Claude James Wroten (born September 16, 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 wi ...

defensive tackle. He was drafted by the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

in the third 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 add ...

. He played college football at

Louisiana State Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisian ...

. He was suspended by the NFL after repeated violations of the league's substance abuse policy. He was waived by the Rams on March 3, 2010. Wroten was re-instated by the NFL on August 23, 2010.

Early years

Wroten attended Bastrop High School in Bastrop, Louisiana.

College career

Mississippi Delta

Lettered twice at Mississippi Delta Community College, making 53 tackles, 15 sacks, three forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries in 2003 before transferring to

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

LSU

Wroten was First-team All- SEC by

College Football News ''College Football News'' (''CFN'') is a magazine and website published by College Football News, Inc., headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. News coverage includes scores, statistics, rankings, and reports on college football games. Analysis includ ...

and Second-team All-SEC by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

and the SEC Coaches. He played 12 games with nine starts. He recorded 44 tackles, 12 tackles for losses and 6 sacks. He had 3 tackles and 1 sack for an 8-yard loss against Iowa in the

Capital One Bowl The Citrus Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The bowl is operated by Florida Citrus Sports, a non-profit group that also organizes the Cheez-It Bowl and Florida Classic. The gam ...

. As a senior in 2005 he was named First-team All-America by

and Second-team All-America by the Sporting News and named First-team All-SEC by both the league's coaches and the AP. He played in 13 games with 12 starts. He had 49 tackles, 10.5 tackles for losses and 6 sacks and 26 quarterback hurries.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Wroten had a chance at being a first-round pick after LSU's season ended, then police stopped him for speeding in Sterlington, Louisiana, on January 4, 2006, and arrested him on charges of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. However, the district attorney declined the case.

St. Louis Rams

Wroten was drafted by the

in the third round of the

. On July 25, Wroten signed a four-year, $2.415 million contract with the Rams. Wroten played 15 games as a rookie, totaling 13 tackles a sack and a forced fumble. In 2007, Wroten recorded 13 tackles and a half-sack. He served a four-game suspension in 2007 for violation of the NFL substance abuse policy. On July 23, 2008, Wroten was suspended without pay (he was due $445,000 salary) for the 2008 NFL season for his third violation the NFL's substance abuse policy. The Rams have asked suspended Wroten to return part of his rookie signing bonus, filing a grievance against Wroten, who received an $805,000 signing bonus his rookie contract. The Rams sought $201,250 back.

Florida Tuskers

Wroten was signed by the

Florida Tuskers Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to th ...

of the United Football League on August 17, 2009.

Toronto Argonauts

On April 21, 2011, Wroten was signed by 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

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 ...

. Released by the Argonauts on June 17, 2012.

Edmonton Eskimos

Wroten signed with the Edmonton Eskimos on August 9, 2012.

Marion Blue Racers

Wroten signed with the

Marion Blue Racers The Marion Blue Racers were a professional indoor football team based in Marion, Ohio. The Blue Racers began play as an expansion team in the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) in 2011, before moving to the United Indoor Football League ...

of the

Continental Indoor Football League The Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) was an indoor football league based along the Midwestern United States region that played nine seasons from 2006 to 2014. It began play in April 2006 as the Great Lakes Indoor Football League (GLIF ...

for the season.

Orlando Predators

Wroten 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 ...

on May 9, 2013.

Nebraska Danger

Wroten signed during the 2014 season with the

Nebraska Danger The Nebraska Danger was a professional indoor football team based in Grand Island, Nebraska, and a member of the Indoor Football League (IFL). The team was founded in 2011 by Charlie Bosselman as an expansion member of the IFL. The Danger played ...

of the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams am ...

. On May 8, 2015, Wroten was released by the Danger.

References

External links

LSU Tigers bioToronto Argonauts bioNebraska Danger bio
*United Football League bio
-> {{DEFAULTSORT:Wroten, Claude 1983 births Living people American football defensive tackles Edmonton Elks players Florida Tuskers players LSU Tigers football players Mississippi Delta Trojans football players People from Bastrop, Louisiana Players of American football from Louisiana St. Louis Rams players Toronto Argonauts players Marion Blue Racers players Orlando Predators players Nebraska Danger players Missouri Monsters players