Jason Wesley Phillips (born February 14, 1986) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, pl ...

who played in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL). He was drafted by the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

in the fifth round of the

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. He played college football at Texas Christian University (TCU). Phillips also played for the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

and

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

Early years

Phillips played

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

and linebacker at

Waller High School Waller High School is a public high school in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, north of Waller, and classified as a 6A school by the UIL. It is part of the Waller Independent School District and serves students from Waller, Pine Island, ...

Waller, Texas Waller is a city in Texas, United States, partly in Waller County and partly in Harris County within the metropolitan area. The population was 2,682 at the 2020 U.S. census. The Waller area is located along U.S. Route 290 ( Northwest Freeway) n ...

, where he was coached by his father, Jim Phillips. He also served as the Bulldogs'

long snapper In American football, the long snapper (or deep snapper) is a center on special teams whose duty is to snap the football over a longer distance, typically around 15 yards during punts, and 7–8 yards during field goals and extra point at ...

. As a senior in 2003, he threw for 1,070 yards and rushed for 1,291 to earn District 18-4A MVP honors. He also ran track at Waller, and was a regional qualifier in the 110 meter hurdles.

College career

Once at TCU, Phillips

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

in 2004 as a fullback. In 2005, he was moved to linebacker and immediately earned a starting job. His first collegiate game was a 17-10 win against Oklahoma in

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

. That year, Phillips led the Horned Frogs in tackles and helped them win their first-ever

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations ...

Championship. He became the first freshman in conference history to be named All-MWC, as a Second-team selection. He was also named MWC Freshman of the Year by

College Football News ''College Football News'' (''CFN'') is a magazine and website published by College Football News, Inc., headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. News coverage includes scores, statistics, rankings, and reports on college football games. Analysis includ ...

and Second-team Freshman All-America by

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

. As a sophomore in 2006, Phillips was named First-team All-MWC and was second on the team in tackles. Heading into his junior season, he started all 25 games of his college career. Recently

Dave Campbell's Texas Football ''Dave Campbell's Texas Football'' is a biannual magazine previewing American football teams in the state of Texas. It previews football teams in Texas at all levels, from the NFL's Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans, college football, to the ...

selected Phillips to their 2007 Preseason All-Texas College Team.

College awards and honors

*Second-team All-MWC (2005) *First-team All-MWC (2006, 2007, and 2008)

Professional career

Baltimore Ravens

Phillips was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens with the first pick (137th overall) in the fifth round of the

. On September 17, 2011, he was waived by Baltimore.

Carolina Panthers

The

claimed Phillips off of waivers on September 19.

Philadelphia Eagles

Phillips signed with the

on March 12, 2013. On July 29, 2013, Phillips tore his right anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in the Eagles' first training camp of the preseason. On August 19, 2014 Phillips was released in the first round of roster cuts.

References

External links

TCU Horned Frogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Jason 1986 births Living people American football linebackers Baltimore Ravens players Carolina Panthers players Players of American football from Waller County, Texas Philadelphia Eagles players Players of American football from Harris County, Texas TCU Horned Frogs football players