Caden Sterns (born November 2, 1999) is an American 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 ...

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

. 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 ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and was selected by the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

in the fifth round of the

2021 NFL draft The 2021 NFL draft was the 86th National Football League draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland, Ohio from April 29 to May ...

Early life

Sterns attended Steele High School in

Cibolo, Texas Cibolo is a city in Guadalupe and Bexar counties in Texas, United States. It is part of the San Antonio–New Braunfels metropolitan statistical area. Cibolo voted to become an independent township on October 9, 1965. Cibolo is in a region set ...

. Sterns older brother, Jordan, was a star two-way player in high school (2010-2013) and would later play at Oklahoma State University. During his career, Sterns had 235 tackles and 11

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 bu ...

. He was selected to play in the 2018

U.S. Army All-American Bowl The All-American Bowl (currently branded as the Navy All-American Bowl for sponsorship reasons) is a high school football all-star game, held annually at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Typically played in January, the All-American Bowl is p ...

and won the Pete Dawkins Trophy as the game's MVP. A five-star recruit, Sterns originally committed to play

Louisiana State University 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 ...

(LSU) before switching the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

College career

Sterns started all 13 games his true freshman season at Texas in 2018. He was the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

Defensive Freshman of the Year and was named a first-team All-Big 12 after recording 62 tackles, four interceptions and one sack. Sterns played in nine games his sophomore year in 2019, finishing with 59 tackles and one sack. On November 30, 2020, Sterns declared for the

and opted out of the remainder of the season.

Professional career

Denver Broncos

Sterns was selected by the

in the fifth round, 152nd overall, of the

. On May 11, 2021, Sterns officially signed with the Broncos. In 2021 he moved into the lineup following an injury to

Ronald Darby Ronald Darby (born January 2, 1994) is an American former professional football cornerback who played 10 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida State Seminoles and was selected by the Buffalo B ...

and in week 3 he became the first rookie to record two sacks in one game since 2016. In the same game he broke up a 44 yard pass. That season he played in 15 games, with 2 starts, had 2 interceptions for 47 yards (including a career-long 46 yarder), 5 pass deflections, 2 sacks, 28 tackles, 2 TFLs and 2 QB hits. In 2022 he played in the first 5 games of the season and started 3 of them before injuring his hip. On October 28, 2022, Sterns 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 ...

. He had 2 interceptions, in the same game, for 25 yards, 4 pass deflections and 21 tackles. On September 13, 2023, Sterns was placed on injured reserve after suffering a torn patellar tendon in Week 1 and missed the remainder of the season after playing only in 5 downs. He was activated off the PUP list in July of 2024 and, after failing to get a trade offer, he was released by the Broncos on August 5, 2024.

Carolina Panthers

On August 6, 2024, Sterns was claimed off waivers by 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

but was released two days later following a failed physical.

Philadelphia Eagles

On August 11, 2024, Sterns signed with the

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

. He was released on August 27, and re-signed to the practice squad. He was released on September 3rd, resigned again on the 10th and then released again 2 days later. Sterns was re-signed to the practice squad on September 17. He was released again on October 10.

Personal life

Sterns has three brothers, each of whom have played football at the collegiate level. His oldest brother Jordan played safety at

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

from 2013–16, his youngest brother Josh is currently 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 ...

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers and Lady Toppers are the athletic teams that represent Western Kentucky University (WKU), located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, competing in the ...

along with his other brother Jerreth Sterns who also plays

as well. Jerreth played at what was then known as

Houston Baptist University Houston Christian University (HCU), formerly Houston Baptist University (HBU), is a private Baptist university in Houston, Texas. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Its Cultural Arts Center houses three museums: the ...

and then transferred to

for his senior year to play along with his teammate, quarterback Bailey Zappe. Jerreth currently plays for the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

References

External links

Texas Longhorns bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sterns, Caden 1999 births Living people People from Cibolo, Texas Players of American football from Bexar County, Texas Players of American football from Guadalupe County, Texas American football safeties Texas Longhorns football players Denver Broncos players Carolina Panthers players Philadelphia Eagles players