Terron Armstead (born July 23, 1991) is an

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 ...

offensive tackle for the

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

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). He was drafted by the Saints in the third round of the

2013 NFL Draft The 2013 NFL Draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall i ...

. He played college football at Arkansas–Pine Bluff. Armstead was named HBCU Top 30 Under 30 by HBCU Buzz, in July 2014.

Early years

A native of

Cahokia, Illinois Cahokia was a village in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. It was located east of the Mississippi River in the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, 15,241 people lived in the village, a decline from 16,391 in 20 ...

, Armstead attended

Cahokia High School Cahokia High School is a public high school in Cahokia Heights, Illinois Cahokia Heights is a city in St. Clair County, Illinois, St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. It was founded on May 6, 2021, by the merger of the villages of Cahoki ...

, where he was a letterman in football and track. He grew from a 6-2, 250-pound offensive lineman as a junior to a 6-4, 300-pound senior, leading Comanches to an 11-2 record and league title, earning All-Southern Seven Conference and All-Class 5A selection. In

track & 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 ...

, Armstead was named the News-Democrat Track & Field Athlete of the Year after capturing the state title in the

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 ...

event with a throw. He also threw the discus.

College career

Armstead enrolled in the

University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) is a public historically black university in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Founded in 1873, it is the second oldest public college or university in the state of Arkansas. UAPB is part of the University o ...

, where he played for the UAPB Golden Lions football team from 2009 to 2012. He was an All-

Southwestern Athletic Conference The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is a collegiate athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which is made up of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southern United States. It participates ...

(SWAC) selection during his final three seasons at Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Track and field

Armstead was also on the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions track & field team, where he competed as a shot putter, discus thrower and hammer thrower. He got a personal-record of 18.73 meters in the

at the 2012 NCAA West Regional, placing 10th. At the 2012 Pepsi Florida Relays, he placed 4th in the

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an ancient sport, as demonstrated by t ...

with a career-best throw of 50.37 meters.

Professional career

At the 2013

NFL Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Footba ...

, Armstead ran a 4.71-second

40-yard dash The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed and acceleration of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL Draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time can have a he ...

, which was the fastest 40-yard dash time of any

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numb ...

at the combine since it first began in 1982.

New Orleans Saints

Armstead was drafted in the third round, with the 75th overall pick, of the

by the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

, making him the highest draft pick ever out of Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The pick was announced by retired Saint Steve Gleason, at the time using a wheelchair and a computerized voice due to his advanced

ALS Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...

. On May 9, 2013, the Saints signed Armstead to a four-year, $2.86 million contract, with a $617,436 signing bonus. Armstead began his rookie season as the back up left tackle behind Charles Brown. On September 22, 2013, he played in his first regular season game against the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division, an ...

. On December 22, 2013, he received his first start against the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

. He remained the starting left tackle for the last four games of the Saints season. Armstead began the 2014 season as the Saints' starting left tackle after Charles Brown left during the off season via free agency. He started the first 14 games of the season but missed the last two, due to injury. Armstead returned as the Saints' starting left tackle for the 2015 season and started the first four games. After missing two games due to an injury, he returned Week 7 to play the next 9 games in a row. Armstead also missed the last game of the season against the Atlanta Falcons. Armstead was voted as a Pro Bowl alternate in 2015. After a promising season, he was rated the third-best offensive tackle in all of football in 2015 by

Pro Football Focus Pro Football Focus (also written as ProFootballFocus, and often referred to by its initials, PFF) is a sports analytics company that focuses on thorough analysis of the National Football League (NFL) and NCAA Division-I football in the United Sta ...

. On May 3, 2016, Armstead and the Saints agreed to a five-year, $65 million contract extension. The contract is guaranteed for $38 million and includes an $11 million signing bonus. After starting the first two games of the 2016 season, Armstead was unable to play for Weeks 3 and 4 after suffering a knee injury. He was placed on injured reserve on December 14, 2016. On June 14, 2017, during minicamp, Armstead suffered a torn labrum which required surgery, which was expected to make him miss 4–6 months. He returned earlier than expected, however, and started ten games at left tackle during the regular season. Armstead was placed on the reserve/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

list by the team on November 28, 2020, and activated on December 9.

Miami Dolphins

On March 22, 2022, the

signed Armstead to a five-year, $75 million deal worth up to $87.5 million, with $43.37 million in guaranteed money.

References

External links

New Orleans Saints bio

Arkansas–Pine Bluff Golden Lions bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Armstead, Terron 1991 births Living people American football offensive tackles Arkansas–Pine Bluff Golden Lions football players New Orleans Saints players Miami Dolphins players People from Cahokia, Illinois Players of American football from Illinois Sportspeople from Greater St. Louis National Conference Pro Bowl players Ed Block Courage Award recipients American Conference Pro Bowl players