Myron Pryor (born June 13, 1986) 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 ...

nose tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the l ...

. He was drafted by the Patriots in the sixth round of the

2009 NFL Draft The 2009 NFL Draft was the seventy-fourth annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. ...

. He played college football at

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virgini ...

Early years

Pryor was born in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana borde ...

. He attended

Eastern High School Eastern High School may refer to: __NOTOC__ United States *Eastern High School (Pekin, Indiana), Pekin, Indiana *Eastern High School (Louisville, Kentucky), Middletown, Kentucky *Eastern High School (Maryland), Baltimore, Maryland *Eastern High Scho ...

Middletown, Kentucky Middletown is an independent, home rule-class city in Jefferson County, Kentucky, United States, and a former neighborhood of Louisville. The population was 7,218 at the 2010 census. The city is also home to the main campus of the largest c ...

, where he was voted a Second-team All-State player by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. n ...

. He was also a two-year letterman in

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

and

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

, where he competed in the discus and

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

College career

After graduating from high school in 2004, Pryor attended the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state's ...

. He tore a pectoral muscle in the weight room and was forced to gray shirt his first year of college. He didn't enroll at UK until spring of 2005, where he started the last two games of his freshman season in 2005. In his sophomore season, he started ten games, recording ten forced fumbles, ranking him among the nation's best in that statistic. He recorded 27 tackles in his junior season in 2007, starting 11 of his team's 12 games. In his 2008 senior season, Pryor was named second-team All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

. He started 10 games on the season, picking up four and a half

sack A sack usually refers to a rectangular-shaped bag. Sack may also refer to: Bags * Flour sack * Gunny sack * Hacky sack, sport * Money sack * Paper sack * Sleeping bag * Stuff sack * Knapsack Other uses * Bed, a slang term * Sack (band), an Ir ...

s, and a touchdown on a 72-yard

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful h ...

return.

Professional career

New England Patriots

Pryor was drafted by the Patriots in the sixth round (207th overall) of the

. On July 23, 2009, he signed a four-year contract. He was active for 13 games for the Patriots in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, recording 20 tackles. In April 2013, Pryor was released by the Patriots after four seasons, however injuries had kept him out the entire 2012 season and had limited him to two games in the 2011 season.

References

External links

New England Patriots bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pryor, Myron 1986 births Living people Players of American football from Louisville, Kentucky American football defensive tackles Kentucky Wildcats football players New England Patriots players Eastern High School (Louisville, Kentucky) alumni