Al Baker

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(Redirected from
Bubba Baker
)
For other people named Al Baker, see Al Baker (disambiguation).
"Bubba Baker" redirects here. For the American football safety, see Budda Baker.

Al Baker
refer to caption
Baker in 2014
No. 60
Position:Defensive end
Personal information
Born: (1956-12-09) December 9, 1956 (age 67)
Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.
Height:6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Weight:280 lb (127 kg)
Career information
High school:Weequahic (Newark, New Jersey)
College:Colorado State
NFL draft:1978 / Round: 2 / Pick: 40
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Unofficial NFL record
  • Most sacks in a season: 23
Career NFL statistics
Sacks:131[a]
Interceptions:4
Games:181
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

James Albert London Baker (born December 9, 1956), nicknamed "Bubba", is an American former professional

NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year
.

Professional career

Baker, a graduate of

1978 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions
. Listed as 6-6 and 250 pounds, he combined speed and strength.

He made his mark early as he recorded 23 sacks (an unofficial stat at that time) his rookie year, with five sacks in a single game against the

NFL's career sack leaders
, with 65.5 official and 131 unofficial sacks to make him one of 62 players in the "100 Sack Club".

A contract dispute had Baker sent to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1983. He had 13 sacks that season along with two interceptions. He had ten sacks the following year, had four in 1985 and then closed out 1986 with 10.5 sacks. In 1987, he was a reserve defense lineman for the Cleveland Browns, then served in the same position in 1988 for the Minnesota Vikings. He returned to the Browns as a starter for all 16 games of the 1989 season as well as for all nine games he played for the Browns in 1990, his final NFL season at age 34.[1]

Post-NFL career

Baker said in the NFL that he hoped to "play long enough to make a fortune in football. Then my son can be a doctor. He won't have to play this dumb game".[8] Baker now lives with his family, including his wife of 34 years, Sabrina,[9] in Avon, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, and he owned a restaurant called Bubba's Q World-famous Bar-B-Que & Catering in Avon, though the restaurant is no longer open. He appeared on the ABC-TV show Shark Tank on December 6, 2013, in which investor and entrepreneur Daymond John agreed to invest $300,000 for a 30 percent share in Queen Ann Inc., the food company he and his children, Brittani and James, started. Part of the agreement was the licensing of Baker's patent for de-boning pork ribs.[10] Bubba's-Q Boneless Baby Back Ribs have been sold at stores, online, and on QVC, and were featured on Good Morning America. In 2023, he spoke out about his perceived unfair treatment in the Shark Tank deal, for which he said he received only $659,653 in total, versus over $16 million in revenue, which had been promoted as one of the show's biggest successes.[11] In a response, Daymond John stated that the Bakers' take, approximately 4% of revenue, came from the very thin profit margins of the food industry, and claimed that he had suffered a net loss on their arrangement.[11] He later filed suit against the Bakers for their social media campaign, claiming that it had damaged his reputation and cost him speaking engagements. A federal judge found that the Bakers had violated a 2019 settlement and in June granted John a preliminary injunction and restraining order against the Bakers, preventing them from publishing disparaging remarks about their business relationship, and requiring that they take down previously posted content. The injunction and restraining order were reviewed and became permanent in July.[12]

Awards and honors

References

  1. ^ a b "Bubba Baker - Pro Football Reference". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  2. ^ "State Your Case: Al "Bubba" Baker and his quiet 132 sacks | Sports Illustrated Talk of Fame Network".
  3. ^ "Detroit Lions | al "Bubba" Baker". Archived from the original on 2016-02-16. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  4. ^ "Pre-1982 Sacks Added To Pro Football Reference". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
  5. ^ Smith, Michael David (2021-07-12). "Pre-1982 sack stats still unofficial, but now widely available". ProFootballTalk. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
  6. ^ Wesley, Colton (11 July 2016). "Detroit Lions: The Most Underrated Players In Team History". Detroit Jock City. Fansided. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
  7. ^ "NFL Sacks Single-Season Leaders (since 1960) | Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  8. ^ Mizell, Hubert (1979-11-12). "Tampa Bay 'Bums' live it up as Lions fold again". St. Petersburg Times. pp. 1C, 11C.
  9. ^ "Bubba on Shark Tank - 92.3 The Fan".
  10. ^ "Buuba's Q - Cleveland.com". 7 December 2013.
  11. ^ a b Perman, Stacy (2023-05-18). "Ex-NFL player thought 'Shark Tank' would launch his barbecue empire. It became a nightmare, he says". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  12. ^ Perman, Stacy (2023-07-21). "'Shark Tank's' Daymond John granted permanent restraining order against former contestant". Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  13. ^
    NFL.com
    .
  14. ^ "Baker, Al "Bubba"". 19 November 2009. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  15. ^ "Awards - Bubba's Q.com". Retrieved 10 April 2023.

Notes

  1. ^ 65.5 of his 131 career sacks are "official," since that category did not become official until 1982, Baker's fifth season)

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Al_Baker&oldid=1218797274"