Ryan Edward Baker (born November 25, 1984) 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 ...

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 ...

who played for the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

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 was originally signed by the Dolphins as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in 2009. 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 ...

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

Early life

Baker started off his career at Bishop Chatard High School in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, where he won several awards, including the 2004

Indianapolis Star Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County. Indianapolis is situated in the state's central till plain region along the west fork of ...

'Athlete of the Year'. He was a four-year two-way starter and two-time team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

for the Bishop Chatard Trojans. He led the team to three consecutive Indiana high school football class 3A State Championships in the 2001, 2002, and 2003 seasons. He was runner-up 2003 Mr. Indiana Football behin
Desmond Tardy
of Warren Central High School and participated in the 2004 Indiana All-Star Game. Baker was also a member of the 2004

U.S. Army All-American Bowl The All-American Bowl (currently branded as the Navy All-American Bowl for sponsorship reasons) is a high school football all-star game, held annually at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Typically played in January, the All-American Bowl is p ...

East Football team, along with former Dolphins teammates

Ted Ginn Jr. Theodore Ginn Jr. (born April 12, 1985) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Miami Dolphins, San Francisco 49ers, Carolina Panthers, Arizona Car ...

and

Chad Henne Chad Steven Henne (; born July 2, 1985) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a quarterback for 15 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines foo ...

. Baker was the recipient of the 2004

Doc Blanchard Felix Anthony "Doc" Blanchard (December 11, 1924 – April 19, 2009) was an American football player and serviceman who became the first junior to win the Heisman Trophy and Maxwell Award, and was the first football player to win the James E ...

Award for excellence in community service, education, and athletic distinction. Baker was also a four-year starter and member of the 2003 Bishop Chatard Indiana high school basketball 3A state championship team along with his childhood friend Dan Cage. At that time, Bishop Chatard was only the second high school in Indiana history to win both a state championship in football and basketball in the same academic year.

College career

Recruitment

During the 2003-2004 college recruiting season, Baker verbally committed to join the University of Notre Dame football program under head coach

Tyrone Willingham Lionel Tyrone Willingham (born December 30, 1953) is a former American football player and coach. He was the head coach at Stanford University (1995–2001), the University of Notre Dame (2002–2004), and the University of Washington (2005–2 ...

. The Notre Dame football program publicly announced the commitment though Baker had not submitted his official commitment papers. About seven weeks following the incident, Baker committed to joining the Purdue University football program, under head coach

Joe Tiller Joseph Henry Tiller (December 7, 1942 – September 30, 2017) was an American football offensive lineman and coach. He served as the head coach of the Calgary Stampeders as an interim head coach in 1976, University of Wyoming from 1991 to 1996, ...

, by submitting formal commitment papers to

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

. Baker, also being an accomplished

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player, was recruited by Division I basketball programs. He often received

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

offers from both the

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and

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 ...

programs of the same

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

. Though he was a successful multi-sport athlete, Baker chose to focus solely on Football.

Purdue

Baker played

(2004–2008). He was co-

along with Curtis Painter, and Jermaine Guynn for the 2008 football season and his position of specialty was

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

. During each home game of the 2008 season, " The Boilermaker" statue bore the number 90 jersey in honor of Baker's indomitable spirit and

Boilermaker A boilermaker is a Tradesman, tradesperson who Metal fabrication, fabricates steels, iron, or copper into boilers and other large containers intended to hold hot gas or liquid, as well as maintains and repairs boilers and boiler systems.Bure ...

style of football. Baker graduated from the

Krannert School of Management The Purdue University Daniels School of Business (formerly known as Krannert School of Management) is the school of business at Purdue University, a Public university, public research university in West Lafayette, Indiana. It offers instruction ...

with a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

Management Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a Government agency, government bodies through business administration, Nonprofit studies, nonprofit management, or the political s ...

in December 2008.

Professional career

Miami Dolphins

2009

After going undrafted in the

2009 NFL draft The 2009 NFL draft was the 74th 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. The draft c ...

, Baker signed with the

as an

on April 30, 2009. He was waived by the Dolphins during final cuts on September 5 and subsequently re-signed to the team's

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 ...

. Baker made his professional debut against the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

Ralph Wilson Stadium Highmark Stadium (also known colloquially as The Ralph) is a stadium in Orchard Park, New York, United States, in the Southtowns of the Buffalo, New York, Buffalo metropolitan area. It is the home venue of the Buffalo Bills of the National Footb ...

on November 29, 2009, after being signed to the active roster the previous day, recording a

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

his second

play from scrimmage A play from scrimmage is the sequence in the game of gridiron football during which one team tries to advance the ball, get a first down, or score, and the other team tries to stop them or take the ball away. Once a play is over, and before the ...

2010

Baker was waived during final cuts on September 4, 2010, and re-signed to the Dolphins' practice squad. He was soon reinstated to the active roster on September 18 after the team waived

Rob Rose.

2011

Baker was released from the team during week four of the season, on September 28, 2011, to make room for running back

Steve Slaton Steve Slaton (born January 4, 1986) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the West Virginia Mountaineers, earning unanimous All-American ...

. Baker was resigned to the team on November 30, 2011, and Igor Olshansky was subsequently released.

2012

On March 20, 2012, Baker was re-signed to a one-year contract. On August 31, 2012, he was released from the team during final cuts and later re-signed to the team during the second week of the season on September 12, 2012, in order to serve in a reserve role in place of the injured Tony McDaniel. Baker was again released from the reserve role during the third week of the season on September 18, 2012, and the team subsequently signed former

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 ...

defensive lineman Andre Fluellen. Ryan Baker of Miami Dolphins in 2012

Oakland Raiders

Baker signed with the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

on August 5, 2013. Baker was released on the Raiders' final cut day.

Personal life

During the summer, The Ryan Baker Foundation hosts the annua
Ryan Baker Football Camp
for youth football players in the

area.Chatard grad Baker comes back, gives back
/ref>

References

External links

Miami Dolphins bioNews and Info Feed for Ryan BakerThe Ryan Baker Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Ryan 1984 births Living people Players of American football from Indianapolis American football defensive tackles American football defensive ends Purdue Boilermakers football players Miami Dolphins players Oakland Raiders players Bishop Chatard High School alumni