Drue Tranquill (born August 15, 1995) is an

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 ...

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, p ...

for 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 ...

of 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). 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 ...

at Notre Dame.

Early years

Tranquill attended

Carroll High School Carroll High School can refer to: In the United States *Carroll High School (Alabama), Ozark, Alabama *Carroll High School (Flora, Indiana), Flora, Indiana *Carroll High School (Fort Wayne, Indiana), Fort Wayne, Indiana *Carroll High School (Iowa) ...

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...

. As a senior in 2013, Tranquill made 75 tackles, including 16 tackles for loss, to go with four sacks and an interception as a linebacker. He added 1,420 yards and 28 touchdowns on 114 carries on the ground as a running back, along with 16 receptions for 348 yards and five touchdowns. Tranquill was a four-star recruit coming out of high school, and received offers from several major programs, mostly in the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

. He verbally committed to

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

to play college football, but later decommitted and ultimately signed with the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

. Tranquill's younger brother, Justin, played

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

for

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...

College career

Initially committed to Purdue University, Tranquill decommitted when he received an offer from Notre Dame. As a true freshman at Notre Dame in 2014, Tranquill played in 11 games with three starts and recorded 33 tackles, a tackle for loss, an

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

, a fumble recovery, and a blocked punt. He played in three games as a sophomore in 2015, with one start, but was lost for the season due to a torn ACL suffered while celebrating after breaking up a pass against

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

on September 19. He collected a medical

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

for the 2015 season, and was able to play as a graduate student during the 2018 season as a result. As a junior in 2016, Tranquill started all 12 games for the Irish, tallying 79 tackles, two tackles for loss, and an interception. During Tranquill's senior year in 2017, he finished the year with 85 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, three fumble recoveries, four passes defended, one interception and one forced fumble while starting all 13 games. At the end of the 2017 season, Tranquill announced that he would return for a 5th year as a graduate student in Mechanical Engineering for the 2018–19 season.

Awards and honors

*Notre Dame Newcomer of the Year: Defense (2014) * First-team Academic All-American (2016) *

Wuerffel Trophy The Wuerffel Trophy is an award given annually to the college football player "who best combines exemplary community service with athletic and academic achievement." The trophy, designed by W. Stanley Proctor and named in honor of former Universi ...

Finalist (2017) *Notre Dame Captain (2017 and 2018) *

Winner (2018) *

William V. Campbell Trophy The William V. Campbell, formerly the Vincent dePaul Draddy Trophy, is awarded by the National Football Foundation to the American college football player with the best combination of academics, community service, and on-field performance. It i ...

Finalist (2018) *NFF National Scholar-Athlete (2018)

Professional career

Los Angeles Chargers

Tranquill was drafted by the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

in the fourth round (130th overall) of the

2019 NFL Draft The 2019 NFL Draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee. The first round was held on April 2 ...

. He was named to the

PFWA All-Rookie Team Following each National Football League (NFL) season, the Pro Football Writers Association (PFWA) compiles an honorary All-Rookie Team to recognize that season's most outstanding rookies at each position as adjudged by sportswriters of the PFWA. T ...

as a special teamer in 2019. Tranquill entered 2020 as a starting middle linebacker. In Week 1, he suffered a broken ankle and was placed on injured reserve on September 15, 2020. In the Wild Card Round of the 2022 season against the

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 ...

, Tranquill intercepted a tipped pass from

Trevor Lawrence William Trevor Lawrence (born October 6, 1999) is an American football quarterback for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). Considered among the highest-touted college football prospects, he won the 2019 National C ...

Kansas City Chiefs

Tranquill signed with the

on March 21, 2023.

References

External links

Notre Dame Fighting Irish bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tranquill, Drue 1995 births Living people Players of American football from Fort Wayne, Indiana American football safeties American football linebackers Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Los Angeles Chargers players Kansas City Chiefs players