Derek Lee Sherrod (born April 23, 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 an

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

in 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 was selected by 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 the first 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 ...

. 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

Mississippi State Bulldogs Mississippi State Bulldogs is the name given to the college athletics, athletic teams of Mississippi State University, in Mississippi State, Mississippi. The university is a founding member of the Southeastern Conference and competes in NCAA D ...

Early life

Sherrod was born in

Chula Vista, California Chula Vista ( ; , ) is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. It is the second-most populous city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the Largest cities in Southern California, seventh-most populous city in Southern California ...

. He attended

Caledonia High School Caledonia High School (CHS) is a public high school located in Caledonia, Minnesota, United States, that serves Caledonia as well as the surrounding communities of Brownsville, Eitzen, Freeburg, and Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the north ...

in Caledonia, Mississippi, where he played for the Caledonia Confederates

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 ...

team. He was a four-year starter on the offensive line and three-year regular on the defensive side of the ball. He allowed just one

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackle (football move), tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the l ...

during his senior season and was credited with 32 pancake blocks, while also making 79 tackles on defense, with six quarterback sacks and four fumble recoveries. Sherrod was a first-team All-State selection in Class 3A by the Mississippi Association of Coaches at offensive tackle. Regarded as a four-star recruit, he was listed as the No. 13 offensive tackle prospect of the class of 2007. He chose

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...

over

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, Miami (Fla.), Notre Dame,

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

and

Ole Miss OLE, Ole or Olé may refer to: * Olé, a cheering expression used in Spain * Ole (name), a male given name, includes a list of people named Ole * Overhead lines equipment, used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains Co ...

College career

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, his

true freshman The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see '' Glossary of Canadian football''. 0–9 ...

year, Sherrod played in all but two games (11 of 13) during the regular season. He was teammates with his brother Dezmond in 2007. As a sophomore, he became a starter in the final 11 games for the Bulldogs at left tackle, after missing the season opener due to injury and not starting in Week 2. In his junior season, Sherrod started all 12 games at left tackle and helped pave the way for Mississippi State to lead the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

in rushing, with running back Anthony Dixon recording 1,391 yards for the season (a new MSU single-season rushing record). As a senior, he was a first-team All-SEC selection and helped the Bulldogs to a 9–4 record and a 52–14 victory over

in the 2011 Gator Bowl.

Professional career

Green Bay Packers

Sherrod was selected in the first round (32nd overall) of the

by the

. He was the first Mississippi State Bulldog selected in the first round since Walt Harris and Eric Moulds in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

. Sherrod broke his right leg on December 18, 2011, when linebacker Tamba Hali rolled into him during the fourth quarter of the Packers' 19-14 loss to the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

. He missed the entire 2012 season recovering from the injury. On August 20, 2013, Packers GM Ted Thompson stated he was confident Sherrod would play in the 2013 season. Sherrod started the 2013 on the PUP list. He was moved to the active roster on November 5, 2013. Sherrod was waived on November 3, 2014.

Kansas City Chiefs

On December 31, 2014, the

signed Sherrod to a future free agent contract. He was cut from the team on September 5, 2015, as the Chiefs reduced their roster to 53 players.

Personal life

Sherrod graduated in August 2010 with a bachelor's degree in business with a focus on

financial risk management Financial risk management is the practice of protecting Value (economics), economic value in a business, firm by managing exposure to financial risk - principally credit risk and market risk, with more specific variants as listed aside - as well ...

, insurance and financial planning, with a 3.54 grade point average. He was a finalist for the NCAA's 2010 William V. Campbell Trophy, commonly called the "Academic Heisman." His brother Dezmond also played football.

References

External links

Mississippi State Bulldogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherrod, Derek 1989 births Living people American football offensive tackles Mississippi State Bulldogs football players Green Bay Packers players Players of American football from Chula Vista, California Players of American football from Columbus, Mississippi Kansas City Chiefs players