Barrett James Ruud (born May 20, 1983) 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 ...

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

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 ...

in the second round of the 2005 NFL Draft and also played 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 club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

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 league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

and Houston Texans. He played college football at

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the so ...

, where he currently serves as the inside linebackers coach.

Early years

Ruud attended high school at

Lincoln Southeast High School Lincoln Southeast High School is a public government education school located in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. It is part of the Lincoln Public Schools school district. Lincoln Southeast High School has the highest accreditation from ...

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United St ...

. He was a four-year letterman and helped his team compile a 48–2 record and Class A state titles in 1998, 1999, and 2001. He was a two-time All-American by the

Omaha World-Herald The ''Omaha World-Herald'' is a daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, the primary newspaper of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area. It was locally owned from its founding in 1885 until 2020, when it was sold to the newspaper c ...

and earned All-American honors as a linebacker from Prep Star and Student Sport. He also was a two-time super-state pick and was named offensive player of the year, defensive player of the year and prep athlete of the year by the

Lincoln Journal Star The ''Lincoln Journal Star'' is an American daily newspaper that serves Lincoln, Nebraska, the state capital and home of the University of Nebraska. It is the most widely read newspaper in Lincoln and has the second-largest circulation in ...

College career

Ruud played college football at the

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

. He earned numerous honors while there including 2004 Third-team All American, 2004 First-team All-

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its f ...

, 2003 Second-team All-Big 12, and 2002 All-Big 12 honorable mention among others. He finished his career starting 37 of 50 games finishing with a school record 432 career tackles.

Professional career

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Ruud was drafted by the

in the second round of the 2005 NFL Draft. As a rookie, he played in all 16 games recording 17 tackles. In 2006, he started 5 of 16 games after injuries to

Shelton Quarles Shelton Eugene Quarles (born September 11, 1971) is an American football executive and former linebacker who is the director of football operations for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football a ...

and Ryan Nece and finished with 57 tackles. In 2007 Ruud became a full-time starter after the team cut longtime starter Quarles. He finished the season starting all 15 games he played in, recording 114 tackles and two

interceptions In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...

. He remained the Buccaneers starter through 2008 and ended the season totaling 137 tackles, three sacks and two interceptions.

Tennessee Titans

On July 30, 2011, Ruud signed with the

. On December 13, 2011, Ruud 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 th ...

, ending his season.

Seattle Seahawks

In April 2012, Ruud signed with the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 a ...

New Orleans Saints

On August 20, 2012, Ruud was traded to the

in exchange for a conditional draft pick. On October 8, 2012, Ruud was cut by the Saints after the team went through a 1-4 start.

Houston Texans

On October 10, 2012 Ruud was signed by the Houston Texans, to provide depth at linebacker after the injury to defensive star Brian Cushing.

NFL statistics

Key * GP: games played * COMB: combined tackles * TOTAL: total tackles * AST: assisted tackles * SACK: sacks * FF: forced fumbles * FR: fumble recoveries * FR YDS: fumble return yards * INT: interceptions * IR YDS: interception return yards * AVG IR: average interception return * LNG: longest interception return * TD: interceptions returned for touchdown * PD: passes defensed

Personal life

Ruud's father,

Tom Ruud Thomas Robert Ruud (born July 26, 1953, in Olivia, Minnesota) is a former professional football player, a linebacker for the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals of the NFL. At 6'3" 223 lb, he played college football for the Nebraska Cornh ...

, played for the Cornhuskers in the early 1970s and later in the National Football League for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division ...

and

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The club's home ...

. His younger brother Bo also attended Nebraska. His mother Jaime Ruud died of a massive heart attack on June 30, 2006 while vacationing with family in northern Minnesota.Mother of Husker players passes away
/ref> Barrett hosts an annual summer football camp at Warner University for children ages 7–18.

References

External links

Nebraska profile

Seattle Seahawks profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruud, Barrett 1983 births Living people American football linebackers Houston Texans players Nebraska Cornhuskers football coaches Nebraska Cornhuskers football players New Orleans Saints players Seattle Seahawks players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Tennessee Titans players UCF Knights football coaches Sportspeople from Lincoln, Nebraska Players of American football from Nebraska