Clifton Ryan (born February 18, 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 with ...

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

. He was selected 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 arri ...

in the fifth round (154th overall) of the 2007 NFL Draft. 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 ...

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

Early life

Ryan went to

Arthur Hill High School Arthur Hill High School is a public high school in Saginaw, Michigan, United States. It serves students in grades 9-12 as one of three high schools in the Saginaw Public School District. History The school was named after a successful lumberin ...

in Saginaw, Michigan, where he finished with 310 tackles and 12 sacks.

College career

Ryan played

, where he played in 50 games, making 35 starts and finished his career with 118 tackles and 10.5 sacks. As a senior, he totaled 25 tackles, six for losses and four sacks. As a sophomore, he had 41 tackles (eight for a loss) and 2.5 sacks. He majored in Kinesiology.

Professional career

St. Louis Rams

Ryan was selected by the

in the fifth round (154th overall) of the 2007 NFL Draft. On July 14, 2007, the St. Louis Rams agreed to terms with Ryan on a three-year $1.24 million contract that included a $129,000 signing bonus. In his debut season, he played in all 16 games finishing the season with 30 tackles and two sacks. He was not re-signed following the 2010 season and became a free agent on March 17, 2011. His career was cut short due to concussions.

NFL career statistics

External links

Rams Player Bio

References

1984 births Players of American football from Saginaw, Michigan American football defensive tackles Michigan State Spartans football players St. Louis Rams players Living people {{defensive-lineman-1980s-stub