Niko Koutouvides
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| Denver Broncos — No. 53 | |
| Linebacker | |
| Date of birth: March 25, 1981 | |
| Place of birth: Plainville, Connecticut | |
| Height: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | Weight: 244 lb (111 kg) |
| National Football League debut | |
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| 2004 for the Seattle Seahawks | |
| Career history | |
| College: Purdue | |
| NFL Draft: 2004 / Round: 4 / Pick: 116 | |
Teams:
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| Current status: Active | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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| Selected NFL statistics (through Week 17 of the 2007 NFL season) |
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| Tackles | 111 |
| Sacks | 1.0 |
| INTs | 0 |
| Stats at NFL.com | |
Niko Stelios Koutouvides (born March 25, 1981 in Plainville, Connecticut) is an American football linebacker for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League. He was originally drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the fourth round of the 2004 NFL Draft. He played college football at Purdue.
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[edit] Early years
Koutouvides attended Plainville High School in Plainville, Connecticut and was a student and a letterman in football. In football, he was named the team's Most Valuable Player, was an All-Conference selection, and an All-State Honorable Mention selection.
[edit] Postgraduate school
Koutouvides attended Milford Academy, a postgraduate school in 1999 and was a student and a letterman in football. In football, he led team in sacks and finished second on team in tackles.
[edit] College career
At Purdue, he started in 32 of 50 games. His career stats include 296 tackles (180 solo), 21½ tackles for a loss, five interceptions, four sacks, four fumble recoveries, and four forced fumbles. In 2002, Koutouvides was named first team All-Big Ten by the media and second team by the coaches after starting every game at middle linebacker his senior year, and he was given the Hammer award for outstanding (outstanding tackler) in the spring season twice. Niko finished second on the team with 101 tackles (57 solo), including 5.5 stops for losses, intercepted two passes and knocked down four, and caused and recovered a fumble. As a junior, he started all 13 games and notched career-high 121 tackles (80 solo) to lead the team. He had team-high 11.5 tackles for loss, including four sacks. Knocked down three passes and intercepted three, posted at least 11 tackles in six games, and saw action in every game his first two seasons in a reserve role with 74 tackles, four fumble recoveries, and three forced fumbles. He majored in Organizational Leadership and Supervision.
[edit] Professional career
[edit] Seattle Seahawks
Koutouvides was taken with the 20th pick in the fourth round (118th overall) of the 2004 NFL Draft, becoming only the third player in Seahawks history to be drafted from Purdue University and the first since 1990 (T Bill Hitchcock). During his rookie year in the NFL, he played in every game, mostly on special teams, but started the last two games of the season vs. Arizona (12/26) and vs. Atlanta (1/2). He led the team with 16 special teams tackles and totaled 46 stops (38 solo) with one sack at linebacker, and he posted a career-high nine tackles (eight solo) at the New York Jets (12/19) and first-career sack came vs. Miami (11/21). At the Wild Card Game vs. St. Louis (1/8/05), he posted five tackles (three solo). In 2005, he played in 12 games, mostly on special teams, where he collected 10 stops. He saw time at linebacker at Philadelphia (12/5) and vs. San Francisco (12/11) with a tackle in each game. He also played all three postseason games with seven special teams tackles.
[edit] Denver Broncos
On March 3, 2008, Koutouvides signed a three-year, $7.5 million contract with the Denver Broncos.
[edit] Personal
Koutouvides comes from a close knit family, his father is a Greek restaurateur from Tanzania. Growing up Koutouvides and his two other brothers used to work as a busboys in the family owned restaurant, The Stonewell, located in Farmington, CT. His mother's side of the family is from Kefalonia in Greek Islands. His paternal grandfather's side of the family fled during the Greek-Turkish War and settled in Africa as many Greek refugees from Asia Minor did so back then. That's how his father grew up in Tanzania. His parents ended up in Connecticut and Niko attended Greek school in New Britain for six years. In the off season, Niko comes back to Connecticut to visit family. He's now engaged to marry
