Adrian Clayborn

Adrian Clayborn (born July 6, 1988), a native of St. Louis, Missouri, is an American football defensive end for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Personal life

Clayborn was born with a condition known as Erb's Palsy, something that is caused during birth by an injury to the nerves surrounding a child's shoulder. Because his head and neck were pulled to the side as his shoulders passed through the birth canal, he suffered nerve damage resulting in the loss of some movement and weakness in his right arm.^[1] Clayborn underwent physical therapy throughout his young life and eventually overcame the limitations caused by the disorder.

When Adrian was 10, his older brother, Anthony, was shot and killed in northern St. Louis.^[2]

Clayborn was arrested, Thursday March 19, 2009, in Iowa City, and was charged with assault causing bodily injury.^[3] It was later determined he was provoked by a racist slur used by the cab driver.^[4] Clayborn plead guilty to disorderly conduct, served no time in jail and was fined $100. The assault charge was dismissed.^[5]

High school career

Clayborn attended high school at Webster Groves High School, where he was a four-year letterman in football and basketball.

Awards and honors

• 2005 Missouri Player of the Year
• 2005 Missouri All-State
• 2004 Missouri All-State^[6]

Collegiate career

Clayborn took a redshirt year in 2006, his first season at Iowa. In 2007, Clayborn became a second-string defensive lineman and saw action in several games on special teams. In 2008, Clayborn saw substantial playing time, recording 8 tackles for loss and 50 total tackles. In 2009, Clayborn had a breakout year with 20 tackles for loss. In a dominant effort against Georgia Tech, Clayborn was named Orange Bowl MVP.^[7]

Heading into 2010, Clayborn was listed on the preseason watch list for several awards.^[8] ESPN, Playboy Magazine, Sporting News, College Football Insiders, Lidy's and Phil Steele all selected Clayborn for their pre-season first team All American lists.

On October 2, 2010, Clayborn had his first break-out game of 2010. He had three tackles for loss against Penn State despite being triple-teamed for parts of the game. His play earned him Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week.^[9] On November 10, 2010, Clayborn was named one of four finalists for the Rotary Lombardi Award.^[10]

While preparing for the 2010 Insight Bowl, Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz announced that Clayborn was one of three Hawkeyes invited to attend the Senior Bowl, college football's pre-draft event featuring seniors with NFL prospects.^[11]

Awards and honors

2010

• Consensus First-team All-American by NCAA,^[12] AFCA^[13] and Walter Camp.^[14]
• First Team All-Big Ten (Coaches, Media)^[15]
• American Football Coaches Association First Team All-American^[16]
• Ted Hendricks Award Finalist^[17]
• Rotary Lombardi Award Finalist
• Rotary Lombardi Award Pre-season Watch List
• Bednarik Award Semi-finalist^[18]
• Bednarik Award Pre-season Watch List
• Walter Camp Player of the Year Watch List
• Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List ^[19]
• Playboy Magazine Pre-season All-America Team selection^[20]
• College Football Performance Award Honorable Mention^[21]
• Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week – Oct. 4, 2010

2009

• Big Ten Player of the Week – Oct. 25, 2009
• Big Ten Defensive Player of The Week^[22]
• 2010 Orange Bowl MVP

Professional career

Measureables

2011 NFL Draft

Clayborn was drafted in the 1st round (20th overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers became the first team to sign their first-round pick, agreeing to contract terms on a four-year deal with defensive end Adrian Clayborn, according to ESPN. Clayborn recorded his first sack in week 3 of the 2011 season against the Atlanta Falcons. His sack on Matt Ryan also caused a fumble recovered by fellow teammate Michael Bennett.

References

External links

• Tampa Bay Buccaneers bio
• Iowa Hawkeyes bio
• NFL Combine profile
• ESPN College Football stats