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Raheem Brock
Sport: Football
Born: June 10, 1978
Town: Newark
Raheem Fukwan Brock was born June 10, 1978 in Newark and grew up in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia. His father, Zachary Dixon, was a running back at Temple at the time. He went on to play ball as a kick return specialists for five teams, including the Colts. Raheem lived most school years with his mother, Patricia, in Philly, and spent summers with his dad, in Maryland.
Raheem attended high school in North Philadelphia’s Murrell Dobbins Vocational, which was best known for 1980s basketball stars Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble, and later Doug Overton, a star guard for La Salle. At 6–4, Raheem played a little basketball, but his best sport was football. He was a quick and powerful linebacker and sure-handed tight end. As a freshman in 1992, he helped the Mustangs capture the city public school championship. As a senior he was named first-team All-Philadelphia.
Raheem earned a scholarship from nearby Temple University. The Owls had joined the Big East a few seasons earlier and were struggling, but Raheem distinguished himself as one of coach Bobby Wallace’s team leaders, starting all four years at defensive end. On draft day in 2002, Raheem slipped to the seventh round, where he was picked up by the hometown Eagles. He failed to make the team that summer, primarily because the club was deep at his position.
The Indianapolis Colts had no qualms concerning undersized defensive linemen. They plucked Raheem off waivers and he rotated in and out of the lineup with veteran Chad Bratzke and first-round pick Dwight Freeney. He became the starting left defensive end for the Colts in 2003. In 2004 and 205, he racked up a total of 13 sacks.
In 2006, coach Tony Dungy moved Raheem to right defensive tackle so Robert Mathis could get more playing time on the line. Raheem teamed with Mathis, Freeney and midseason pickup Booger McFarland to help the Colts win the AFC title. Raheem had a career-high 74 tackles at his new position. In the Super Bowl against the Bears, Raheem scooped up a Rex Grossman fumble just before halftime to preserve a two-point lead. Indianapolis went on to win 29–17.
Raheem played three more years with the Colts. He was released in 2010. He tried to catch on with the Titans but was cut at the end of training camp. The Seattle Seahawks picked him up and he had a great year for them, with 9 sacks. He picked up 2.5 additional sacks in two playoff games. Raheem played one more year with Seattle before retiring at the age of 34. In 152 regular-season games he recorded 347 tackles and 40.5 sacks.
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