Decatur Native Searcy Drafted by Buffalo Bills

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Decatur native Da’Norris Searcy was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the fourth round of this year’s NFL draft at Radio City Music Hall, No. 100 overall.

The North Carolina and Towers High School alum will play strong safety for the Bills and is one of nine Tar Heels selected in this year’s draft, including teammate Johnny White, who was also taken by the Bills.

Last season he led UNC with four interceptions and totaled 37 tackles.

"It felt real good to get that call," said Searcy, who watched the draft at home, in a statement on the North Carolina athletics website." The room erupted when my named came on the board and it was a huge relief. I knew the Bills were interested after my pre-draft visit and I can't wait to get to Buffalo and start playing football."

North Carolina was under heavy scrutiny for academic violations last season. Searcy missed a few contests because he worked with the alleged tutor during his sophomore season. In a conference call he addressed the issue, saying he was withheld from games until all the information was cleared. He was never suspended.

“It was kind of frustrating because I knew I didn’t do anything wrong,” he said, “but I can’t get mad at the university because they were just doing it out of precaution. They didn’t want the rest of the team to suffer and I didn’t want the team to suffer either if anything came back that it was a violation.”

The Bills understoof the situation completely and saw the upside in his game and character.

“He gives you a lot of versatility and he gives you some size,” said Bills national scout Darrell Moody. “He’s a good athlete that can also be a good (special) teams player for you.”

At Towers High, he was a solid two-way player and rushed for 1,607 years and made 71 tackles as a senior.