Darius Slay
Darius Demetrius Slay Jr. is an American professional football cornerback for the Buffalo Bills. He played college football at Itawamba before transferring to Mississippi State and was selected by the Detroit Lions in the second round of the 2013 NFL draft. Nicknamed "Big Play Slay", he won Super Bowl LIX with the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2024 season. He has also played for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Early life
Darius Slay Jr. was born in Brunswick, Georgia on January 1st, 1991 to Stephanie Lowe and Darius Slay Sr., who were just 13 and 14 years old, respectively. Slay attended Brunswick High School, where he was a running back and defensive back. He was named All-State by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution at defensive back following his senior season, and was also chosen for the Georgia North-South All-Star Game. He rushed for over 1,300 yards and 15 touchdowns in the 2008 season, and intercepted six passes with two touchdown returns. His junior season was shortened by a torn medial collateral ligament after he had rushed for 336 yards and six touchdowns in five games. As a sophomore, he put up 1,127 yards on 142 rushes with 13 touchdowns. Slay also lettered in basketball and was a standout track and field athlete. He was timed at 10.92 seconds in the 100 meters and 22 seconds in the 200 meters.College career
Slay attended Itawamba Community College before transferring to Mississippi State University.As a freshman at ICC, Slay earned First-team Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges All-State and National Junior College Athletic Association All-Region 23 honors after record 41 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 1 sack and forced two fumbles after only playing five games for Coach Jon Williams and the Indians. After his freshman season, he earned JC Gridwire Preseason Second-team All-American honors. During his final season in Fulton, Slay played in all nine games, recorded 32 total tackles, 1 tackle for loss, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery, and had three catches for 63 yards and a touchdown. He earned MACJC First-team All-State honors on defense and special teams.
After ICC, he played for head coach Dan Mullen's Mississippi State Bulldogs football team in 2011 and 2012. In his two seasons for Mississippi State, he had 64 tackles, six interceptions, and two touchdowns.
Professional career
Pre-draft
Coming out of Mississippi State, Slay was projected to be a second- or third-round draft pick by the majority of NFL draft experts and scouts. He received an invitation to the NFL Combine and completed all of the required combine and positional drills. On March 6, 2013, Slay participated at Mississippi State's pro day in front of team representatives and scouts from 30 NFL teams. He was ranked as the seventh-best cornerback prospect available in the draft by NFL analyst Mike Mayock and was ranked the eighth-best cornerback by NFLDraftScout.com.Detroit Lions
2013
The Detroit Lions selected Slay in the second round of the 2013 NFL draft. He was the fifth cornerback selected, behind Dee Milliner, D. J. Hayden, Desmond Trufant, and Xavier Rhodes, and also became the first of two cornerbacks selected in 2013 from Mississippi State, along with second-round pick Johnthan Banks. In addition, he surpassed former 2001 second-round pick Fred Smoot to become the second-highest drafted cornerback from Mississippi State, behind 1996 first-round pick Walt Harris.On May 3, 2013, Slay underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee. On May 13, 2013, the Detroit Lions signed Slay to a four–year, $5.28 million contract that included $3.12 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $2.22 million.
He competed with Chris Houston and Bill Bentley throughout training camp in for the starting cornerback role. Head coach Jim Schwartz named Slay the starting cornerback to begin his rookie season.
He earned his first start in his professional regular season debut during the 2013 season opener against the Minnesota Vikings and recorded four solo tackles and a pass deflection as the Lions won 34–24. After giving up a big play, he was benched in favor for veteran Rashean Mathis in the fourth quarter. Slay started the following week, but after struggling he was demoted in favor of Mathis and only appeared on special teams during the Lions' Week 3 victory over the Washington Redskins. On September 29, 2013, Slay had a season-high seven combined tackles and a pass defense in a 40–32 victory over the Chicago Bears. On December 7, 2013, it was confirmed that Slay had suffered a torn meniscus during practice. The injury happened during a non-contact drill and was described as a "freak" accident by head coach Jim Schwartz. It caused him to miss the following three games. On December 31, 2013, the Detroit Lions fired head coach Jim Schwartz after they failed to qualify for the playoffs and finished with a 7–9 record in 2013. He finished his rookie season in 2013 with 34 combined tackles and six passes defended in 13 games with four starts.
