Professional Career
Despite being one of the top kickers available in the 2003 NFL Draft, Duval was not drafted into the National Football League, but did sign as an undrafted free agent with the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars. He was waived by Jacksonville on June 19, 2003 and later signed with the Atlanta Falcons. He was waived by Atlanta on August 29, 2004, and subsequently left the NFL to sign with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League. Duval made an immediate impact on the CFL, leading the league in scoring his rookie season (2005) with 191 points and proved to be very reliable kicking field goals. His 2005 CFL highlight came in the 93rd Grey Cup when he made a 27 yard field goal with no time left to force overtime. Continuing his 2005 success, Duval led the league in field goal percentage with 86.4% in 2006 which led to his making the 2006 All Star team. He also finished second in kicking points (201), punting average (45.4 yards) and kickoff average (61.1 yards). Duval's strong play helped Montreal reach the 94th Grey Cup by kicking a game sealing field goal in the Division finals. Unfortunately, his team fell short again despite Duval's 43 yard field goal in the second quarter. On November 7, 2009 he set the record for points in the CFL regular season with 242, again with the Montreal Alouettes.
In the 2009 Grey Cup Championship November 29, Duval's field goal from 33 yards out on the game's final play gave the Alouettes a 28-27 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders, capping a remarkable Montreal comeback. Duval had actually missed a 43-yard field goal attempt on what should have been the last play of the game, but the Roughriders were penalized for having too many men on the field. Duval helped the Alouettes win back-to-back Grey Cups with the team's second straight win in 2010.
After the 2010 season, Duval became a free agent and he signed with the Edmonton Eskimos on June 6, 2011. After spending one season with the Eskimos, he was released on February 1, 2012.
Read more about this topic: Damon Duval
Famous quotes containing the words professional and/or career:
“The professional celebrity, male and female, is the crowning result of the star system of a society that makes a fetish of competition. In America, this system is carried to the point where a man who can knock a small white ball into a series of holes in the ground with more efficiency than anyone else thereby gains social access to the President of the United States.”
—C. Wright Mills (1916–1962)
“Like the old soldier of the ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty. Goodbye.”
—Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964)