Ricky Sapp (born November 14, 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 ...

outside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, pla ...

. He was drafted by 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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

in the fifth round of the

2010 NFL Draft The 2010 NFL Draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, with the fir ...

. He played college football at Clemson.

Early years

Sapp attended Bamberg-Ehrhardt High School in

Bamberg, South Carolina Bamberg is a city in and the county seat of Bamberg County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 3,607 at the 2010 census. History Bamberg is named after early resident William Seaborn Bamberg. Members of the Bamberg family continue ...

, where he was all-region as a sophomore and all-state as a junior after recording 70 tackles, 27 tackles for loss, and 11

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

s. In his senior season, he had 82 tackles, 25 tackles for loss, and 11 sacks, earning him All-American honors by ''

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''. Considered a five-star recruit by '' Rivals.com'', Sapp was listed as the No. 1 weakside defensive end prospect in the nation. He chose Clemson over

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the sta ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

, N.C. State, Oklahoma,

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = "Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = G ...

, and

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

. Sapp was Clemson's first All-American defensive lineman commit since 1989.

College career

In his initial year at Clemson, Sapp appeared on defense in all 13 games as a

true freshman 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 ...

. Despite playing behind All-American

Gaines Adams Gaines Adams (June 8, 1983 – January 17, 2010) was an American professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for three seasons. He played college football for Clemson University, and was recognized ...

, Sapp had 20 tackles and six tackles for loss on the year and ranked second on the team in sacks (4). He earned a freshman All-American honorable mention by '' Scout.com''. As a sophomore, Sapp played all 13 games and had 52 tackles, second-most among defensive linemen. He also had 10 tackles for loss, five sacks, and 22 quarterback pressures. In his junior year, Sapp had 10 tackles for loss in just 347 snaps. He entered his senior year fourth among active ACC players in career tackles for loss (26) and fourth among active players in career sacks (11).

Professional career

Philadelphia Eagles

Sapp was drafted by the

in the fifth round (134th overall) in the

. He was signed to a four-year contract on June 8, 2010. He 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 th ...

on August 31 after suffering a knee injury. Sapp underwent arthroscopic knee surgery in September. Sapp was placed on the exempt/left squad list on August 4, 2011, after leaving the team for undisclosed reasons. He was waived on August 5.

New York Jets

Sapp was signed to the New York Jets' practice squad on October 31, 2011. He was released on November 21. Sapp was re-signed to the practice squad on November 28. Sapp was promoted to the team's active roster on December 29. Sapp was waived August 31, 2012. Sapp was signed to the team's practice squad on September 1, 2012. He was released on September 5. Sapp was re-signed to the practice squad on September 11. On November 8, 2012, he was promoted to the active roster from the practice squad. Sapp was released on October 5, 2013. He was re-signed on October 9, 2013. Sapp was released on November 14, 2013 to make room for

Ed Reed Edward Earl Reed Jr. (born September 11, 1978) is an American former football safety in the National Football League (NFL), spending the majority of his career with the Baltimore Ravens. He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes, w ...

Houston Texans

Sapp was claimed off waivers by the Houston Texans on November 15, 2013. Sapp was signed to the Houston Texans active roster September 16, 2014.

Washington Redskins

Sapp signed a

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with the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...

on January 8, 2015. He was waived by the Redskins on May 4, 2015.

References

External links

Philadelphia Eagles bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sapp, Ricky 1986 births Living people People from Bamberg, South Carolina Players of American football from Columbia, South Carolina American football linebackers American football defensive ends Clemson Tigers football players Philadelphia Eagles players New York Jets players Houston Texans players Washington Redskins players