Euclid City Schools

 There probably has never been a defensive end on Euclid football teams who was more intimidating than DeJuan Goulde was. He was a three-year letterman of distinction for the teams of Hall of Fame Coach Tom Banc.

At 6'2" and 210 pounds, DeJuan had good size for his position, but he relied more on speed, quickness, moves, and toughness to make his way past many all-star linemen to make a tackle. He established himself as the premiere defensive end in

Northeast Ohio and one of the best in all of Ohio.

In football he earned honors as Most Valuable Player and selection to the First Teams of the Greater Cleveland Conference, Plain Dealer All-Scholastic, All-Northeast Ohio, Sun-Journal and News-Herald. Additionally, the News-Herald named him as the Defensive Player of the Year. He also was named to the All-Ohio Second Team.

DeJuan also played for Hall of Fame Coach Doc Daugherty's basketball teams for two years and for four years for Hall of Fame Coach Bob Ramlow's track teams. Altogether, he earned nine varsity letters: four in track, three in football, and two in basketball.

The University of Toledo rewarded DeJuan with a football scholarship, and he returned the favor by starting at defensive end for part of his sophomore and all of his junior and senior seasons. As a sophomore, he made the All-Mid-American Conference Second Team and as a junior and a senior he was a First Team All-MAC Selection. He was also picked as the MAC Defensive Player of the Year in his senior year. By then he had bulked up to between 270-280 pounds, the better to terrorize MAC opponents as Toledo won the MAC West during his final three years. He was also honored with selection as a Third Team All-American.

In his senior year, Toledo had the Number 1 defense in the nation and beat perennially powerful teams like Bowling Green, Marshall, and Penn State on its way to a 10-1 record and a ranking of 25th in the nation. In each of those three televised games, DeJuan was selected as the Player of the Game by ESPN. At the start of that senior season, DeJuan was selected by Toledo to be its player reprsentative along with the head coach for the annual pre-season MAC meeting. Throughout his entire career in high school, college, and eventually professional football, he played at only one position, defensive end.

DeJuan graduated from Toledo in the Spring of 2001 and earned a bachelor's degree in communications. He attended tryouts for National Football League and Arena Football League teams, eventually playing in the National Indoor Football League (NIFL) with the Ohio Valley Greyhounds (Wheeling, WV) for three years. The team won the league title each year. In his second season he was the team's MVP and set a one-season record of 20.5 sacks. He finished his NIFL career with the Fayetteville, NC Wildcats and was the runner-up in the voting as the MVP player in the league.

DeJuan is out of football now, but the competitive fire still burns inside him. Still young enough to play at the professional level, he has bittersweet memories of opportunities not given to him to prove his worth on a playing field. He feels that he has lost opportunities not because he was not good enough to play, but because teams would not give him a chance to prove himself as a player.

He still remembers when the competitive fire to play football first ignited in him. He was a freshman on Euclid's 1992 team and sat on the bench. He could not believe how "exciting" it was to be part of that team. The thrill of playing under those Friday night lights still fires his imagination. He remembers talking to and being "inspired by teammates like Brandon Biggam, Shawn Thompson, Pepe Pearson, and Raeshaun Jernigan," among others. He especially learned a lot from the 1994 team, in particular of the "importance of working as a team, practicing hard, not waiting for something magical to help the team win." For DeJuan preparing to win occurred by hard work at practice and having teammates on whom you could rely.

He works now in a field where he can help mentally challenged youngsters who need the help of caring people like him. He began this career at the Rosemary Center in Euclid for 1 1/2 years before taking a position in Pittsburgh with the Allegheny Valley Schools Complex where he now holds a management position at the Coraopolis, PA campus.

When DeJuan was playing with the NIFL Greyhounds, he had the good fortune to meet the young lady who would become his wife. In the spring of 2008 DeJuan married Brooke and lives with her on the South Side of Pittsburgh. He is "thrilled to be honored by the Sports Hall of Fame." He has not forgotten those Friday night lights on East 222nd Street and is thankful to the school and coaches who gave him the chance to prove himself. For DeJuan, those Friday night lights have never stopped glittering.

Inducted on October 2, 2008