6, 2011, Driver was injured on his second reception of Super Bowl XLV. Out with an ankle sprain, Driver returned for the game's final plays, as the Packers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 31–25. Driver finished Super Bowl XLV with two receptions for 28 yards. Despite losing playing time to Greg Jennings and Jordy Nelson, Driver was a veteran presence for a young Packers receiving corps led by NFL MVP QB Aaron Rodgers in the twilight of Driver's career.

Retirement

On January 31, 2013, Driver announced his retirement on ESPN2 Mike and Mike in the Morning after spending his entire 14-season career with the Packers. He missed only eight games in his career outside of his rookie season, the last one being November 18, 2012.

On February 6, 2013, the Packers hosted a public retirement ceremony for Driver. This was the first public retirement ceremony held for a Packers player. It was hosted in the Lambeau Field Atrium with comments made by Mark Murphy, Ted Thompson, Mike McCarthy, and Driver. The event sold out in 14 minutes and hundreds of fans were in attendance. The mayor of Green Bay presented Driver with a key to the city, announcing that the receiver statue in downtown Green Bay would be refurbished to wear a No. 80 Driver jersey. The street leading to the statue was also renamed "Donald Driver Way."

On July 22, 2017, Driver was inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

Personal life

Driver is married to Betina Driver. They have three children: Cristian, Christina, and Charity. His son Cristian is a wide receiver for Minnesota, which he transferred to after playing cornerback at Penn State. Driver is a Christian.

Since 2004, Driver has co-hosted the statewide Packer analysis television series Inside the Huddle with Donald Driver with WLUK-TV's sports director Drew Smith. Every Thursday, Driver discusses football with John Mercure on Wisconsin's Afternoon News with John Mercure on AM 620 WTMJ. He previously served as host to the annual Offense vs. Defense softball game featuring members of the Green Bay Packers.

As a well-known athlete in the state of Wisconsin, Driver has been featured in marketing campaigns for companies such as McDonald's, AirTran Airways, Kwik Trip, Goodwill, Jani-King and Time Warner Cable.

Throughout his career, Driver was very active off the field, making over 300 charitable appearances since his rookie season in 1999. In the spring of 2001, Donald and his wife Betina created the Donald Driver Foundation, which offers assistance to ill children with unmanageable hospital bills, provides housing for the homeless, and donates to a variety of local charities. In December 2003, the foundation put two previously homeless families in new, fully furnished homes.

Donald has also donated much of his time and efforts to such institutions as Children's Hospital of Wisconsin and Goodwill Industries. In 2001, Driver was awarded the "Community Service Award" by the Green Bay Chamber of Commerce in recognition of his outstanding community involvement. In 2005, he was awarded the Ed Block Courage award by his Green Bay teammates. Driver was also named the 2013 AMVETS Humanitarian of the Year.

Driver is the author of three children's books, Quickie Handles a Loss, Quickie Makes the Team and Quickie Goes to the Big Game. The books are based on Driver's bedtime storytelling to his three children, and are sold statewide in Wisconsin. He has stated that "Quickie" is a nickname his mother gave him because, when she would chase him around the house, she could never catch him. In 2013, Driver released his official memoir, Driven, which included many personal stories about both his childhood and career with the Packers.{{cite web | access-date = September 24, 2013 | archive-date = September 27, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130927165448/http://www.donalddriver80.com/driver-qa | url-status = dead

On February 28, 2012, it was announced that Driver would join the cast of Dancing with the Stars for season 14, paired with professional dance partner Peta Murgatroyd. Driver's high energy and athleticism were repeatedly praised by the judges, though Driver was also notorious for not getting a perfect score, until their freestyle, from the judges. Driver and Murgatroyd made it all the way to the finale, and despite competitions from fellow finalists William Levy and Katherine Jenkins, Driver and Murgatroyd were declared winners on the season finale on May 22, 2012.

In March 2014, Donald Driver created the Donald Driver Driven To Achieve Awards. Since then, the Driven to Achieve Awards have honored 18 recipients and have given away over $1 million.

Driver currently splits his time between his home state of Texas and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, purchasing a $3 million Milwaukee loft in 2022 from fellow Wisconsin athlete Jabari Parker. He operates a nonprofit called the Donald Driver Foundation in both Wisconsin and Texas, and serves as the current cultural ambassador for Milwaukee's Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, in addition to business ventures.

References

Citations

Bibliography

References

1. Kramer, Martin. (2012). "Donald Driver". Gale.
2. (August 2017). "Donald Driver 80". DonaldDriver80.com.
3. "Greeks in Professional Football 2007". [[North American Interfraternity Conference]].
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6. Lori Nickel. "Packers' Driver determined to give back". Milwaukee Journal – Sentinel.
7. [http://www.packers.com/pdfs/Driver08.pdf Packers - Donald Driver Bio] {{webarchive. link. (February 5, 2010)
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14. Crouse, Karen. (February 7, 2011). "When Injuries Flared, Packers Had Able Spares".
15. "Super Bowl XLV - Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Green Bay Packers - February 6th, 2011".
16. [http://www.packers.com/news-and-events/article-1/From-humble-start-Donald-Driver-retires-in-greatness/c7fe6b9d-e3ca-4009-8482-a14e6665c72b "From humble start, Donald Driver retires in greatness"] {{Webarchive. link. (February 2, 2013 . Packers.com.)
17. [https://archive.today/20130123174147/http://www.foxsportswisconsin.com/12/05/12/Drivers-broken-thumb-adds-to-injury-woes/landing_packers.html?blockID=831165&feedID=5059 "Driver's broken thumb adds to injury woes"]. Fox Sports.
18. "Donald Driver, others share memories of great career".
19. (2017-07-22). "Donald Driver, Mark Lee inducted into Packers Hall of Fame". FOX Sports.
20. Christl, Cliff. "Donald Driver".
21. "The Driver Family".
22. "Cristian Driver".
23. Fremin, Sam. (2022-11-17). "Penn State Football Cornerback Cristian Driver Converting To Wide Receiver".
24. "Donald Driver restructures deal, ready to prove himself again".
25. "Donald Driver retires in Green Bay Packers colors".
26. "Donald Driver to receive humanitarian award". Packers.com.
27. "Best Sellers". [[The New York Times]].
28. "'Black-ish' star Anthony Anderson, Gavin DeGraw highlight Driven to Achieve Awards: Slideshow".
29. (March 10, 2022). "Former Packers star Donald Driver purchases $3 million Brewer's Hill loft from former Milwaukee Bucks forward Jabari Parker". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.