Brian Orakpo

Brian Orakpo

Brian Orakpo with the Washington Redskins.
No. 98     Washington Redskins
Outside linebacker
Personal information
Date of birth: July 31, 1986 (1986-07-31) (age 25)
Place of birth: Houston, Texas
Height: 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	Weight: 260 lb (118 kg)
Career information
College: Texas
NFL Draft: 2009 / Round: 1 / Pick: 13
Debuted in 2009 for the Washington Redskins
Career history
Washington Redskins (2009–present)
Roster status: Active
Career highlights and awards
NFL All-Rookie team (2009) 2× Pro Bowl selection (2009, 2010) SN Defensive Freshman of the Year (2005) Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner (2008) Ted Hendricks Award winner( 2008) Lombardi Award winner (2008) Bill Willis Award winner (2008) AP Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year (2008) Unanimous First-team All-American (2008) Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year (2008) NFC Defensive Player of the Week (Week 4, 2011; Week 14, 2009) Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week (Week 14, 2009)
Career NFL statistics as of Week 10, 2011
Tackles	137
Sacks	25.0
Interceptions	0
Forced Fumbles	4
Stats at NFL.com

Brian Ndubisi Orakpo^[1] (born July 31, 1986) is an American football linebacker for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Redskins 13th overall in the 2009 NFL Draft. He played college football at Texas.

Early years

Orakpo's parents are Nigerian immigrants.^[2] He played high school football at Lamar High School in Houston, Texas. He played defensive end and tight end and was a two-time First-team all-district selection. He also played basketball from his freshman to junior years.^{[citation needed]}

College career

Orakpo as a Texas Longhorn.

Orakpo played college football at the University of Texas. He was redshirted as a freshman in 2004, but in 2005 he played in all 13 games and started in one. He made an immediate impact for the Longhorns, helping them finish 10th in the nation at defense, recording 27 Tackles, a half sack, a forced fumble and recovered fumble. His play earned him Defensive Freshman of the Year and First-team Freshman All-America by The Sporting News.

As a sophomore in 2006 he played all 13 games, recording 26 tackles and 4.5 sacks and was named one of the Lowe's Most Improved Defensive Players. As a junior in 2007 he played in nine games and missed four due to right knee injury suffered against Arkansas State. He was the Defensive MVP of the 2007 Holiday Bowl after recording six tackles and two sacks during the game. He finished the season with 37 tackles and 5.5 sacks.

As a senior in 2008 Orakpo recorded 40 tackles and 11 sacks and was the Associated Press Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.^[3] He also was the winner of the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, given to the best defensive player,^[4] the Ted Hendricks Award, given to the top defensive end,^[5] and the Lombardi Award, given to the best lineman or linebacker.^[6] He eventually garnered enough first-team All-American selections to be considered a "unanimous" All-American after being named to teams by the Associated Press,^[7] American Football Coaches Association,^[8] Football Writers Association of America,^[9] the Sporting News,^[10] and the Walter Camp Football Foundation.^[11] He was the first Texas Longhorn defensive end to earn All-American honors since Tony Brackens in 1995.^[12]

In his college career Orakpo recorded 132 tackles, 22 sacks, 38 tackles for loss, 62 pressures, six passes broken up, six forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.

Professional career

NFL Combine

Orakpo arrived at the 2009 NFL Combine with much anticipation following him with his well-known status as a "workout warrior".^[12][13] He put up 31 repetitions of 225 pounds in the bench press, which was tops by any defensive end and 7th amongst all defensive linemen. His 39.5-inch vertical jump was second for all defensive lineman and showed his great speed and acceleration while recording a 4.63 40-yard dash time.^[14] He bench pressed 515 pounds and power cleaned 380 pounds.^[12]

Pre-draft measureables

Ht	Wt	40-yd dash	10-yd split	20-yd split	20-ss	3-cone	Vert	Broad	BP	Wonderlic
6 ft 3 in	263 lb	4.63 s	1.58 s	2.66 s	4.45 s	7.26 s	39½ in	10 ft 10 in	31 rep	25
20-ss, 3-cone, and Broad Jump from Texas Pro Day; all others from NFL Combine[15][16][17]

Washington Redskins

Orakpo was drafted by the Washington Redskins 13th overall in the 2009 NFL Draft. On July 31, he signed a five-year deal worth $20 million, which includes $12.1 million guaranteed.^[18] On December 13, 2009 against the Oakland Raiders, Orakpo tied a Redskins record with four sacks in a game and was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week.

