Larry English (born January 22, 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 ...

player. He played college football as a

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is p ...

Northern Illinois Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the U.S. state of Illinois. The region is by far the most populous of Illinois with nearly 9.7 million residents as of 2010. Economics Northern Illinois is dominated by t ...

and was drafted by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

as an

outside 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, pla ...

in the first round of the

2009 NFL Draft The 2009 NFL Draft was the seventy-fourth annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. ...

. He also played for the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

High school career

At Marmion Academy, in

Aurora, Illinois Aurora is a city in the Chicago metropolitan area located partially in DuPage, Kane, Kendall, and Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located primarily in DuPage and Kane counties, it is the second most populous city in Illinois, af ...

, English was named team co-captain, MVP, and First-team All- Suburban Catholic Conference both as a junior and senior. He made 98 tackles and six sacks while playing inside linebacker and as a running back he rushed for 312 yards on 38 carries (8.2 avg). As a junior, he had 100 tackles, and added two interceptions and two fumble recoveries during junior campaign. English lettered in football, basketball and track.

College career

English was a medical redshirt in 2004 after playing in the first game of the season and sustaining an injury. The following season, 2005, he played 11 games, starting nine. He had 78 tackles with seven of them being for a loss. The next season, 2006, he was a First-team All-

MAC Mac or MAC most commonly refers to: * Mac (computer), a family of personal computers made by Apple Inc. * Mackintosh, a raincoat made of rubberized cloth * A variant of the word macaroni, mostly used in the name of the dish mac and cheese * Mac, ...

selection. Started all 13 games and tied school record with 12 sacks, while totaling 51 tackles and forcing four fumbles. In 2007, English was the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twe ...

's MVP and was a consensus choice First-team All-MAC and a Fourth-team All-American by

Phil Steele Phil Steele (c. 1960) is an American sportswriter and analyst who focuses exclusively on college and professional football. He is considered a "highly respected prognosticator" within the sports media. His company, Phil Steele Publications, pr ...

as he recorded 17 tackles for loss–which ranked 18th in the NCAA. Also in 2007 English had 10.5 sacks which led the conference. English also deflected two passes. As a senior (2008 Season) English again won the Vern Smith Award, given to the MAC's top player. Additionally, English was named the MAC Defensive Player of the Year by the MAC News Media Association as well as

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 ...

. He led the Huskies with eight sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss and he was an All-MAC choice for the third consecutive season.

Career statistics

Key: GP - games played; GS - games started; UA - unassisted tackles; AT - assisted tackles; TT - total tackles; T/L - tackles for a loss; Sacks - ; FF – Forced fumble ; FR – Fumbles recovered; PD - passes deflected; Int - interceptions

Professional career

Larry English scored a 34 on the aptitude assessment

Wonderlic Test The Wonderlic Contemporary Cognitive Ability Test (formerly Wonderlic Personnel Test) is an assessment used to measure the cognitive ability and problem-solving aptitude of prospective employees for a range of occupations. It is a proprietary ...

at the 2009 NFL Draft Combine, one of the highest scores ever recorded for his position,

, and the 9th highest score of the 2009 NFL Draft Class. With comparison to IQ, a Wonderlic Score of 34 suggests English has an IQ of 128, twenty-eight points above average.http://www.redandblackattack.com/2009/3/27/813060/larry-english-pro-day-resu Picked 16th overall in the 2009 NFL Draft, English is the highest drafted player out of Northern Illinois.

San Diego Chargers

English was drafted by the Chargers first round, 16th overall, in the

. English was a

in college, however, the Chargers indicated he will be an outside linebacker in the NFL."The more I learned about the 3-4 scheme and my abilities, the type of football player I am ... I think I will fit perfectly in it," said English. English had 23 tackles as a rookie, but suffered a foot fracture in the 2010 training camp and started just four games in total going into the 2013 season for the Chargers. English has since continued to struggle with injuries and poor play, missing 21 games and accumulating just 6 combined sacks between 2011 and 2013. He was released by the Chargers on July 22, 2014.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

English was signed by the

on August 14, 2014, He was cut by the team on August 29 and later re-signed again on September 9, 2014.

NFL statistics

Personal life

English served as the honorary chairman of the

American Lung Association The American Lung Association is a voluntary health organization whose mission is to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease through education, advocacy and research. History The organization was founded in 1904 to figh ...

inaugural Fight For Air Climb in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

on February 27, 2011. English, who has struggled with asthma since he was a child, stated: “As an individual living with asthma, I truly understand the challenges this disease presents.” On May 19, 2017, English married model Nicole Williams, with whom he appeared on ''

WAGS WAGs (or Wags) is an acronym used to refer to wives and girlfriends of high-profile sportsmen. The term may also be used in the singular form, WAG, to refer to a specific female partner or life partner who is in a relationship with an athlete. T ...

'', a reality series about the romantic partners of athletes.The couple announced that they were expecting their first child together in July 2022, on the models personal Instagram. English plays a cameo role in the 2017 video game ''

Madden NFL 18 ''Madden NFL 18'' is an American football sports video game based on the National Football League, developed and published by EA Sports for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The 29th installment of the '' Madden NFL series'', the game features New Engl ...

'' "Longshot" story mode.

References

External links

San Diego Chargers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:English, Larry 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Aurora, Illinois Players of American football from Illinois American football linebackers American football defensive ends Northern Illinois Huskies football players San Diego Chargers players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players