2014
He entered training camp expecting to compete against Chris Houston to earn the role as the No. 1 starting cornerback, but became the expected starter after Chris Houston was unable to participate in training camp after undergoing a surgery on his toe in the spring. On June 14, 2014, the Detroit Lions officially released Chris Houston, citing his request to personally handle his recovery away from the team facility. Head coach Jim Caldwell named Slay and Rashean Mathis the starting cornerbacks to begin the regular season. Due to the departure of Chris Houston, Slay chose to change his jersey number from No. 30, which he wore as a rookie, to No. 23, that was previously held by Houston.He started the season-opener against the New York Giants and recorded three solo tackles and a season-high three pass deflections in a 35–14 victory. On September 28, 2014, Slay recorded five combined tackles, deflected a pass, and made his first career interception during a 24–17 victory at the New York Jets in Week 4. Slay made his first career interception off a pass by quarterback Geno Smith, that was originally intended for wide receiver Eric Decker, and returned it for a 40-yard gain in the fourth quarter. In Week 13, he collected a season-high eight combined tackles and had a season-high three pass deflections in the Lions' 34–17 win against the Bears. On December 14, 2014, Slay recorded five combined tackles, deflected two passes, and made an interception during the Lions' 16–14 win against the Vikings in Week 15. Slay intercepted a pass by Vikings' quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, that was intended for wide receiver Greg Jennings, in the second quarter. He started in all 16 games in 2014 and recorded a career-high 61 combined tackles, 17 pass deflections, and two interceptions.
The Detroit Lions finished the 2014 NFL season second in the NFC North with an 11–5 record and qualified for a playoff berth. On January 4, 2015, Slay started his first career playoff game and made one solo tackle and broke up a pass as the Lions lost the NFC Wildcard Game 24–20 at the Dallas Cowboys.
2015
He entered training camp slated as the de facto No. 1 starting cornerback. Head coach Jim Caldwell retained Slay and Rashean Mathis as the starting cornerback duo to start the season. On September 13, 2015, Slay started in the Detroit Lions' season-opener at the San Diego Chargers and made five combined tackles, a pass deflection, and intercepted a pass by Philip Rivers to wide receiver Malcolm Floyd during a 28–33 loss. In Week 6, he recorded six solo tackles and set a new season-high with four pass deflections during a 37–34 overtime victory against the Chicago Bears. On December 13, 2015, Slay recorded two solo tackles, made a pass deflection, and intercepted a pass by Case Keenum thrown to wide receiver Kenny Britt during a 14–21 loss at the St. Louis Rams. In Week 15, Slay set a season-high with seven combined tackles and made two pass deflections, as the Lions defeated the New Orleans Saints 35–27. He started all 16 games in 2015 and recorded 59 combined tackles, 13 pass deflections, and two interceptions.2016
On July 29, 2016, the Detroit Lions signed Slay to a four–year, $48.15 million contract extension with $23.1 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $14.5 million. The extension placed Slay under contract from 2016–2020. He entered training camp as the No. 1 cornerback on the Lions depth chart after the Lions opted to not re-sign Rashean Mathis. Head coach Jim Caldwell named Slay and Nevin Lawson the starting cornerbacks to begin the season.On October 2, 2016, Slay recorded four solo tackles, set a season-high with three pass deflections, and made his first and so far only career sack on Brian Hoyer for a seven–yard loss during a 17–14 loss at the Chicago Bears. On October 9, 2016, Slay made three solo tackles, two pass deflections, and sealed a 24–23 victory against the Philadelphia Eagles by intercepting a pass by Carson Wentz to wide receiver Nelson Agholor with 1:28 remaining after forcing a fumble on Ryan Mathews. In Week 7, Slay recorded two solo tackles before exiting in he second quarter of a 20–17 victory against the Washington Redskins due to a hamstring injury. He subsequently remained inactive for the next two games due to his injured hamstring. In Week 12, Slay made four solo tackles, one pass deflection, and sealed the Lions' 16–13 victory against the Minnesota Vikings by intercepting a pass by Sam Bradford thrown to wide receiver Adam Thielen with only 38 seconds remaining in the game. He was inactive for as the Lions lost 21–42 at the Dallas Cowboys in Week 16 due to a hamstring injury he suffered the previous week. In Week 17, Slay set a season-high with eight solo tackles during a 31–24 loss to the Green Bay Packers. He finished the 2016 season with 44 combined tackles, 13 passes defensed, two interceptions, a sack, and a forced fumble in 13 games and 13 starts.