Lawrence Edward "L. J." Collier Jr. (born September 12, 1995) 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 ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

for the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

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

TCU Horned Frogs The TCU Horned Frogs are the athletic teams that represent Texas Christian University. The 18 varsity teams participate in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA Division I and in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for football, competi ...

, and was selected by 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

in the first round of the

2019 NFL draft The 2019 NFL draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville. The first round was held ...

Early life

Collier grew up in his father's hometown of

Munday, Texas Munday ( ) is a city in Knox County, Texas, Knox County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,246 at the 2010 United States Census, 2020 census. Geography Munday is located at the junction of U.S. Route 277#Texas, U.S. Highway 277, Texas S ...

. He attended Munday High School, where he helped lead the Moguls to a state championship as a junior in 2012. He recorded six tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, and a touchdown on an interception return to earn Defensive MVP honors for the game. On February 5, 2014, he signed a letter of intent to attend

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private university, private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison Clark, Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College. It i ...

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

on a football scholarship.

College career

Collier

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 ...

during his first season with Horned Frogs, but became a starter for TCU as a redshirt freshman in 2015 despite appearing in just one game. He played in all 13 games for the Horned Frogs as sophomore, recording 4.5 sacks and blocking a field goal against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

in the 2016 Liberty Bowl. He recorded 4.5 sacks again as a junior, including one in a crucial late-game situation in the Frogs' comeback win over

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

in the 2017 Alamo Bowl. As a senior in 2018, Collier finally got the opportunity to become a starter for the Horned Frogs. He responded by tallying 6.0 sacks, 11.5 tackles for loss and 4 pass break-ups to earn First-team All-Big 12 Conference honors and closed out his collegiate career with a sack in TCU's

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victory over

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. Following his senior season, Collier graduated from TCU and was invited to participate in the

2019 Senior Bowl The 2019 Senior Bowl was an all-star college football exhibition game played on January 26, 2019, at 1:30 p.m. CST, at Ladd–Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama. The game featured prospects for the 2019 draft of the professional National Fo ...

, in which he recorded a sack and a forced fumble.

Professional career

Seattle Seahawks

Collier was selected by the

in the first round (29th overall) of the

. The Seahawks traded Frank Clark 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 ...

in order to obtain the selection used to select Collier. After suffering multiple injuries, he finished the season with 3 tackles. Collier started the 2020 campaign as the starting defensive end for the

after the departure of

Jadeveon Clowney Jadeveon Davarus Clowney ( ; born February 14, 1993) is an American professional football linebacker. He played college football for the South Carolina Gamecocks, where he won the Ted Hendricks Award, and was selected first overall by the Houst ...

. He had the biggest play of his early career when he stopped

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 ...

quarterback

Cam Newton Cameron Jerrell Newton (born May 11, 1989) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons, primarily with the Carolina Panthers. He is the NFL le ...

on the 1-yard line to secure a Week 2 35–30 victory on '' Sunday Night Football''. In Week 5 against the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

on ''Sunday Night Football'', Collier recorded his first career sack on

Kirk Cousins Kirk Daniel Cousins (born August 19, 1988) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan State Spartans football, Mi ...

during the 27–26 win. In Week 11 against the

on ''

Thursday Night Football ''Thursday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''TNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that broadcast primarily on Thursday nights. Most of the games kick off at 8:15 Eastern Time (8:20 prior to ...

'', Collier recorded his second career sack, taking down

Kyler Murray Kyler Cole Murray (born August 7, 1997) is an American professional football quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). Following one season of college football with the Texas A&M Aggies, Murray played for the ...

during a 28-21 win. The Seahawks declined the fifth-year option on Collier's rookie contract making him a free agent after the 2022 season. Collier 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 ...

to start the 2022 season. He was activated on October 26, 2022.

Arizona Cardinals

On March 21, 2023, Collier signed a one-year contract with the

. He was placed on injured reserve on September 16, 2023. On March 8, 2024, Collier signed a one-year contract extension with the Cardinals. He played in all 17 games with 15 starts, recording 29 tackles and 3.5 sacks. On March 12, 2025, Collier re-signed with the Cardinals on a one-year, $4 million contract.

References

External links

Arizona Cardinals bioTCU Horned Frogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collier, L. J. 1995 births Living people People from Munday, Texas Players of American football from Texas American football defensive ends TCU Horned Frogs football players Seattle Seahawks players Arizona Cardinals players