William Rackley III (born October 11, 1989) 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 ...

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative (Netherlands), Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tende ...

. He was selected by the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

in the third round of the

2011 NFL draft The 2011 NFL draft was the 76th installment of the annual National Football League draft, 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 Rad ...

. 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 ...

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU), in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, is a private university, private research university. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been mixed ...

Early life

Rackley was born in

Athens, Greece Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. He attended Riverdale High School in

Riverdale, Georgia Riverdale is a city in Clayton County, Georgia, United States. The population was 15,129 in 2020. Riverdale is a suburb just south of Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport and is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. History The ...

, where he was a teammate of Cordy Glenn. He played

at Riverdale, earned first-team all-area honors as an

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 (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

and second-team all-area honors as a

defensive 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 (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line (D ...

. He was recruited by

Lafayette College Lafayette College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 18 ...

Colgate University Colgate University is a Private university, private college in Hamilton, New York, United States. The Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York ...

, and

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

, but ultimately chose to attend Lehigh. While at Lehigh, he was a member of

Delta Upsilon Delta Upsilon (), commonly known as DU, is a collegiate men's fraternity founded on November 4, 1834, at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It is the sixth-oldest, all-male, college Greek-letter organization founded in North America ...

fraternity.

College career

Rackley started in every game for the Mountain Hawks in each of his four seasons, the only one to do so in the last 20 years at Lehigh. Rackley started for coach

Andy Coen Andy Coen (June 20, 1964 – April 15, 2022) was an American college football coach. He was the head coach of the Lehigh Mountain Hawks football, Lehigh University Mountain Hawks football team in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, a position he held fro ...

in 2007, the first freshman to start at offensive line under Coen. Rackley earned first-team All-

Patriot League The Patriot League is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference comprising primarily leading Private university, private institutions of higher education and two United States service academies based in the Northeastern United ...

honors from 2008 to 2010. He received his

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

Design A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...

from Lehigh on May 23, 2011.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Along with

David Arkin David George Arkin (December 24, 1941 – January 14, 1991) was an American actor, known for his numerous supporting appearances in the films of Robert Altman. These roles were part of Altman's frequent ensemble and included Staff Sergeant Voll ...

, Ben Ijalana, and Brandon Fusco, Rackley was considered one of the best small-school offensive line prospects.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Rackley was selected in the third round with the 76th overall pick in the

by the

. He played 15 games in his rookie season, including 14 starts at left guard. In the 2012 preseason, right tackle Eben Britton was moved to Rackley's position of left guard. Rackley was then expected to contribute as a backup guard and center before suffering an injury. Rackley spent the 2012 season on injured reserve. In 2013, Rackley returned to the starting left guard position. He was placed on injured reserve on December 17, 2013. Rackley was released by the Jaguars on May 12, 2014.

Baltimore Ravens

Rackley signed with the Baltimore Ravens on May 19, 2014. The Ravens placed Rackley on injured reserve on August 25, 2014, with a concussion.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rackley, Will 1989 births Living people Players of American football from Riverdale, Georgia American football offensive guards Lehigh Mountain Hawks football players Jacksonville Jaguars players Baltimore Ravens players