Bryce Eric Paup (born February 29, 1968) is an American former professional

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 ...

player who was an

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, ...

for eleven seasons 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) with the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

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

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

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 ...

Early life

Paup grew up on a farm in

Scranton, Iowa Scranton is a city in Greene County, Iowa, United States. The population was 511 at the time of the 2020 census. It was named after Scranton, Pennsylvania. History Scranton was platted in 1869, shortly after the Cedar Rapids & Missouri River Ra ...

, where he played football at Scranton High School. He played collegiately at the

University of Northern Iowa The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) is a public university in Cedar Falls, Iowa. UNI offers more than 90 majors across the colleges of Business Administration, Education, Humanities, Arts, and Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences and grad ...

, and was selected by the Packers in the 6th round of the

1990 NFL Draft The 1990 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 22–23, 1990, at the Marriott Marq ...

Professional career

In the first game of the

1991 season File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, 1991 Russian presidential election, elected as Russia's first President of Russia, president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated ...

, Paup was involved in a tackle that sidelined

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

quarterback

Randall Cunningham Randall Wade Cunningham Sr. (born March 27, 1963) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. He spent the majority of his career with the Philadelphia Eagles and is also known for ...

, ending Cunningham's season. The tackle was below the waist and right at Cunningham's knee which ruined Cunningham's 1991 season. His aggressive physical style led Packers fans to refer to his tackle as “Paup Smear”. In

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, his first season with the

, Paup was named

NFL Defensive Player of the Year Several organizations give out NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards that are listed in the ''NFL Record and Fact Book'' and ''Total Football II: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League''. The Associated Press (AP) has been givi ...

by the

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. Paup led the NFL with 17.5 sacks, the fourth-highest single-season total of the 1990s. Paup has been considered one of the top 50 players in Bills history.

NFL Total Access ''NFL Total Access'' is a television news program on the NFL Network. The network treats it as the league's "show of record" and bills it as the only year-round show dedicated to the National Football League, despite the ESPN show '' NFL Live'' r ...

listed him as one of the Top 10 free agents of all time. Paup was a four-time

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

selection.

Coaching career

On March 19, 2007, Paup was introduced as the head football coach at

Green Bay Southwest High School Green Bay Southwest High School is one of four public high schools located in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Southwest High School is located at 1331 Packerland Drive. Its school colors are royal blue and silver, and their mascot is the Trojan. Academi ...

. He compiled a 22-14 regular season record in his first four seasons, and in 2009 secured the second playoff victory in school history. He is also on the Packers' Board of Directors. Prior to accepting the job, he was an assistant volunteer football coach for the De Pere High School Redbirds of

De Pere, Wisconsin De Pere ( ) is a city located in Brown County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 25,410 according to the 2020 Census. De Pere is part of the Green Bay Metropolitan Statistical Area. History At the arrival of the first European, Je ...

for three years, working primarily with the linemen and linebackers. On March 5, 2013, Paup resigned from Green Bay Southwest and began his first season as the defensive line coach at the

. January 14, 2017, Paup was named University of Minnesota's defensive line coach. After one season with the Gophers, Paup left the Minnesota coaching staff, reportedly to pursue a coaching opportunity in the NFL. In August 2018, he returned to the University of Northern Iowa defensive line coach.

Personal life

Paup lives in Cedar Falls, IA, with his wife Denise. They have six children: Alex, Nathan, Rachel, Hailey, and twins Paige and Lauren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paup, Bryce 1968 births Living people American football defensive ends American football linebackers Northern Iowa Panthers football players Green Bay Packers players Buffalo Bills players Jacksonville Jaguars players Minnesota Vikings players National Conference Pro Bowl players American Conference Pro Bowl players People from Jefferson, Iowa People from Greene County, Iowa High school football coaches in Wisconsin Northern Iowa Panthers football coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers football coaches National Football League Defensive Player of the Year Award winners