{{short description|American sportsperson and gridiron football player}} {{Use American English|date=October 2023}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}} {{Infobox NFL player |name = Orson Mobley |image = Orson Mobley.jpg |caption = Mobley in Palm Coast Florida |number = 89 |position = Tight end |birth_date = {{birth date and age|1963|03|4}} |birth_place = Brooksville, Florida, U.S. |height_ft = 6 |height_in = 5 |weight_lb = 256 |high_school = Miami Palmetto <br> (Pinecrest, Florida) |college = Salem <br> Florida State |draftyear = 1986 |draftround = 6 |draftpick = 151 |pastteams = * Denver Broncos ({{NFL Year|1986|1990}}) * Indianapolis Colts (1990)<ref>{{cite web |title=Orson Mobley |url=https://profootballarchives.com/transactions/m/mobl00200.html |website=Pro Football Archives |access-date=21 July 2024}}</ref> * Miami Dolphins ({{NFL Year|1992}})* |statlabel1 = Receptions |statvalue1 = 84 |statlabel2 = Receiving yards |statvalue2 = 1,019 |statlabel3 = Receiving touchdowns |statvalue3 = 4 |pfr = MoblOr00 }}

'''Orson Odell Mobley''' (born March 4, 1963) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end for five seasons with the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected in the sixth round of the 1986 NFL draft. Mobley played in three Super Bowls (XXI, XXII, XXIV), and started in two of them.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sportspool.com/football/super_bowl/Superbowl_XXIV_roster.php|title=NFL Football Super Bowl XXIV (24) Rosters|first=Chris|last=Carreck|website=www.sportspool.com|access-date=October 20, 2017}}</ref> He ran into problems with the league late in his career and was suspended for substance abuse violations.{{Cn|date=October 2023}}

==College career== Mobley signed with Florida State University out of high school, then transferred from Florida State where he played football and baseball to Salem where he played both tight end and punter for Terry Bowden and starred along with future Florida State Head Coach Jimbo Fisher. Mobley won All-West Virginia Conference honors at Salem.<ref name="Truth is. . .Time Counted for Orson Mobley's Saga">{{cite web | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=950&dat=19821101&id=t-cLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JVkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6726,252979 | title=Truth is. . .Time Counted for Orson Mobley's Saga | publisher=The Evening Independent | date=November 1, 1982 | access-date=December 26, 2013 | author=Chick, Bob}}</ref>

==Professional career== Mobley was picked 151st overall pick in the sixth round of the 1986 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1986 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1986/draft.htm |access-date=2023-10-02 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref> He caught a career high 22 passes and averaged 15.1 yards per reception as a rookie. Mobley's blocking paved the way for Bobby Humphrey to run for consecutive 1,000 yard seasons.

Mobley was named Bronco's Player of the Game after having 6 receptions for 55 yards vs. the Browns on November 13, 1988. He played in three Super Bowls.<ref name="Super Bowl XXI">{{cite web | url=http://www.nfl.com/photos/09000d5d80281bcd/09000d5d8028186c | title=Super Bowl XXI | publisher=NFL | date=January 25, 1987 | access-date=December 25, 2013 | pages=15}}</ref>

===Receiving record=== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year !! No. !! Yards !! Avg. !! TD |- | 1986 || 22 || 332|| 15.1 || 1 |- | 1987 || 16 || 228 || 14.3 || 1 |- | 1988 || 21 || 218 || 10.4 || 2 |- | 1989 || 17 || 200 || 11.8 || 0 |- | 1990 || 8 || 41 || 5.1 || 0 |- | Totals || 84 || 1,019 || 12.1 || 4 |}

==Personal life== Mobley currently lives in Jacksonville, Florida.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}} During his time in the NFL, he was suspended by the league for illegal substance use.<ref>{{cite news |title=NFL Punishes 13 for Steroids, 2 for Other Drugs |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1989/08/30/nfl-punishes-13-for-steroids-2-for-other-drugs/ |access-date=May 7, 2025 |agency=Chicago Tribune}}</ref> In 1988, he was [https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=RMD19890909-01.2.241&e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN%7CtxCO%7CtxTA--------0------ arresested and later acquitted on a domestic violence charge] over an alleged assault in Aurora, Coloraldo. In 1995,he also was arrested in the Tampa Bay for alleged sexual assault of two women.<ref>{{cite news |title=Shameful season |url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1995/09/21/shameful-season/ |access-date=May 7, 2025 |publisher=Tampa Bay Times}}</ref>

==Media references== On the show ''Night After Night with Allan Havey'', Orson Mobley was portrayed as the owner of a dodgy fictional New Jersey hotel, the Mobley Hotel. The dilapidated hotel was where guests of the show were put up.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSjYt5C8suc |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/tSjYt5C8suc |archive-date=2021-12-15 |url-status=live|title=Night After Night: Mobley Hotel|last=Dennis Taylor|date=October 1, 2010|publisher=|access-date=October 20, 2017|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{official website|http://orsonmobley.com}} * [http://nolefan.org/football/mobley_orson.html Nole Fan Archives]

{{Broncos1986DraftPicks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mobley, Orson}} Category:Living people Category:1963 births Category:Sportspeople from Brooksville, Florida Category:American football tight ends Category:Denver Broncos players Category:Florida State Seminoles football players Category:Salem Tigers football players Category:Players of American football from Florida Category:20th-century American sportsmen