Richard "Scooter" Berry (born June 28, 1986) is a professional football

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 formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is p ...

who is currently a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player 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 contract at present but who is a ...

. He played college football for the

West Virginia Mountaineers The West Virginia Mountaineers are the athletic teams that represent West Virginia University, an American university located in Morgantown, West Virginia. The school is a member of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I. The Mou ...

. He was originally signed by the Houston Texans of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL).

Early life

Berry attended North Babylon High School, where he played

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, pl ...

and fullback as a senior for the 10-1 team. He was an all- Long Island selection while recording 68 tackles and 7 sacks on defense, then rushing for 1,341 career yards and 20 career touchdowns. He was a three-time all-county and two-time all-state selection. Berry was recruited primarily as a fullback, due to weighing 245 lbs. (which was too small for a traditional defensive lineman and too big for a linebacker). Berry was being offered by

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifi ...

Central Florida Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, including the Tampa Bay area and the ...

and

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, but eventually signed his

letter of intent A letter of intent (LOI or LoI, or Letter of Intent) is a document outlining the understanding between two or more parties which they intend to formalize in a legally binding agreement. The concept is similar to a heads of agreement, term sh ...

with

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State Coll ...

Collegiate career

Freshman season (2006)

Berry redshirted his true freshman season of 2006. That season, he won the Danny Van Etten Award for the scout team player of the year on defense along with J.T. Thomas.

Redshirt-Freshman season (2007)

Berry earned the starting job on the three-man defensive line, along with

Keilen Dykes Keilen Lee Dykes (born September 6, 1984) is a former American football defensive end. He was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He played college football at West Virginia. Early years As a senior in high school, Dykes earned All-Ohio, ...

and

Johnny Dingle Johnny Dingle (born November 9, 1984) is a former American football defensive lineman. He played collegiately at West Virginia. He was undrafted in the 2008 NFL Draft. Dingle was one of the league's most sought after undrafted rookie free ...

, from the beginning of the season. Berry finished his freshman season with 27 total tackles, a sack, and 4.5 tackles for a loss. He also forced a fumble and led the team with three fumble recoveries. Berry was named to the rivals.com and collegefootballnews.com Freshman All-American teams at the end of the season.

Redshirt-Sophomore season (2008)

Berry returned to the three-man defensive line in 2008 as a three-year sophomore and one of the most experienced players on the defense. Scooter Berry finished the season as a second-team All-

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and M ...

selection - totaling 34 tackles, 3.5 sacks, two fumble recoveries, and a forced fumble.

Redshirt-Junior season (2009)

Berry's Junior season was broken up by a shoulder injury on September 12 in a game against ECU.

Redshirt-Senior season (2010)

Scooter Berry underwent shoulder surgery in the offseason, and returned for his senior year to make an immediate impact. Berry finished the season as a second-team All-

selection - totaling 35 tackles, 4.5 for a loss, and 4 sacks.

Professional career

After going undrafted in the

2011 NFL Draft The 2011 NFL Draft was the 76th installment of the annual NFL Draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York ...

Berry signed with the Houston Texans, however he was cut before the season started. He then signed with the

Jacksonville Sharks The Jacksonville Sharks are a professional Indoor American football, indoor football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, playing their home games at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. Beginning in 2017, the Sharks began play as charter members o ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

. During the 2012 season he recorded an AFL rookie record 13 sacks. After the season, he signed with the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

on September 20, 2012. On March 21, 2015, Berry was traded to the Los Angeles KISS for future considerations. On April 8, 2015, Berry was traded to the

for James McClinton.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berry, Scooter Living people 1986 births People from Bay Shore, New York Players of American football from Suffolk County, New York West Virginia Mountaineers football players American football defensive linemen Jacksonville Sharks players Montreal Alouettes players Orlando Predators players Los Angeles Kiss players