Rufus Alexander (born April 12, 1983) 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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

. He was selected by 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 ...

in the sixth round of the

2007 NFL draft The 2007 NFL draft was the 72nd annual meeting of National Football League franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 28 and April 29, 2007. The draf ...

. He was also a member of the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

and

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

. He played

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Early life

Alexander was raised by a mother who worked all of the time to support her family while his father was in prison. His oldest brother was in and out of legal trouble and the middle brother was following suit. Alexander met the Barham family, David and Melinda, while he was in

junior high Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

. In need of a stable living environment, the Barhams spoke to Alexander's mother, Seine, about having Alexander move in with them. The Barhams never legally adopted Alexander. David Barham accepted a job as the football coach at Christian Life Academy in

Baton Rouge, LA Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

and he brought Alexander with him. Alexander became a dominant player, leading his team to district titles his junior and senior year. Barham began to actively pursue colleges on his behalf as Alexander was listed as a top 20 high school linebacker. Barham initiated contact with Oklahoma's

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Brent Venables Thomas Brent Venables (born December 18, 1970) is an American college football coach who is the head football coach at the University of Oklahoma, a position he has held since the 2022 season. Venables served as the associate head coach, defensiv ...

in December 2001. The Sooners offered Alexander a scholarship and he chose Oklahoma over several other offers.

College career

He played for the

Oklahoma Sooners football The Oklahoma Sooners football team represents the University of Oklahoma (OU) in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The program began in 1895 and is one of the most succ ...

team from 2003 to 2006. In 2006, Alexander was named to the All-

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

First-team, the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, and an AP and AFCA

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

Professional career

Minnesota Vikings

Alexander was selected by the

in the sixth round (176th overall) of the

. Alexander was injured in the Vikings first preseason game of 2007 and suffered a torn ACL, resulting in season-ending surgery. After the 2008 preseason, Alexander was released. He was re-signed to the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

on September 23. The Vikings promoted him to their active roster on October 19 when they waived

Erin Henderson Erin Henderson (born July 1, 1986) is a former American football linebacker who played in National Football League (NFL). He is currently an assistant linebackers coach at Avila University. He was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted f ...

. The Vikings waived Alexander two days later and re-signed Henderson. Alexander was signed back to the practice squad on October 23.

Indianapolis Colts

Alexander was signed off the Vikings' practice squad by the

on December 2, 2008. On December 26, 2008, he was cut from the Colts' active roster and then signed back onto the Colts' practice squad on December 30, 2008. Following the season, he was re-signed to a future contract on January 5, 2009. He was waived by the team on May 4.

Detroit Lions

Alexander signed with the

on August 28, 2009. He was cut by the Lions on September 5, 2009.

Personal life

Son Darrien Alexander was born May 17, 2007, He is a cousin of NFL

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

Gerald Alexander Gerald Alexander (born June 28, 1984) is an American football coach and former safety. He played college football for the Boise State Broncos, and was selected by the Detroit Lions in the second round of the 2007 NFL draft. He also played for t ...

References

External links

Indianapolis Colts bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Rufus 1983 births Living people People from Breaux Bridge, Louisiana Players of American football from Louisiana American football linebackers Oklahoma Sooners football players Minnesota Vikings players Indianapolis Colts players Detroit Lions players