Early Life and College Career
Lucas was born in Macon, Georgia; his father was Georgia State Representative David Lucas and his mother was Macon City Councilwoman Elaine Lucas. He attended and played football for Northeast High School. While there, he set the school record with a 440-pound (200-kg) bench press. Nicknamed "Big Luke", he went on to play college football at Troy State University. Lucas also served as an assistant football coach at Northeast High. He was married to De'Shonda Lucas with one daughter, Mariah. He was a member of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity.
At Troy State, Lucas was a standout player. In his senior year (1999), he won the Buck Buchanan Award as the most outstanding defensive player in NCAA Division I-AA. He was also honored with unanimous All America and All-Southland Football League first team selections that year, in which he compiled 126 tackles (twenty for losses), 15 "quarterback hurries", four sacks, and two forced fumbles.
Lucas played a total of 43 games for the Trojans, and finished his college career with 255 tackles (thirty-six for losses), 25 quarterback hurries, and 11.5 sacks. In addition, he saw some limited action at running back in his junior and senior seasons, scoring seven touchdowns.
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