Derek Lee Sherrod (born April 23, 1989) 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 ...

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

. He was drafted by 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 ...

in the first round of the

2011 NFL Draft The 2011 NFL Draft was the 76th installment of the annual NFL Draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York C ...

. 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 ...

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univer ...

Early years

Sherrod was born in

Chula Vista, California Chula Vista (; ) is the second-largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the Largest cities in Southern California, seventh largest city in Southern California, the List of largest California cities by population, fifteenth largest city ...

. He attended Caledonia High School in

Caledonia, Mississippi Caledonia is a town in Lowndes County, Mississippi, United States, northeast of Columbus. The population was 1,041 at the 2010 census. History Caledonia was first settled in the 1820s by settlers from Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, Nort ...

, where he played for the Caledonia Confederates

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

team. He was a four-year starter on the offensive line and three-year regular on the defensive side of the ball. He allowed just one

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in th ...

during his senior season and was credited with 32

pancake block The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see ''Glossary of Canadian football''. 0–9 ...

s, while also making 79 tackles on defense, with six quarterback sacks and four fumble recoveries. Sherrod was a first-team All-State selection in Class 3A by the Mississippi Association of Coaches at offensive tackle. Regarded as a four-star recruit, he was listed as the No. 13 offensive tackle prospect of the class of 2007. He chose

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...

over

Florida 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 ...

, Miami (Fla.), Notre Dame,

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

and Ole Miss.

College career

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, his

true freshman Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

year, Sherrod played in all but two games (11 of 13) during regular season. As a sophomore, he became a starter in the final 11 games for the

Bulldogs The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

in rushing, with running back

Anthony Dixon Anthony Rishard "Boobie" Dixon (born September 24, 1987) is a former American football running back. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the sixth round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He played college football for Mississippi State Univers ...

recording 1,391 yards for the season (a new MSU single-season rushing record). As a senior, he was a first-team All- SEC selection and helped the Bulldogs to a 9–4 record and a 52–14 victory over

in the 2011 Gator Bowl.

Professional career

Green Bay Packers

Sherrod was selected in the first round (32nd overall) of the

by the

. He was the first Mississippi State Bulldog selected in the first round since Walt Harris and

Eric Moulds Eric Shannon Moulds (born July 17, 1973) is a former American football wide receiver who played 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Mississippi State Bulldogs, Mississippi State University and was draf ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

. Sherrod broke his right leg on December 18, 2011 when linebacker

Tamba Hali Tamba Boimah Hali (born 3 November 1983) is a former American football linebacker. He played college football at Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), where he earned All-American honors, and was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fi ...

rolled into him during the fourth quarter of the Packers 19-14 loss to the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

. He missed the entire 2012 season recovering from the injury. On August 20, 2013, Packers GM Ted Thompson stated he was confident Sherrod would play in the 2013 season. Sherrod started the 2013 on the PUP list. He was moved to the active roster on November 5, 2013. Sherrod was waived on November 3, 2014.

Kansas City Chiefs

On December 31, 2014, the

signed Sherrod to a future free agent contract. He was cut from the team on September 5, 2015 as the Chiefs reduced their roster to 53 players.

Personal life

Sherrod graduated in August 2010 with a bachelor's degree in business with a focus on

financial risk management Financial risk management is the practice of protecting economic value in a firm by using financial instruments to manage exposure to financial risk - principally operational risk, credit risk and market risk, with more specific variants as liste ...

, insurance and financial planning, with a 3.54 grade point average. He was a finalist for the NCAA's 2010 William V. Campbell Trophy, commonly called the "Academic Heisman."

References

External links

*
Mississippi State Bulldogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherrod, Derek 1989 births Living people American football offensive tackles Mississippi State Bulldogs football players Green Bay Packers players Sportspeople from Chula Vista, California Players of American football from San Diego County, California People from Columbus, Mississippi Players of American football from Mississippi