Ego Ferguson (born September 22, 1991) 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 drafted by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

in the second round of the

2014 NFL Draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

. 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 ...

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 ...

. He was also a member of 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 ...

and

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

, but only appeared briefly on both teams' practice squads.

High school career

A native of

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, but raised in Mims, Ferguson originally attended Saint John's Catholic Prep in

Frederick, Maryland Frederick is a city in and the county seat of Frederick County, Maryland. It is part of the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area. Frederick has long been an important crossroads, located at the intersection of a major north–south Native ...

, before transferring to

Hargrave Military Academy Hargrave Military Academy (HMA) is a private, all-male, military boarding school located in the town of Chatham, Virginia. Hargrave is affiliated with the Baptist General Association of Virginia emphasizing Christian values that focuses on a col ...

Chatham, Virginia Chatham is a town in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, Pittsylvania County, Virginia, United States. It is the county seat of Pittsylvania County, Virginia, Pittsylvania County. Chatham's population was 1,269 at the 2010 census. It is included in the ...

, for his senior year of high school. Regarded as a four-star recruit by ''

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

'', Ferguson was ranked as the sixth best strong-side defensive end prospect in the class of 2010, behind top-ranked prospect

Jackson Jeffcoat Jackson Jeffcoat (born December 26, 1990) is a Canadian football defensive end for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Jeffcoat won the 107th and 108th Grey Cup when the Blue Bombers defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats ...

and third-ranked prospect

William Gholston William Gholston (born July 31, 1991) is an American football defensive end for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Michigan State, and was drafted by the Buccaneers in the fourth round o ...

. Ferguson was ranked seventh-best defensive end prospect in the country by

Scout.com Scout Media is an integrated sports publishing company that produces Internet content covering hundreds of professional and college teams across America. The company was founded in 2001 and was acquired by Fox Sports in 2005. In 2013, Fox Sports ...

. After official visits to

, Notre Dame,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

, and

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, Ferguson committed to the LSU Tigers to play college football under head coach

Les Miles Leslie Edwin Miles (born November 10, 1953) is a former American football coach. He most recently served as the head coach at Kansas. His head coaching career began with the Oklahoma State Cowboys, where he coached from 2001 to 2004. Following t ...

College career

At LSU, Ferguson was redshirted as a true freshman. After two years as a backup, Ferguson replaced

Bennie Logan Bennie Cordell Logan (born December 28, 1989) is a former American football nose tackle. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the third round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He played college football at Louisiana State (LSU). Early years Logan ...

at the right defensive tackle position. Ferguson announced on January 3, 2014 that he would forgo his senior season and enter the 2014 NFL Draft. Ferguson earned honorable mention All-SEC honors as a junior in 2013.

Professional career

Chicago Bears

On May 9, 2014, Ferguson was drafted in the second round by the

with the 51st overall pick of the

. He signed a four-year contract on May 13, 2014. Ferguson made his NFL debut on September 7, 2014, versus the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

. In 2015, Ferguson appeared in four games before being placed on injured reserve with a knee injury. On November 12, 2015, Ferguson was hit by the NFL with a four-game suspension for violating the league's policy for performance-enhancing drugs. Ferguson was waived/injured and placed on injured reserve before the start of the

2016 NFL season The 2016 NFL season was the 97th season in the history of the National Football League (NFL) and the 51st of the Super Bowl era. The season began on September 8, 2016, with defending Super Bowl 50 champion Denver defeating Carolina in the NF ...

after sustaining a shoulder injury in the Bears' preseason finale that required season-ending surgery. On March 31, 2017, Ferguson was released by the Bears.

Green Bay Packers

On April 3, 2017, Ferguson was claimed off waivers by the

. He was waived by the Packers two days later after a failed physical.

Detroit Lions

On June 8, 2017, Ferguson signed with the

. On September 2, 2017, he was

waived A waiver is the voluntary relinquishment or surrender of some known right or privilege. Regulatory agencies of state departments or the federal government may issue waivers to exempt companies from certain regulations. For example, a United St ...

by the Lions.

Season statistics

References

External links

LSU Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, Ego 1991 births Living people People from Mims, Florida American football defensive tackles LSU Tigers football players Chicago Bears players Green Bay Packers players Detroit Lions players Saint John's Catholic Prep (Maryland) alumni