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Haloti Ngata (ŋata) (born January 21, 1984 in Inglewood, California) is a football player for the Baltimore Ravens. Ngata, of Tongan ancestry,[1] was a starting defensive tackle for the University of Oregon before he entered the 2006 NFL Draft when he was drafted by the Ravens with the 12th pick in the first round, who acquired the pick from the Cleveland Browns for their first round pick and a sixth round pick. In January, 2007, Ngata was voted to the Pro Football Weekly PFWA All-Rookie team as a starting defensive tackle as well as Rick Gosselin's All-Rookie team featured in the Dallas Morning News.
[edit] High School Years
Ngata attended Highland High School in Salt Lake City, Utah and was a three-year starter on the defensive line. As a senior, he was a first team USA Today All-USA selection. He played in the 2002 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
Ngata also played rugby in high school, and helped lead his high school team to the National Rugby Championship. He was thrown out of the championship match for unnecessary roughness. [2]
[edit] College
Ngata originally gave a verbal commitment to play for BYU, but surprised the Cougars by signing with Oregon on the National Letter of Intent Day. Ngata tore his anterior cruciate ligament on a punt coverage play in 2003 and missed the rest of that season. But over the next two seasons, Ngata became one of the best players in college football. Ngata totaled 107 tackles, 17.5 tackles for a loss, and 6.5 sacks total in the 2004 and 2005 seasons and was a consensus All-American pick in 2005, Oregon's first in 43 years. Ngata also earned praise as a dangerous special teams player, blocking 7 kicks during his 3 year career at Oregon.
[edit] Professional career
[edit] Baltimore Ravens
Ngata decided to leave Oregon a year early because his mother, 'Ofa, was in the early stages of kidney dialysis. However, she died from her illness on January 13, 2006.[3]
Ngata was selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the first round (12th overall) in the 2006 NFL Draft, becoming only the second player to be drafted by the team out of Oregon. On July 28th, 2006, Ngata ended a brief contract holdout by agreeing to a 5 year contract worth up to $14 million with the Baltimore Ravens. In his rookie season, he started in all 16 games and finished the campaign with 31 tackles, one sack and an interception. He made his NFL debut on September 10 at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The following season, he made 63 tackles and three sacks.[4]
[edit] Personal
Ngata is the cousin of USC Trojans defensive tackle Fili Moala. Another of his cousins, defensive tackle Simi Fili, will attend the University of Oregon and is expected to contribute right away.
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ Lisiate Wolfgramm, "Gentle Giant", Planet-Tonga.com, undated.
- ^ Bitonti, "Who Is Haloti Ngata?", Draft Daddy, January 10th, 2006.
- ^ http://www.registerguard.com/news/2006/04/12/printable/d1.sp.ngata.0412.09Tx43FP.phtml?section=sports "Physical Therapy: Haloti Ngata mourns his mother while preparing for NFL draft"],The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR), April 12, 2006.
- ^ {http://www.nfl.com/players/halotingata/profile?id=NGA622937}
[edit] External links
