Corey Michael Linsley (born July 27, 1991) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree, ...

. Linsley was selected by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

in the fifth round of the

2014 NFL draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

, and has also played in the

(NFL) for the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC W ...

Early life

A native of

Boardman, Ohio Boardman Township is one of the fourteen townships of Mahoning County, Ohio, United States. The population was 40,213 at the 2020 census. It is a suburb directly south of Youngstown and the second-largest municipality in the Youngstown–Warre ...

, Linsley attended Boardman High School, where he earned first-team All-Federal League, All-Northeast Ohio and second-team All-Ohio honors. He served as a team captain as a senior. He was named to SuperPrep's Midwest Top 30. As a standout athlete, he lettered all four years in

track & field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and ...

, where he was the regional and league champion and a state medalist in the

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

(top throw of 19.24 meters as a senior). He also threw the discus, with a top throw of 58.27 meters as a senior. At Ohio State, he considered switching to track and field and quit football entirely. Regarded as a four-star recruit by

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, Linsley was listed as the No. 6 offensive guard prospect of his class.

College career

After redshirting his initial year at Ohio State, Linsley saw limited action in six games in 2010, mostly as a reserve right guard or tackle. As a sophomore, he appeared in ten games, still as a reserve. He did see significant action on the PAT and field goal teams as a blocker, though. After playing two seasons at guard, he was designated to succeed All-American center

Mike Brewster Michael Brewster (born July 27, 1989) is an American college football coach and former player who is the Assistant Offensive Line Coach for the Washington Huskies. He played professionally as a center and guard in the National Football League ...

at center. He started all 12 games at center and help the Buckeyes to post a Big Ten-best 37.2 points per game while ranking second in rushing with an average of 242.2 yards per game on the ground. Linsley was viewed as an integral part of the Buckeyes' offense.

Professional career

Green Bay Packers

Linsley was selected in the fifth round (161st overall) by the

in the

. On May 15, 2014, he signed a contract with the Packers. In 2014, Linsley was initially supposed to be the Packers' back-up center, but an injury to expected starter J. C. Tretter late in the preseason made Linsley the surprise starting center for the regular season. After Tretter came back from his injury, Linsley remained as starting center and ended up starting every game during the regular season as well as the 2 playoff games. He was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team. On September 3, 2016, Linsley was placed on Reserve/ PUP to start the season after a lingering hamstring injury. He was activated off PUP on November 5, 2016. On December 30, 2017, Linsley signed a three-year, $25.5 million contract extension with the Packers after starting all 16 games at center in 2017. On December 5, 2020, Linsley was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

after suffering a knee injury in Week 12. On December 26, 2020, Linsley was activated off of injured reserve.

Los Angeles Chargers

On March 17, 2021, Linsley signed a five-year, $62.5 million contract with the

, making him the highest-paid center in the league. On September 30, 2023, Linsley was placed on the reserve/non-football illness list with a non-emergent heart-related issue. On June 5, 2024, Linsley was released by the Chargers and retired from professional football.

Personal life

Linsley is married to Anna Linsley. They have four children together.

References

External links

Ohio State Buckeyes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Linsley, Corey 1991 births Living people People from Boardman, Ohio Players of American football from Mahoning County, Ohio Players of American football from Youngstown, Ohio American football centers American football offensive guards American football offensive tackles Ohio State Buckeyes football players Green Bay Packers players Los Angeles Chargers players American Conference Pro Bowl players