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Akeem Ayers

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Akeem Ayers
refer to caption
Ayers with the Colts in 2016
No. 56, 55, 48
Position:Linebacker
Personal information
Born: (1989-07-10) July 10, 1989 (age 35)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Height:6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight:247 lb (112 kg)
Career information
High school:Verbum Dei (Los Angeles)
College:UCLA
NFL draft:2011 / round: 2 / pick: 39
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Total tackles:323
Sacks:15.5
Forced fumbles:4
Fumble recoveries:4
Interceptions:4
Defensive touchdowns:1
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Akeem Christopher Ayers (born July 10, 1989) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UCLA Bruins, earning second-team All-American honors in 2010. Ayers was selected by the Tennessee Titans in the second round of the 2011 NFL draft. He has also played for the New England Patriots, St. Louis Rams, Indianapolis Colts, New York Giants. He won Super Bowl XLIX with the Patriots.

Early life

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Ayers attended Verbum Dei High School in Los Angeles, where he played for the Verbum Dei Eagles high school football team. He won a CIF championship during his senior season.

College career

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Ayers played for UCLA in college. Ayers is known for his athletic interceptions for touchdowns, one in the 2009 season against Oregon and one against Temple in the 2009 EagleBank Bowl. The latter was the game-winning score of the bowl game and helped him earn MVP honors.[1] In a post-game interview, he admitted that he slipped, and was just trying to rush the passer on his game-changing play. As he got up, he saw the quarterback looking to pass, jumped up, and pulled in the pass for an interception and score.

On September 18, 2010, Ayers had a key interception against #23 Houston in UCLA's first win against a ranked opponent since 2008.[2] The following week on September 25, he played a key role in the Bruins' second upset against a ranked opponent in a victory over No. 7 ranked Texas Longhorns 34–12 in front of more 101,000 fans in Austin, Texas. Ayers had a key interception, seven tackles, a forced fumble, and a sack. He was named Lott IMPACT Player of the Week on September 27. At the end of the 2010 season, his junior year, he entered for the NFL draft.[3]

College statistics

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Year Total Tackles Solo Tackles Sacks Tackles for Loss Interceptions DefTD
2008 40 28 4.0 5.0 0 0
2009 75 55 6 13.0 4 3*
2010 68 45 4 10 2 0
TOTALS 183 128 13 29.5 6 3

*Had two interceptions for touchdown and one fumble recovery for touchdown

Professional career

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Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
6 ft 2+1⁄2 in
(1.89 m) 		254 lb
(115 kg) 		33 in
(0.84 m) 		9 in
(0.23 m)		 4.70 s 1.62 s 2.83 s 4.28 s 7.19 s 34+1⁄2 in
(0.88 m)		 9 ft 5 in
(2.87 m)		 22 reps
All values from UCLA Pro Day[4]

Tennessee Titans

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Ayers was selected 39th overall by the Tennessee Titans in the 2011 NFL draft.[5][6]

New England Patriots

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On October 21, 2014, the Titans traded Ayers along with a seventh round draft pick in the 2015 NFL draft to the New England Patriots for a sixth round draft choice.[7] In each of his first two games with New England, Ayers recorded a sack.

Ayers won Super Bowl XLIX with the Patriots after they defeated the Seattle Seahawks 28-24.

St. Louis Rams

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Ayers with the Rams in 2015.

On March 12, 2015, Ayers signed a two-year contract with the St. Louis Rams.[8] On September 3, 2016, he was released by the Rams as part of final roster cuts.[9]

Indianapolis Colts

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Ayers signed a two-year contract with the Indianapolis Colts on September 6, 2016.[10] On September 2, 2017, Ayers was released during final roster cuts.[11]

New York Giants

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On November 14, 2017, Ayers signed with the New York Giants.[12]

NFL career statistics

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Legend
Bold Career high

Regular season

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Year Team Games Tackles Interceptions Fumbles
GP GS Cmb Solo Ast Sck TFL Int Yds TD Lng PD FF FR Yds TD
2011 TEN 16 16 76 50 26 2.0 6 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0
2012 TEN 16 13 104 66 38 6.0 8 1 2 0 2 8 1 0 0 0
2013 TEN 16 14 49 37 12 1.0 5 1 5 0 5 5 1 0 0 0
2014 TEN 2 0 3 1 2 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
NWE 9 4 20 16 4 4.0 6 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
2015 STL 16 10 47 35 12 0.5 3 0 0 0 0 5 1 3 45 1
2016 IND 16 0 21 14 7 2.0 1 1 25 0 25 2 0 0 0 0
2017 NYG 6 0 3 2 1 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
97 57 323 221 102 15.5 29 4 32 0 25 22 4 4 45 1

Playoffs

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Year Team Games Tackles Interceptions Fumbles
GP GS Cmb Solo Ast Sck TFL Int Yds TD Lng PD FF FR Yds TD
2014 NWE 3 0 2 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 0 2 1 1 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

References

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  1. ^ "UCLA at Temple | 2009-12-29 | College Football | Yahoo! Sports". sports.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on April 26, 2014.
  2. ^ "UCLA-Houston Game Notes". September 18, 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2010.
  3. ^ "Akeem Ayers Stats, News and Video - LB". NFL.com.
  4. ^ "Akeen Ayers". NFL.com. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved May 9, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. ^ "2011 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  6. ^ Tennessee Titans select Akeem Ayers
  7. ^ Patra, Kevin (October 21, 2014). "Titans trade linebacker Akeem Ayers to Patriots". NFL.com. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  8. ^ Former Patriot Akeem Ayers Signs Two-Year Contract With Rams
  9. ^ "Rams Make 53-Man Roster Decisions". TheRams.com. September 3, 2016. Archived from the original on August 31, 2017.
  10. ^ "Veteran Linebacker Akeem Ayers Joins Colts". Archived from the original on September 9, 2016. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  11. ^ Walker, Andrew (September 2, 2017). "Colts Announce Final 2017 Roster Cuts". Colts.com. Archived from the original on September 6, 2017. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
  12. ^ Eisen, Michael (November 14, 2017). "Giants roster moves: Keenan Robinson placed on IR; Three players signed". Giants.com. Archived from the original on November 17, 2017. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
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