Takeo Spikes (LB)

Valdosta Daily Times - Spikes speaking at Valdosta banquet Monday night: "Spikes played for current Valdosta head coach Rick Tomberlin at Washington County High from 1992-94. He was an All-State linebacker for the Golden Hawks, and also was a star tight end. That season, he led Washington County to the Class AA state championship, the school’s first ever. He was a Parade and USA Today All-American, and the state’s Player of the Year.
Last year, Georgia Football magazine voted Spikes the state’s fourth-best high school football player since 1980, ahead of names like Hines Ward, Charles Grant and Charlie Ward.
Spikes moved on to Auburn, where he led the Tigers to the SEC championship game. In 1997, he was one of the nation’s leading tacklers, with 136 stops. He was a Sporting News first-team All-American, and a semifinalist for the Butkus Award.
Spikes was then drafted with the 13th overall pick by the Cincinnati Bengals in 1998. He played five seasons with the Bengals, and four more with the Buffalo Bills. Last year, the 6-foot-2, 242-pound linebacker joined the Eagles as a free agent.
Spikes’ best years in the NFL came in 2003 and 2004 with the Bills. Both years, he made the Pro Bowl, and was chosen All-Pro.
The past three years, the veteran linebacker has battled injuries. He tore his right Achilles tendon in the third week of the 2005 season, and missed the rest of the year. Last year, he tore his rotator cuff in week 14, cutting short what had been a solid season.
Spikes is currently a free agent"