William Sutton (born October 3, 1991) 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 ...

player who was a

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 ...

in 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 selected by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

in the third round of the

2014 NFL draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

. 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 ...

for the

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the sport, athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's Varsity team, varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Divisi ...

. As a member of the 2012 team, Sutton earned Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and a consensus

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 ...

selection. In high school, he led the undefeated 2008 Centennial High School

California Interscholastic Federation The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is the governing body for high school sports in the U.S. state of California. CIF membership includes both public and private high schools. Unlike most other state organizations, it does not have s ...

(CIF) state championship football team in

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 ...

s. He is the son of Mickey Sutton.

Early life

As a sophomore at Centennial High School in

Corona, California Corona (Spanish language, Spanish for "Crown") is a city in northwestern Riverside County, California, United States, directly bordering Orange County, California, Orange and San Bernardino County, California, San Bernardino counties. Its curre ...

in 2006, he totaled 11

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

for the

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

team. Centennial finished the 2007 season with a 13–2 record and ranked 24 by ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

''. Sutton had 48 tackles for the 2007 team. The undefeated 2008 Huskies team won a

(CIF) state championship with the help of quarterback Taylor Martinez and Vontaze Burfict. The team finished the 2008 season ranked No. 2 in the nation by ''USA Today''. Sutton totaled 101 tackles, led the state champions with 11.5

s and had four blocked punts. Sutton was one of five Arizona State signees (three from class of 2008) from Centennial High School along with fellow Class of 2009 recruit Burfict.

College career

When he arrived at Arizona State, Sutton was expected to serve as a backup to returning

Freshman All-American Underclass All-American is an honorific for high school and college athletes for excellence in competition. The athletes recognized with this title are considered the best players of a specific season in their sport that are members of a given cla ...

Lawrence Guy. As a true freshman for the 2009 Sun Devils, Sutton played 12 games, including 2 starts, at a playing weight of . That season, against

Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

on October 10, 2009, both of his tackles were for a loss resulting in a quarterback sack and a forced

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful h ...

as part of a 27–14 victory. The following season, he dropped , but he was ruled academically ineligible. By 2010, Arizona had six Centennial players on the roster (

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 ...

s Burfict, Brandon Magee and Shelly Lyons,

defensive linemen 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 ...

Sutton and Lee Adams and

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

Angelo Magee), who were dubbed the Corona Six-Pack, a reference to the municipality and

Corona Beer Corona is a Mexican brand of beer produced by Grupo Modelo in Mexico and exported to markets around the world. Constellation Brands is the exclusive licensee and sole importer of Corona in the fifty states of the United States, Washington, D.C ...

. For the 2011 season, he cut down to . In the September 8, 2012 45–14 victory against

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, Sutton had 8 tackles, 3 for a loss (including a quarterback sack). In the September 29, 27–17 victory against

Cal Cal or CAL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Cal'' (novel), a 1983 novel by Bernard MacLaverty * "Cal" (short story), a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov * ''Cal'' (1984 film), an Irish drama starring John Lynch and Helen Mir ...

, he had 8 tackles, 4 for a loss (including three quarterback sacks and a forced fumble) and earned

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

Defensive Player of the Week on October 1. In the following game, which resulted in a 51–17 victory against

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

on October 11, Sutton posted 3 tackles for a loss, including 2 quarterback sacks. In the December 29, 2012 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl against

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

, Sutton had 3.5 tackles for a loss, including 2.5 sacks. Sutton was among the 2012 national statistical leaders in both sacks and tackles for a loss, and he helped the Arizona State defense rank among the national leaders in team sacks. He earned first-team All-Pac-12 defensive lineman recognition for the

2012 Pac-12 Conference football season The 2012 Pac-12 Conference football season began on August 30, 2012, with 2012 Northern Colorado Bears football team, Northern Colorado at 2012 Utah Utes football team, Utah. The conference's first game was played on September 15 with 2012 USC T ...

by the Pac-12 head coaches as well as by

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the American sports programming division of Paramount Global that is responsible for sports broadcasts carried by its broadcast network CBS and streaming service Paramount+, as well as the operator of its cable channel CBS Sports N ...

