Adrian Awasom (born October 25, 1983) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

. He was a member of the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

of the

CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

and the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. He was signed by the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2005. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

North Texas North Texas (also commonly called North Central Texas) is a term used primarily by residents of Dallas, Fort Worth, and surrounding areas to describe much of the north central portion of the U.S. state of Texas. Residents of the Dallas–Fort Wor ...

Early years

Awasom was born in

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

and moved with his family to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

when he was four, growing up in

Fort Bend County, Texas Fort Bend County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. The county was founded in 1837 and organized the next year. It is named for a blockhouse at a bend of the Brazos River. The community developed around the fort in early days. T ...

. Awasom attended Stafford High School where he was a three-sport start in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, and

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

. A two time All-District member and caught 22 passes for 350 yards at

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

as a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

. As a member of the basketball team, Awasom was a two-time All-State member averaging 16.7 ppg and 16.7 rpg as a senior and also earning All-Area honors. In track, he was a two-time All-State performer with a personal best of 189'74". Awasom is one of four players from Stafford HS to play in the NFL, others being Boris Anyama, Craig Robertson, and Jalen Pitre.

College career

Adrian Awasom was a member of some of the most memorable times in

Football history. Named a member of the All-Sun Belt Conference Team three straight years to finish his career, Awasom assembled some monster numbers during that stretch from his spot on the defensive line. The 2004 season saw Adrian register 53 total tackles, 14 of which were for a loss of yards, which ranks fifth in school history. His most impressive game that season came in a win over

Utah State Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

when Awasom had 4.5 TFL, the second most tackles for loss in a game in program history. His 32 TFL's rank 3rd on the school all-time list and his 20 career sacks sits second. Awasom finished his career with 147 total tackles, four Sun Belt Conference Championships and three All-SBC selections. As a junior in 2003, Awasom totaled 44 tackles, including seven tackles for losses and four sacks, in 12 games and recorded a career-best eight sacks as a sophomore in 2002. Named a three-time all-

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participa ...

honoree, including a 1st-team selection as a junior and senior.

Professional career

New York Giants

Awasom was signed as an

undrafted In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the Giants in 2005, playing primarily on the

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

unit. In 2006, he played ten games as a

, and recorded two

quarterback sacks In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in the ...

. Awasom won

Super Bowl XLII Super Bowl XLII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

to conclude the 2007 NFL season He was released before the start of the 2008 season after suffering a season ending neck injury.

Las Vegas Locomotives

Awasom was drafted first by the

Las Vegas Locomotives The Las Vegas Locomotives (called the Locos for short) were a professional American football team based in Las Vegas, Nevada that played in the United Football League. The team played their home games at Sam Boyd Stadium, home field for the Unive ...

on June 18, 2009. According to National Football Post, after two season with the UFL Awasom is drawing interest from a few NFL teams after recording 20 tackles and three sacks during a championship season with the Las Vegas Locomotives.

Minnesota Vikings

After spending two years in the UFL, Awasom was signed by the

on January 22, 2011. During his time with the Vikings Adrian racked up 3.5 sacks in the pre-season, tied for first in the NFL among all active defensive ends during that time. After a productive season Awasom was released on September 21, 2011.

Orlando Predators

In late 2011, Awasom signed with the

Orlando Predators The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played its ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

. In 2012, he was placed on the Predators' injured list after injuring his shoulder in the pre-season, which caused him to miss the rest of the season.

Las Vegas Locomotives

Awasom re-signed with the Locomotives for the

2012 UFL season The 2012 UFL season was the fourth and final season of the United Football League. Four teams began what was originally scheduled to be an eight-game schedule beginning September 26, 2012.Minium, Harry (July 26, 2012)Virginia Destroyers say they' ...

Toronto Argonauts

On December 14, 2012, Awasom signed with the

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

BC Lions

On April 2, 2013, the Argonauts traded him to the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first season ...

for

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

Khalif Mitchell. He was released by the Lions on May 15, 2014.

References

External links

Just Sports StatsNFL BioCFL bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Awasom, Adrian 1983 births Living people Cameroonian emigrants to the United States American football defensive ends BC Lions players Las Vegas Locomotives players Minnesota Vikings players New York Giants players North Texas Mean Green football players Orlando Predators players People from Fort Bend County, Texas Players of American football from Texas Sportspeople from the Houston metropolitan area Toronto Argonauts players