Adrian Clayborn

Adrian Clayborn
No. 99  Atlanta Falcons
Position: Defensive end
Personal information
Date of birth: July 6, 1988
Place of birth: St. Louis, Missouri
Height: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight: 280 lb (127 kg)
Career information
High school: Webster Groves (MO)
College: Iowa
NFL draft: 2011 / Round: 1 / Pick: 20
Career history
Roster status: Active
Career highlights and awards
  • Consensus All-American (2010)
  • First-team All-Big Ten (2010)
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2014
Tackles: 109
Quarterback sacks: 13.5
Forced fumbles: 5
Stats at NFL.com

Adrian Clayborn (born July 6, 1988) is an American football defensive end for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Iowa, and earned consensus All-American honors. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft.

Personal life

Clayborn was born in St. Louis, Missouri. At birth, he suffered from 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]

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

College career

Clayborn attended the University of Iowa, and played for the Iowa Hawkeyes football team from 2006 to 2010. He 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.[4]

Heading into 2010, Clayborn was listed on the preseason watch list for several awards.[5] 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.[6] On November 10, 2010, Clayborn was named one of four finalists for the Rotary Lombardi Award.[7]

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.[8]

Awards and honors

2010

2009

Professional career

Measureables

Pre-draft measurables
Ht WtArm lengthHand size 40-yd dash 10-yd split 20-yd split 20-ss 3-cone Vert Broad BPWonderlic
6 ft 3 in 281 lb32½ in9¾ in 4.78 s 1.61 s 2.69 s 4.13 s 7.08 s 35½ in 9 ft 6 in 17 repsx
All values from NFL Combine and Iowa Pro Day[20] except arm length and hand span[21]

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Clayborn was drafted in the 1st round (20th overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 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 teammate Michael Bennett. In 2012, Clayborn was placed on injured reserve after injuring his knee.[22] Before the 2014 season it was announced by new GM Jason Licht that the Buccaneers would not be picking up the 5th year option on his rookie contract. He was also moved to the Left side since the team signed Michael Johnson for the right side. Though he started out strong in the year, he suffered yet another season ending injury placing him on IR and his future in Tampa in doubt since he would be an Unrestricted free agent in 2015.

Atlanta Falcons

On March 12, 2015 Clayborn signed with the Atlanta Falcons.[23][24]

References

  1. ↑ "Late bloomer Clayborn becoming dominant leader". The Gazette. 2009-11-10. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  2. ↑ "Spotlight on Adrian Clayborn: Close to it All". The Gazette. 2010-08-10. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
  3. ↑ Player Bio: Adrian Clayborn - Iowa Official Athletic Site
  4. ↑ Iowa's Clayborn the Dominant Orange Bowl MVP | KCRG-TV9 | Cedar Rapids, Iowa News, Sports, and Weather | Sports
  5. ↑ "Maxwell Football Club Announces Maxwell And Bednarik Watch Lists". Maxwell Football Club. 2010-08-09. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  6. ↑ "Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State and Wisconsin Collect Weekly Football Laurels". Big Ten Conference.
  7. ↑ "Clayborn One of Four Finalists for Rotary Lombardi Award". Hawkeye Sports.
  8. ↑ "Iowa Football: Stanzi, Clayborn, Ballard Invited to Senior Bowl". iowahawkeyes.net (Hawkeye Nerd). 2010-12-24.
  9. ↑ "NCAA names Adrian Clayborn consensus all-American". hawkcentral.com (Hawk Central). 2010-12-20. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  10. ↑ "Iowa's Clayborn named third-team All-America". chicagotribune.com (Chicago Tribune). 2010-12-15. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  11. ↑ "121st Walter Camp All-America teams announced". cbssports.com (CBS Sports). 2010-12-09. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  12. ↑ "3 Hawks defenders earn first-team all-Big Ten honors". qctimes.com (Quad City Times). 2010-11-29. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  13. ↑ "Clayborn Named First Team All-American". hawkeyesports.com (Hawkeye Sports). 2010-11-29. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  14. ↑ "Iowa's Clayborn Named Hendricks Finalists". KCRG.
  15. ↑ "2010 Maxwell and Bednarik Award Semifinalists". Maxwell Football Club.
  16. ↑ "2010 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List Announced". Football Writers Association of America. 2010-06-21. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  17. ↑ "Four Big Ten Players Land on 2010 Playboy All-America Team". Bleacher Report.
  18. ↑ "Clayborn and Prater Earn Performance Awards". Hawkeye Sports.
  19. ↑ "Big Ten Honor Roll: Tracking the Big Ten Conference's Players of the Week". bigtennetwork.com (Big Ten Network). 2009-10-25. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  20. ↑ Adrian Clayborn | Iowa, DE : 2011 NFL Draft Scout Player Profile
  21. ↑ NFL Events: Combine Player Profiles - Adrian Clayborn
  22. ↑ "Bucs' Adrian Clayborn out for season with knee injury". NFL.com. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
  23. ↑ Choate, Dave (March 12, 2015). "Falcons free agency: Adrian Clayborn, Phillip Adams sign with Atlanta Thursday". Bleacher Report. Retrieved March 12, 2015.
  24. ↑ Adams, Jay (March 12, 2015). "Falcons Add More Defensive Help in Free Agency". AtlantaFalcons.com. Retrieved March 12, 2015.

External links