Christopher Sean Chester (born January 12, 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 ...

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 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 ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

and was drafted by the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

in the second round of the

2006 NFL Draft The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with ad ...

. He also played for the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

and

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

Early years

Chester attended

Tustin High School Tustin High School is a public high school in Tustin, California, United States. It is part of the Tustin Unified School District. It was established in 1921 as the Tustin Union High School. History Founded in 1921, Tustin High School was ori ...

Tustin, California Tustin is a city located in Orange County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. In 2020, Tustin had a population of 80,276. The city is located next to the county seat, Santa Ana, and does not include the unincorporated community ...

. He recorded 815 yards and 11

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

as a senior and rushed for 450 yards and five touchdowns. This led him to be named defensive player of the year in his league. He was also a Golden West All-League as a junior and senior and a first-team All-Orange County by the

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

. Chester was also and a second-team All-league pick in

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 ...

as a junior and a first-team All-league in the discus and

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

as a junior. Chester was ranked as the eighth best

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 ...

in the nation by

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College career

Chester played

at the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

. For the first three years, he played as a

for the Sooners, but switched over to being an offensive lineman in his senior year. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in political science in 2006.

Professional career

At the 2006

NFL Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Footba ...

he ran the fastest time for an offensive lineman at 4.83 seconds.

Baltimore Ravens

Chester was selected by the

in the second round (56th overall) in the

. In his rookie season, he played in 11 games making four starts. He helped to protect the quarterback and only 17 sacks were allowed, the 2nd fewest in the league. He made his NFL debut at the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

on October 9, 2006. In 2008, Chester was converted from the offensive line to

and switched from No. 65 to No. 48. His first NFL action at the new position came against the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

on September 29. He later switched back to the offensive line and No. 65 in October.

Washington Redskins

In July 2011, Chester signed a five-year contract with the

. He was the only member of the Redskins' offensive line to start and play in all 16 games of the 2011 season at the same position. On May 27, 2015, Chester was released. During his four-year stint with the Redskins, Chester started all 64 games.

Atlanta Falcons

On May 30, 2015, Chester signed a one-year deal with the

. He played and started in all 16 games for the Atlanta Falcons in the 2015 season. On April 20, 2016 Chester re-signed with the Falcons. In the 2016 season, Chester and the Falcons reached

Super Bowl LI Super Bowl LI was an American football game played at NRG Stadium in Houston, Houston, Texas, on February 5, 2017, to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2016 NFL season, 2016 season. The American Football Confer ...

on February 5, 2017 but the Falcons would fall in a 34–28 overtime defeat to the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

, . On March 31, 2017, Chester announced his retirement from the NFL.

Personal life

Chester lives in Frisco, Texas with his wife and three children. He is also a devout

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

References

External links

Atlanta Falcons bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chester, Chris 1983 births Living people People from Tustin, California American football offensive guards American football centers American football tight ends Atlanta Falcons players Baltimore Ravens players Oklahoma Sooners football players Players of American football from California Sportspeople from Orange County, California Washington Redskins players