LaVar Arrington

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LaVar Arrington
LaVar Arrington as a Nittany Lion on a Sports Illustrated cover.
Date of birth	June 20, 1978
Place of birth	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Position(s)	Linebacker
College	Penn State
NFL Draft	2000 / Round 1/ Pick 2
Pro Bowls	2001, 2002, 2003
Awards	1999 Bednarik Award 1999 Butkus Award
Statistics	NFL.com DatabaseFootball ESPN Sports Illustrated
Team(s)
2000-2005 2006-present	Washington Redskins New York Giants

LaVar RaShad Arrington (born June 20, 1978 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is a professional football player, a linebacker, who plays for the New York Giants in the NFL. Arrington was drafted as the second choice overall in the 2000 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins behind Penn State teammate Courtney Brown. Arrington, a college standout at Penn State, was elected as a starter for the NFC in three consecutive Pro Bowls from 2001-2003. He began playing football at Pittsburgh's North Hills Senior High School.

1 College
2 NFL
3 High School
4 Personal
5 Career statistics
6 External links

[edit] College

His career as a college football player at Penn State earned him numerous awards. He wore the number 11 in college. He was an All Big-Ten selection, twice a first team All-American, and he won the 1999 Chuck Bednarik and Dick Butkus awards for his defensive prowess. Among his many outstanding plays, he is most famous for a spectacular play that has come to be known as "The LaVar Leap". During a game against the Illinois, Arrington anticipated the snap on a fourth-and-short play, leaping over the offensive line and tackling the runner in the backfield.

Highlight reel plays such as these, along with Arrington's appearance on the cover of the Sports Illustrated 1999 College Football Preview Issue led many to mention him as a possible Heisman Trophy candidate. [1] Arrington did finish 9th in the Heisman balloting that year, somewhat rare for a defensive player.

[edit] NFL

After four prolific seasons with the Redskins, Arrington signed an eight-year, $68 million contract extension with his club, ensuring a steady anchor at the linebacker position. Arrington was one of the Redskins' most popular and visible players—his #56 jersey outselling all other jerseys combined in the team's stores. However, his agents, the infamous Carl and Kevin Poston, neglected to inspect the final revision of the contract, in which $6.5 million worth of bonuses contained in earlier drafts were missing. The ensuing battle over the mishandling of his contract, along with a tempestuous final two seasons in which he suffered from knee injuries and was benched by head coach Joe Gibbs and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams for freelancing, created a rift between Arrington and the team. On March 5, 2006, he asked to be released by the Redskins, in essence paying the Redskins over $4 million to buy his free agency. Carl Poston was given a two-year suspension by the players' union over the mishandling of Arrington's contract.

In April 2006, Arrington agreed to a seven-year, $49 million contract with the New York Giants. There, Arrington will be reunited with fellow Redskin expatriate, linebacker Antonio Pierce, along with his Penn State teammate and flanker, linebacker Brandon Short.

Arrington suffered an injury in week 7 against the Cowboys and was slated to miss the rest of the season with a ruptured Achilles tendon.

[edit] High School

Arrington is widely considered one of the greatest high school football players ever to emerge from western Pennsylvania. As a senior linebacker and running back at [[North Hills High School in Pittsburgh he was named the 1996 Parade National Player of the Year, the Bobby Dodd National Offensive Player of the Year, the Gatorade Player of the Year and USA Today Pennsylvania Player of the Year. He was only the second player in Pennsylvania Class 4-A history to rush for more than 4,000 career yards, with 4,357 on 711 carries (6.1-yard avg.) and 72 touchdowns. Arrington was also the MVP of the U.S. Army All-America Bowl.^{[citation needed]}

Arrington was also a tremendous athlete in basketball and track and field. He was recruited to play basketball by Georgetown, UMass and North Carolina.[2]

[edit] Personal

Arrington's quick movement, powerful tackling, and aggressive nature once earned him the nickname "The Killa" among his fans.^{[citation needed]} More recently he himself suggested the nickname "Mr. Nickels" after choosing to wear uniform #55 over the #56 he wore in Washington, out of respect for Giant's Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor.[3]

Arrington was named in honor of LeVar Burton, following his portrayal of Kunta Kinte in the 1977 television miniseries Roots. He has an older brother, Michael, who played basketball at Slippery Rock University and a younger brother, Eric. His father, Michael, is an ordained minister retired from the military while his mother, Carolyn, is a special education teacher in the Pittsburgh public school system.[4]

Arrington appears in several televisions commercials for Easterns Motors with fellow athletes Carmelo Anthony, Clinton Portis, Sean Taylor, and Antawn Jamison. [5] He also appeared on a 2002 episode of the TLC program While You Were Out, where he helped redesign a room for his brother, Michael.

[edit] Career statistics

Year	Team	G	Tackles	Sacks	INTs	INTTDs	FFums	DefTDs	PD
2000-01	Washington	16	55	4.0	0	0	0	0	4
2001-02	Washington	14	99	0.5	3	1	0	1	9
2002-03	Washington	16	95	11	0	0	4	1	8
2003-04	Washington	16	90	6	0	0	6	0	11
2004-05	Washington	4	15	1	0	0	0	0	2
2005-06	Washington	13	47	0	0	0	0	0	1
2006-07	NY Giants	6	14	1	0	0	0	0	3
Totals		85	412	23.5	3	1	10	2	34