Chris Galippo

Chris Galippo

Galippo in January 2007
USC Trojans — No. 54
Linebacker	Senior
Major: Policy, Planning & Development
Date of birth: April 12, 1989 (1989-04-12) (age 22)
Place of birth: Newport Beach, California
Height: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Weight: 250 lb (113 kg; 17 st 12 lb)
Career history
High school: Servite High School, Anaheim, California
College(s): Southern California (2007–present)
Career highlights and awards
2009 All-Pac-10 Third-Team selection by Phil Steele 2009 All Pac-10 Honorable Mention 2007 Pete Dawkins Trophy 2006 High School All-American (USA Today, Parade)
Stats at ESPN.com

Chris Galippo (born April 12, 1989) is an American football linebacker for the University of Southern California. Galippo became the first defensive player to ever win the Pete Dawkins Trophy for being selected as the U.S. Army All-American Bowl's most valuable player.^[1]

Galippo has been compared to NFL linebackers Brian Urlacher and A. J. Hawk.^[2]

High school career

Galippo played middle linebacker at Servite High School in Anaheim, California, and was the 2005 Serra League co-defensive player of the year, as well as the Orange County Register Defensive Player of the Year. In 2005-2006 he was an ALL CIF-SS Division-1 first-team selection. Galippo finished with 161 tackles as a junior, believed to be a school record.^[3]

Along with USC, Galippo was recruited heavily by other top college football programs, including UCLA, Arizona State, Boston College, and Ole Miss.

Galippo started 2007 by earning MVP honors at the nation's most recognized high school all-star game, the Army All-American Bowl. Galippo, who ended the game with more than a dozen tackles, led the West team to a 24-7 victory. Galippo's dominant performance came way of a variety of plays. The five-star linebacker, who had been labeled as the West's vocal leader throughout practices, started the game off with four tackles in the first quarter.

Making great reads, Galippo shot the gaps on several plays and never allowed the East offensive line to establish a running game up the middle. Galippo played middle linebacker at Servite High School and hopes to have a bright future playing in the middle when he arrives at USC. In fact, by the third quarter, Galippo had already racked up double digit tackles, including several signature tackles outside the hash mark.^[4]

College career

Galippo claimed that the excitement of the coaching staff was a major factor in his decision to choose USC. However his deciding factor was its location.^[5]

Galippo has a 2.5 GPA and plans to major in communications at USC, with a minor in business. Galippo grew up a huge Ken Norton Jr. fan, which aided strongly in his decision to attend USC. "I don't expect to redshirt," Galippo says. "I definitely believe I can crack that lineup."^[6]

Chris played in the first three games of the 2007 season, where he played on special teams and was a back-up at the linebacker position. He made two tackles against Washington State four tackles against Nebraska, and two against Idaho. In spite of playing the first three games, Galippo received a medical redshirt for the 2007 season. Recurring back problems since the beginning of fall camp influenced him to redshirt. He decided to redshirt and undergo surgery so that he would not have to deal with back problems in the future. Upon redshirting, he will remain with 4 years of eligibility.

In October 2009, he was named a midseason All-American by The Sporting News.^[7]

References

1. ^ http://rivals100.rivals.com/content.asp?SID=880&CID=627390
2. ^ http://www.risemag.com/main.cfm?actionId=globalShowStaticContent&screenKey=NationalNews&&categoryKey=PlayerProfiles&articleId=7774
3. ^ http://scout.scout.com/a.z?s=15&p=8&c=1&nid=2327982
4. ^ http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news?slug=rivals-86301&prov=rivals&type=story_recruiting
5. ^ http://usc.scout.com/2/616768.html
6. ^ "USC recruit shows why he's nation's best linebacker". CNN. January 9, 2007. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/dave_krider/01/09/galippo.usc/index.html. Retrieved April 29, 2010. 
7. ^ "SN's midseason All-Americans: Defense", Sporting News, October 20, 2009, http://www.sportingnews.com/college-football/article/2009-10-20/sns-midseason-all-americans-defense 

External links

• USC Trojans bio

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Chris Wells	U.S. Army All-American Bowl MVP 2007	Succeeded by Terrelle Pryor

Persondata
Name	Galippo, Chris
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	April 12, 1989
Place of birth	Newport Beach, California
Date of death
Place of death