He was selected to the 2009 Pro Bowl as a reserve, one of only 6 rookies to do so, along with Chicago Bears Return Specialist Johnny Knox, Minnesota Vikings Return Specialist Percy Harvin, and Green Bay Packers LB Clay Matthews out of the NFC with Houston Texans LB Brian Cushing and Buffalo Bills S Jairus Byrd from the AFC, all of which were reserve or replacement players. Orakpo became the first rookie Redskin to make the Pro Bowl since RB/KR Tony Green in 1978.

In 2010, Orakpo had 56 tackles, 8.5 sacks and a forced fumble. He made his second Pro Bowl replacing Clay Matthews.

In week 4 of the 2011 season, Orakpo was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week. He was credited with 2.5 sacks, five tackles (two for a loss), three quarterback hits and a forced fumble.

References

1. ^ http://static.pfref.com/players/O/OrakBr99.htm
2. ^ http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/tex/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/100908_fw.pdf
3. ^ UT sweeps AP's Big 12 player awards^{[dead link]}
4. ^ Bianco, John (December 7, 2008). "Orakpo claims Nagurski Trophy one day after graduating". Mackbrown-Texasfootball.com. http://www.mackbrown-texasfootball.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/120708aac.html. Retrieved December 7, 2008. 
5. ^ Burch, Jimmy (December 10, 2008). "Texas' Brian Orakpo wins Hendricks Award over TCU's Hughes, four others". Fort Worth Star-Telegram website. http://www.star-telegram.com/college_sports/story/1086822.html. Retrieved December 10, 2008. ^{[dead link]}
6. ^ Halliburton, Suzanne (December 10, 2008). "Bevo Beat: Orakpo wins Lombardi". Austin American-Statesman website. http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/longhorns/entries/2008/12/10/orakpo_wins_lom.html. Retrieved December 10, 2008. 
7. ^ "Associated Press names 2008 All-America Team". NCAAFootball.com (Associated Press). December 16, 2008. http://www.ncaafootball.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=34&url_article_id=15445&change_well_id=2. Retrieved December 16, 2008. ^{[dead link]}
8. ^ "Texas Tech's Harrell Headlines 2008 AFCA Coaches’ All-America Team". American Football Coaches Association website. December 4, 2008. http://www.afca.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=9300&ATCLID=3627599. Retrieved December 4, 2008. 
9. ^ "2008 FWAA All-America team". Sportswriters.net. Football Writers Association of America. December 13, 2008. http://www.sportswriters.net/fwaa/news/2008/allamerica081213.html. Retrieved December 13, 2008. 
10. ^ "Sporting News' college football All-American First Team". The Sporting News website. December 17, 2008. http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=497803. Retrieved December 17, 2008. 
11. ^ "2008 Walter Camp All America team". Walter Camp Foundation website. December 11, 2008. http://waltercamp.org/index.php/news/2008_walter_camp_all_american_team_announced/. Retrieved December 11, 2008. 
12. ^ ^{a b c} Feldman, Bruce (June 9, 2008). "College football's top workout warriors". ESPN The Magazine. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=feldman_bruce&id=3420212. 
13. ^ "NFL combine: Browns become linebacker trackers". http://www.chroniclet.com/2009/02/22/nfl-combine-browns-become-linebacker-trackers_122/. 
14. ^ "Texas DE Brian Orakpo a sack specialist". Dallas Morning News. March 19, 2009. http://nflblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/03/texas-de-brian-orakpo-a-sack-s.html. Retrieved March 25, 2009. 
15. ^ "Brian Orakpo". NFL Draft Scout.com. March 25, 2009. http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=33734&draftyear=2009&genpos=DE. Retrieved March 25, 2009. 
16. ^ "Orakpo Does NotDisappoint At Texas Pro Day". NFL.com. March 25, 2009. http://blogs.nfl.com/2009/03/25/lb-orakpo-does-not-disappoint-at-texas-pro-day/. Retrieved March 25, 2009. 
17. ^ Nawrocki, Nolan (April 21, 2009). "The Way We Hear It — draft edition". Pro Football Weeklywebsite. http://www.profootballweekly.com/PFW/NFLDraft/Draft+Extras/2009/wwhi042109.htm. Retrieved April 25, 2009. 
18. ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4367915

External links

• Official website
• Washington Redskins bio
• Texas Longhorns bio

Persondata
Name	Orakpo, Brian
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	July 31, 1986
Place of birth	Houston, Texas
Date of death
Place of death