. That season, he was named the 2012 Pac-12 Pat Tillman Defensive Player of the Year by the conference coaches as well as the conference Defensive Player of the Year by

. He was then selected to various

2012 College Football All-America Team The 2012 College Football All-America Team includes those players of American college football who have been honored by various selector organizations as the best players at their respective positions. The selector organizations award the "All- ...

s, earning consensus All-American recognition. He was the fifteenth different Sun Devil and first since Thomas Weber in 2007 to earn the honor. The following organizations chose him to their first team:

American Football Coaches Association The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) is an association of over 11,000 American football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "mainta ...

, the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

(AP),

Athlon Sports Parade Media (previously known as AMG/Parade and Athlon Media Group) is a publisher founded in 1967 that is based in Nashville, Tennessee. Nashville's Spencer Hays was its majority stockholder. It was purchased by The Arena Group in 2022 and no ...

, CBSSports.com, ''

Lindy's Sports ''Lindy's Sports'', also known as ''Lindy's'', is a sports magazine. It was established in 1982, and is located in Birmingham, Alabama. Lindy Davis is its publisher and founder, having started the magazine when he was a 26-year-old student at S ...

'', ''

Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

'', ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

''. He was also chosen to the second team by FoxSportsNext.com (formerly Scout.com) and

Walter Camp Football Foundation The Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit ...

. He was also the co-winner of the

Morris Trophy Coaches of the Pac-12 Conference bestow the following awards at the end of each football season. The conference was founded in its current form as the Athletic Association of Western Universities in 1959, but traces its roots to the Pacific Coast C ...

, by vote of the Pac-12 conference's offensive linemen. On January 8, 2013, Sutton announced that he will return to

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

to play out his senior year. For the season, he had 10.5 tackles for a loss, including 3 sacks, and repeated Pat Tillman Defensive Player of the Year and first team All-Pac-12 Team. Following the regular season, he earned first team All-American recognition by the AP, CBSSports.com, ''

'', second team recognition by Athlon Sports, and honorable mention recognition by ''Sports Illustrated''.

Statistics

Professional career

Chicago Bears

Sutton was selected by the

with the 82nd overall pick in the third round of the

. He signed a four-year deal on May 15, 2014, which rendered the Bears to be the first team to sign their whole draft class. On September 7, he posted his first tackle in the season opener 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 ...

. In Week 3 against the

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

, he made his first career start while

Jeremiah Ratliff Jeremiah Jerome Ratliff (born August 29, 1981), formerly known as Jay Ratliff, is an American former professional American football, football player who was a nose tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys and Chicago ...

was enduring the effects of a concussion. Sutton suffered an ankle injury in Week 10 of the 2016 season and was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

on November 15, 2016. On May 11, 2017, he was released by the Bears.

Minnesota Vikings

On May 17, 2017, Sutton signed with 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 ...

. He was released on September 2, 2017.

San Francisco 49ers

On July 25, 2018, Sutton signed with the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

. He was released on August 31, 2018.

Arizona Hotshots

On September 14, Sutton was revealed as a new signing for the

Arizona Hotshots The Arizona Hotshots were a professional American football franchise based in Tempe, Arizona, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which played one season from February 2019 to April 2019. They played their ...

of the

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan area ...

for the 2019 season. The league ceased operations in April 2019. Sutton was credited with 15 tackles, a sack, and two pass knockdowns in 8 games.

Seattle Dragons

On October 15, 2019, Sutton was selected by the

Seattle Dragons The Seattle Sea Dragons were a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. The Sea Dragons competed in the second incarnation of the XFL (2020), XFL. The team was founded by Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment as the Seat ...

of the XFL in the 2020 XFL Draft. He was named to the mid-season All-XFL team after recording 15 tackles and a sack. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.

Notes

External links

Arizona State Sun Devils bioSutton (college)
at

Sutton (NFL)
at

ESPN.com ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN. It is owned by ESPN Internet Ventures, a division of ESPN Inc. History Since launching in April 1995 as ESPNET.SportsZone.com (ESPNET SportsZone), the website has developed numerous sections including ...

Sutton
at

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutton, Will 1991 births Living people Players of American football from Corona, California American football defensive tackles All-American college football players Arizona State Sun Devils football players Chicago Bears players Minnesota Vikings players San Francisco 49ers players Arizona Hotshots players Seattle Dragons players Centennial High School (Corona, California) alumni