Arron Eugene Sears (born October 25, 1984) 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 wi ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

. He was drafted by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...

in the second round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

Early years

Sears attende
Russellville High School
in

Russellville, Alabama Russellville is a city in Franklin County in the U.S. state of Alabama. At the 2020 census, the population of the city was 10,855, up from 9,830 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Franklin County. History After the War of 1812, t ...

. He was considered a top high school prospect and was invited to participate in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl. Sears was also named the 5A lineman of the year in

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

by High School Sports Magazine.

College career

Sears was a starter at Tennessee since taking over at the end of his freshman year against

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univer ...

. He started at several positions on the

offensive line 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 numb ...

but mostly at tackle. During his career, Sears received All-America and All-SEC honors. He was a team captain on the

2006 Tennessee Volunteers football team The 2006 Tennessee Volunteers football team represented the University of Tennessee in the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Tennessee entered the 2006 season coming off a 5–6 record (3–5 SEC) in 2005. The Volunteers were given a p ...

. He has an older brother (Kevin Sears) who played

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

for Auburn University, and they faced each other twice in the 2004 season.

Professional career

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Sears was named the Buccaneers' starter at left guard from Week 1 and did not disappoint, garnering a 2007 NFL All-Rookie award for his efforts. Arron Sears started all 31 of his career games in his two seasons in the NFL. On June 2, 2009, it was reported that Sears had a

neurological Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal c ...

condition sustained from a concussion. The extent of the injury was unknown, but early reports said it was possibly severe enough to be career-threatening. He would ultimately leave the team and not return. Sears was waived by the Buccaneers on April 26, 2010.

Personal life

By age 27, Sears felt a "total loss of function" and was said to have swings of anger that could be a risk to others. He was held for a mental health evaluation after being found wandering on the highway in 2010. Sears sued the NFL and the Buccaneers in 2012 because of the head trauma he experienced in his career leaving him unable to care for himself.

Honors

* 2006 Jacobs Award (SEC's top Blocke

* 2006 2006 College Football All-America Team, All-America – AFCA(1st tea

Rivals.com (3rd team

* 2005 All-SEC – Coaches and Associated Press (1st team) * SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week (October 3, 2005) * 2003 Freshman All-SEC – Coaches and Knoxville News Sentinel (1st team)

References

External links

Tennessee Volunteers bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sears, Arron 1984 births Living people People from Russellville, Alabama Players of American football from Alabama American football offensive guards Tennessee Volunteers football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players