Lloyd Cushenberry III (born November 22, 1997) 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 ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play 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

LSU Tigers The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers (also known as the Fighting Tigers) are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in Division I of the National Collegiat ...

and was drafted 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 third round of the

2020 NFL draft The 2020 NFL draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The ...

Early life

Cushenberry grew up in

Carville, Louisiana Carville is a neighborhood of St. Gabriel, located in Iberville Parish in southern Louisiana, sixteen miles south of Baton Rouge, on the Mississippi River. Best known as the childhood hometown of famed political consultant James Carville, i ...

and attended Dutchtown High School. Cushenberry initially committed to play

for the

South Carolina Gamecocks The South Carolina Gamecocks represent the University of South Carolina in the NCAA Division I. The University of South Carolina uses "Gamecocks" as its official nickname and mascot. While the men's teams were traditionally known as the Fight ...

, but de-committed before choosing LSU.

College career

Cushenberry

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 ...

his true freshman season. As a redshirt freshman, Cushenberry played in 11 total games with six games played on offense. Cushenberry entered his redshirt sophomore year as the Tigers' starting center. Cushenberry was named first-team

All-SEC The All-SEC football team is an annual Southeastern Conference (SEC) honor bestowed on the best players in the conference following every college football season. Seasons Following is a list of all-conference teams in the history of the SEC: * ...

as a redshirt junior. Following the end of the season, Cushenberry announced that he would forgo his final season to enter the

Professional career

Denver Broncos

Cushenberry was selected by the

with the 83rd overall pick in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft. Cushenberry was named the Broncos starting center going into his rookie season. He made his NFL debut on September 14, 2020 when he started in the season opener against the

. Cushenberry finished his rookie season starting all 16 games and playing in every single offensive snap. He was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team. Cushenberry continued to play starting center for most games through the

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

and 2022 seasons. On November 8, 2022, Cushenberry 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 ...

after suffering a groin strain. According to Cushenberry, Denver "kept him on IR after he had recovered from his groin injury," and the Broncos did not reactivate him for the rest of the year. He returned for the 2023 season, playing all games once again as starting center.

Tennessee Titans

On March 14, 2024, Cushenberry signed a four-year contract with the

. On November 6, Cushenberry was placed on injured reserve after suffering a season–ending Achilles tendon tear in Week 9. He had played 8 games as starting center and team captain for the 2024 season, having played every offensive snap before his injury, and logged one fumble recovery.

References

External links

Tennessee Titans bioLSU bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cushenberry, Lloyd 1997 births Living people People from Ascension Parish, Louisiana Players of American football from Louisiana Dutchtown High School (Louisiana) alumni American football offensive guards LSU Tigers football players Denver Broncos players Tennessee Titans players