Andrew Steven Levitre ( ; born May 15, 1986) 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 an

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in the

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(NFL). He played

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for the

Oregon State Beavers The Oregon State Beavers are the sport, athletic teams that represent Oregon State University, located in Corvallis, Oregon. The Beavers compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Division I ...

and was selected by the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

in the second round of the 2009 NFL draft. He also played in the NFL for the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

and

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

Early life

Levitre played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

at San Lorenzo Valley High School in Felton, California, where he was a two-way lineman. In his junior season, he recorded 47 tackles, two quarterback sacks and two fumble recoveries. He added more than 60 tackles and three sacks in his

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

year. Considered only a two-star recruit by both '' Rivals.com'' and '' Scout.com'', Levitre was not ranked among the nation's top offensive line prospects in 2004. He chose Oregon State over

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

, Fresno State, and

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, where his older brother, Erick, played center (2002–2006).

College career

Levitre

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, and played in all 11 games as a redshirt-freshman in 2005, while starting against

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. In his sophomore season, he started in game four of the season after senior starter Josh Linehan injured a knee in game three against

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

. Levitre earned Pac-10 Honorable Mention as a player and academically. During his junior year, Levitre started every game at either right or left tackle, and earned Pac-10 Conference second-team honors as selected by the coaches. For his senior season he was named to the 2008

Outland Trophy The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best 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 g ...

watch list, and started all 13 games at left tackle. He registered a career-high 91 knockdowns and 14 touchdown-resulting blocks and was earned All-American status by the

American Football Coaches Association The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) is an association of over 11,000 American football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "mainta ...

and ''

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''. He was considered the most-decorated Beaver offensive lineman since John Didion, a consensus All-America choice in the late 1960s.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Alongside Duke Robinson and T. J. Lang, Levitre was considered one of the best guards available in the 2009 NFL draft. He has been compared to Todd Herremans by ''The Sporting News'', and to Josh Beekman by ''CBS Sports''.

Buffalo Bills

Levitre was selected by the

with the 51st pick overall in the second round of the 2009 NFL draft, and was the first college guard drafted. He is the sixth selection from Oregon State in Bills history, the first since

Keith Ellison Keith Maurice Ellison (born August 4, 1963) is an American politician and lawyer serving since 2019 as the 30th attorney general of Minnesota. A member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Ellison was the U.S. representative for fr ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

. Counted on to start at left guard, Levitre joined a completely retooled offensive line that was expected to feature two rookie starters—him, and first round pick Eric Wood at right guard—and no players returning at the same position. He started all 16 games in 2009. On January 15, 2010, Levitre was named to the 2009 NFL All-Rookie team along with teammate Jairus Byrd.

Tennessee Titans

On March 12, 2013, Levitre reached a six-year $46.8 million deal with the

. Levitre underwent arthroscopic knee surgery in January 2013 and still felt knee soreness just days after signing for the team.

Atlanta Falcons

On September 4, 2015, the Titans traded Levitre to the

for a 2016 sixth round draft pick. In the 2016 season, Levitre and the Falcons reached

Super Bowl LI Super Bowl LI was an American football game played at NRG Stadium in Houston, Houston, Texas, on February 5, 2017, to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2016 NFL season, 2016 season. The American Football Confe ...

, where they faced the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

on February 5, 2017. In the Super Bowl, the Falcons fell in a 34–28 overtime defeat. In 2017, Levitre started the first 12 games of the season at left guard before suffering a triceps injury. He missed the next three games before returning in Week 17 against the Carolina Panthers, where he aggravated the injury. He was placed on injured reserve on January 2, 2018. On September 18, 2018, Levitre was placed on injured reserve after suffering a torn triceps. On May 14, 2019, Levitre announced his retirement from the NFL after 10 seasons.

References

External links

Oregon State Beavers bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Levitre, Andy 1986 births Living people American football offensive guards Atlanta Falcons players Buffalo Bills players Oregon State Beavers football players People from Felton, California Players of American football from Los Gatos, California Players of American football from Santa Cruz, California Tennessee Titans players