DeMeco Ryans

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DeMeco Ryans
Date of birth	July 28, 1984 (age 22)
Place of birth	Bessemer, Alabama
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight	236 lb (107 kg)
Position(s)	LB
College	Alabama
NFL Draft	2006 / Round 2 / Pick 33
Career Highlights
Awards	2006 NFL Defensive ROY 2006 NCAA Top Eight Award 2006 Cotton Bowl Def. MVP 2005 SEC Def. P.O.Y. 2005 Lott Trophy
Honors	2005 All-American 2005 First Team All-SEC
Stats
Statistics	CBS.com ESPN
Team(s)
2006–present	Houston Texans

DeMeco Ryans (born July 28, 1984, in Bessemer, Alabama) is an American football player for the Houston Texans. He was drafted as the first pick of the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft.

1 High school career
2 College career
3 Professional career
- 3.1 Pro Career Statistics (Defense)
4 Awards and Honors
5 References
6 External links

[edit] High school career

Ryans attended Jess Lanier High School in Bessemer, Alabama, where he was coached by Willie T. Ford.

[edit] College career

Ryans played outside linebacker at the University of Alabama. He was named the 2006 Cotton Bowl defensive MVP in their 13-10 win over Texas Tech. DeMeco also received the Lott Trophy for his combination of athletic excellence and off-the-field achievements.

[edit] Professional career

Ryans began his NFL career in 2006 with the Houston Texans. Though he had been an outside linebacker in college, he earned the starting middle linebacker position due to his excellent performance in the preseason. In his first game he recorded a league-high 12 solo tackles. Ryans had an overwhelming impact as a rookie linebacker for the Texans, leading the team in tackles in the first half of the 2006 season. Many Texans fans have called him “D-Wreck” for his toughness and hard hits; another popular nickname is D-ROY, intended to promote Ryans for the NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Year award.

On January 3, 2007, Ryans was awarded the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award after leading the league with 156 solo tackles, 33 more tackles than the next rookie (Detroit Lions linebacker Ernie Sims). He received 36 of 50 votes by a nationwide panel of sports writers and broadcasters. Chicago Bears defensive end Mark Anderson, who was Ryan's teammate at Alabama, finished second with five votes. ^[1]