Sebastian Vollmer

Sebastian Vollmer

Sebastian Vollmer at minicamp 2009
No. 76     New England Patriots
Offensive tackle
Personal information
Date of birth: (1984-07-10) July 10, 1984
Place of birth: Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Height: 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) Weight: 320 lb (145 kg)
Career information
High school: Quirinus Gymnasium[Note 1] (Neuss, North Rhine-Westphalia)
College: Houston
NFL Draft: 2009 / Round: 2 / Pick: 58
Debuted in 2009 for the New England Patriots
Career history
New England Patriots (2009–present)
Roster status: Injured Reserve
Career highlights and awards
AFC Champion (2011) Madden Most Valuable Protectors Award (2011) Second-team All-Pro (2010) First-team All-Conference USA (2008)
Career NFL statistics as of Week 5, 2013
Games played 56 Games started 49 Stats at NFL.com

Sebastian Georg Vollmer (German pronunciation: [zeˈbastian ˈɡeˑoɐk ˈfɔlmɐ]; born July 10, 1984) is a German offensive tackle of American football for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Patriots in the second round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He played college football at Houston. He is one of three German players in the NFL (the others are the New York Giants' Markus Kuhn and Indianapolis Colts' Björn Werner).

Early years

Born in Düsseldorf, Germany, Vollmer did not start playing American football until he was 14 years old. He attended Quirinus Gymnasium, a secondary school in Neuss, Germany. He played American football for the Düsseldorf Panthers and helped his team to a 25-0 record and two national Junior Bowl wins. After appearing in the 2004 Global Junior Championships in San Diego, California, he was recruited by college coaches as a 250-pound tight end.

College career

Vollmer was recruited to play college football by several schools, but chose to attend the University of Houston beginning in 2004. When Vollmer first arrived at Houston, he was a tight end who barely spoke English. He redshirted his freshman season in 2004, and appeared in eight games as a reserve tight end in 2005. After requiring back surgery as a sophomore, Vollmer switched to left tackle, where he started 25 straight games for Houston. At Houston, Vollmer's offensive line coach was Joe Gilbert, who had previously worked at the University of Toledo, where he coached another future Patriots lineman, Nick Kaczur.^[1] As a senior, he was named to the first-team All-Conference USA at left tackle.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Vollmer was not invited to the NFL Combine, but did have a private workout with Patriots offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia prior to the 2009 NFL Draft.^[1]

New England Patriots

2009 season

Vollmer was drafted by the New England Patriots in the second round (58th overall) of the 2009 NFL Draft. On July 17, he signed a four-year contract.^[2]

Vollmer made his official NFL debut in the Patriots' first game of the season. He made his first start at left tackle, filling in for an injured Matt Light, in the Patriots' record-setting 59–0 victory in Week 6 against the Tennessee Titans, and started the next four games. After being sidelined for two weeks with a head injury, Vollmer made his sixth start of the season in Week 14 against the Carolina Panthers; Vollmer lined up at both left tackle and right tackle, in place of veteran tackle Nick Kaczur, during the game. Vollmer started the Patriots' next two games after Kaczur was injured, and when Kaczur returned in Week 17, he continued to start at right tackle, including the Patriots' playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

2010 season

In 2010, Vollmer started all 16 games of the regular season at right tackle for the Patriots. He was named to the Associated Press 2010 All-Pro Team (2nd team, thus one of the four best tackles—left or right—in the NFL), but was not voted to the 2011 Pro Bowl, as “Vollmer's anonymity kept him out of the Pro Bowl”.^[3]

2011 season

Vollmer injured his back in a preseason game and missed the beginning of the 2011 season. He returned in week 2 and rotated with Nate Solder at RT but was injured again in the win over the San Diego Chargers. Vollmer returned in week 8 vs the Pittsburgh Steelers, rotating again with Solder.

2012 season

Vollmer played and started in all but one regular season game. Vollmer became a free agent after the season. On March 24, 2013, Vollmer signed a new, four-year deal with the Patriots worth up to $27 million, with $8.25 million guaranteed.^[4] Achieving the full amount of the contract will require that Vollmer play at least 90 percent of offensive snaps in each year of the contract and, in 2015 and 2016, be active for every game of the season; his total base salary for the four years is $7.75 million.^[5]

2013 season

In the October 27th game against the Miami Dolphins, Vollmer broke his right leg. On October 29th, the Patriots placed Sebastian Vollmer on the season-ending injured reserve list.^[6]

Notes

1. ^ "Gymnasium" in Germany refers to a secondary school.

References

External links

• Houston Cougars bio
• New England Patriots bio