| Has found his niche in the defensive end rotation. Has played in all 32 career games, including 4 starts, during his 2 seasons with Chicago... Former first-round pick (14th overall) has lined up at both RDE and LDE for the Bears... Ranks 3rd on the Bears D-line over the previous 2 seasons with 72 tackles while adding 4 sacks.
2004 SEASON: Played in all 16 games for second consecutive year, starting the first 4 contests of his career... Tied for 7th on the Bears with 2 sacks and ranked 5th on D-line with career-high 41 tackles... Started at LDE for injured Adewale Ogunleye in Games 6-7, 15-16... Added 7 TFLs, 1 forced fumble and 1 PBU. Contributed to team-record 6 defensive TDs in 2004 by tallying his first career TD with a 45-yard return of his first career INT.
2003: Ranked 4th on the Bears as a rookie with 2 sacks while playing as a reserve DE in all 16 games. Ranked 3rd among Bears rookies with 31 tackles.
COLLEGE: The 2002 Big Ten Defensive Player-of-the-Year and first-team All-Big Ten at Penn State concluded his career (1998-2002) ranked 3rd on the school's all-time sacks list after establishing a career-high as a senior with a conference-leading 15 sacks. Started for 2 seasons at weak-side defensive end after spending his redshirt freshman season at fullback. Finished career with 158 tackles, 101 solos, 25.5 sacks, 42 TFLs, 5 PDs, a fumble recovery and a school career-record 8 forced fumbles. Earned Defensive MVP honors at the Senior Bowl after receiving first-team All-America honors from several publications. Finalist for the Ted Hendricks Award, given to the nation's premier DE. Won the Jim O'Hora Award from the coaching staff, presented annually to a defensive player for exemplary conduct, loyalty, interest, attitude and improvement. Started all 13 games as a senior, ranking 5th in the nation as he tied PSU's 23-year old single-season sack record and posted 23 TFLs among a career-high 80 tackles. Also set the school record with 7 forced fumbles while recording 6 multi-sack games. As a junior, started 10-of-11 contests and posted 41 tackles with 4 sacks and 11 TFLs. Played in all 12 games as a sophomore, starting twice at LDE and recording 31 tackles, with 7 TFLs and a team-high equaling 6 sacks. Shifted to DE from FB in the spring before his redshirt freshman season in which he played in 9 games, earning Academic All-Big Ten honors while recording 6 tackles. Graduated in May 2003 with a degree in animal sciences.
PERSONAL: Concluded prep career with 1 year at Northern Burlington (N.J.) Regional H.S. after 3 years at Balboa (Panama City) H.S. while both parents finished their military careers. Played on both sides of the ball as a senior, recording over 100 tackles on defense while averaging over 9.0 yards per carry and catching 17 passes for 366 yards at FB en route to earning All-South Jersey by the Camden Courier-Post and first-team All-Burlington County. Team MVP as a senior, was named All-District and All-Conference. A goalie on the soccer team for 1 year and played volleyball for 2 seasons while at Balboa. Father, Michael, was in the Air Force, while his mother, Catherine, was in the Army. Has lived all over the world, including Pennsylvania, New York, Hawaii, Washington, New Jersey and Panama. An aspiring veterinarian who has owned many pets during his life, including piranha, turtles and a pair of boa constrictors. Wife is Stacy. |
