Benjamin David Gardner (born April 29, 1991) 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 ...

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, p ...

in 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 ...

(NFL) who played for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

and

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

. He was selected by the Cowboys in the seventh round of the

2014 NFL Draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

. 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 ...

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

Early years

Gardner graduated in 2009 from Homestead High School. As a senior in 2008–09, Gardner was a team captain and defensive end on the football team which won the Wisconsin Division I state championship. He received numerous top honors including 2008

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1st-team All-State; 2008 WFCA 1st-Team All-State; 2008 all-North Shore Conference First; and 2008 North Shore Conference Defensive Player of the Year.

College career

Stanford Cardinal football The Stanford Cardinal football program represents Stanford University in college football at the NCAA Division I FBS level and is a member of the Pac-12 Conference's North Division. The team is known as the Stanford Cardinal, Cardinal, adopted pri ...

is known for its 3–4 defense schemes, more typically seen in the NFL. Gardner was a three-year starter at

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 ...

in the Stanford 3–4 system, which was ranked among the nation's top defensive units. Gardner did not see field action in his first year (2009). As a sophomore or "redshirt freshman" in 2010, Gardner saw action in 11 games on special teams and as a second-string defensive end. He logged three tackles, including two tackles for loss and one sack. In 2011, he started 12 of 13 games, including the

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been playe ...

vs. 13th nationally ranked Oklahoma state. Gardner recorded 35 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks. He was named to the All-

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

Conference 2nd Team, and received Stanford's Deswarte-Eller Award honoring the most outstanding (redshirt) sophomore. Gardner ranked 13th in the Pac-12 in tackles for loss per game, and 16th in sacks per game. He had a season-high five tackles and one sack vs. California and a season-high 2.5 tackles for loss vs. Arizona. Gardner started all 14 games of the 2012 season, including the

Pac-12 Championship Game The Pac-12 Football Championship Game is an annual college football game held by the Pac-12 Conference to determine the season's conference champion. The game from the 2011–2021 seasons had the champion of the North Division against the champi ...

vs.

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

and the

2013 Rose Bowl The 2013 Rose Bowl, the 99th edition of the annual game, was a college football bowl game played on Tuesday, January 1, 2013, at the same-named stadium in Pasadena, California. The Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association is the organizer of the ...

vs.

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. Gardner tied for second on the Stanford team with 14.5 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks. He also ranked among the nation's top 75 in both categories. Against #2-ranked

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

, Gardner won Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week honors for registering 6 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and one sack, holding USC to 26 rushing yards. Playing at #7-ranked Notre Dame, Gardner made two solo tackles, one fumble recovery, and one sack which caused a fumble that was recovered for a Stanford touchdown. Gardner's season also included 49 tackles, 5 passes broken up, and 2 quarterback hurries. He chose to return to Stanford for a fifth year in 2013, rather than enter the

NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

, but it ended early because of a torn pectoral muscle he suffered against

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Gardner was selected in the seventh round (231 overall) of the

by the

. On August 26, he was placed on the

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

after having surgery to repair torn ligaments in his left shoulder. The next year, the team brought in new talent at the

position (

Greg Hardy Gregory McKarl Hardy (born July 28, 1988) is an American former football defensive end, mixed martial artist and professional boxer who played in the National Football League (NFL) for six seasons, primarily with the Carolina Panthers. He played ...

Randy Gregory Randy Gregory (born November 23, 1992) is an American football outside linebacker for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Nebraska, and was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round of ...

, Ryan Russell) and he was eventually waived on September 5,

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San Diego Chargers

On November 4,

, Gardner was signed to the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

and switched to play

outside 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, ...

in a 3-4 defense. On September 3,

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, he was cut by the Chargers. The next day, he was signed to the Chargers' practice squad. He was released on October 4.

References

External links

Stanford Cardinals bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, Ben 1991 births Living people Players of American football from Portland, Oregon American football defensive ends Stanford Cardinal football players Dallas Cowboys players San Diego Chargers players