Austin Pettis (born February 8, 1989) 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

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

for the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

of 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 Boise State Broncos and was selected by the Rams in the third round of the

2011 NFL draft The 2011 NFL draft was the 76th installment of the annual National Football League draft, NFL draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Rad ...

Early life

Pettis attended Orange Lutheran High School in

Orange, California Orange is a city located in northern Orange County, California, United States. It is approximately north of the county seat, Santa Ana, California, Santa Ana. Orange is unusual in this region because many of the homes in its Old Town District ...

. He was part of the

team and had 72 receptions for 1,079 yards and 13

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

as a senior. He was named First-team All-league and All-county and Third-team All-state and was also named to the All-Southern Section Team while helping team to state championship. As a sophomore, he was named Second-team All-league as well as being named top sophomore on team. He lettered in football three times, basketball three times, and track and field twice.

College career

Pettis finished his Boise State career as the school's all-time leader in both receptions (229) and touchdown catches (39). His 2,838 receiving yards rank second on the all-time list. He was a four-year starter in the Broncos' high-powered offense. Pettis set career highs with 71 receptions and 951 yards and 10 touchdowns as a senior and earned First-team All-Western Athletic Conference honors for the second consecutive year. As a junior, in 2009, Pettis had 63 receptions for 855 yards and 14 touchdowns and was a First-team All- WAC selection. Pettis was named Second-team All-WAC after his sophomore season (2007), catching 49 passes for 567 yards, averaging 11.6 yards per catch and nine touchdowns. He was also named to the All-WAC academic team. In 2007 as a true freshmen, he finished season second on team with 46 receptions and finished second on team with six touchdown receptions and third with 465 yards receiving.

Professional career

At the 2011 NFL Combine, Pettis ran the shuttle in 3.88 seconds, fastest among the receivers at the combine. Pettis also finished sixth in the 60-yard shuttle (11.14 seconds) and 11th in the 3-cone drill (6.68 seconds). Pettis was drafted 78th overall in the

by the

. On July 29, 2011, Pettis signed a four-year contract with the Rams that included a $614,000 signing bonus. In a week 7 loss against 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 2012, Pettis caught his first NFL touchdown pass, a 3-yard reception. He was waived on October 20, 2014. Pettis was signed by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

on January 9, 2015. He was released by the team on September 5, 2015.

NFL statistics

Receiving statistics Returning statistics

Personal life

Austin is the son of Gym Owner & Personal Trainer Kenneth Pettis, grandson of former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

player

Del Rice Delbert Rice Jr. (October 27, 1922 – January 26, 1983) was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager. He played for 17 seasons as a catcher in Major League Baseball from 1945 to 1961, most notably for the St. Louis Cardinals ...

, nephew of former

player

Gary Pettis Gary George Pettis (born April 3, 1958) is an American former professional baseball center fielder and third base coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1982 to 1992 for the California Angels, Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers, and Sa ...

, and cousin of actor Kyler Pettis and wide receiver Dante Pettis who plays for the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pettis, Austin 1989 births Living people Players of American football from Anaheim, California American football wide receivers Boise State Broncos football players St. Louis Rams players San Diego Chargers players