Glenn Earl (born June 10, 1981 in

Southfield, Michigan Southfield is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the city had a population of 76,618. As a northern suburb of Detroit, Southfield shares part of its ...

) 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 ...

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 ...

in 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 ...

. He was drafted by the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

in the fourth round of the

2004 NFL Draft The 2004 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 2004 at the Theater at ...

. He grew up in

Lisle, Illinois Lisle ( ) is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 22,390 at the 2010 census, and in 2019 the population was recorded to be 23,270. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Illinois Technology and Resea ...

and attended

Naperville North High School Naperville North High School is a public four-year high school located at the corner of Ogden Avenue and Mill Street in the northern-central part of Naperville, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is the coun ...

. He then 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.

College career

He began his career at 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 ...

as a wide receiver before switching to safety after his

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 ...

freshman season. He played in 38 games for the

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

with 24 starts and amassed 169 career tackles, three forced

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful ...

s, five fumble recoveries, four

INTs Ints is a Latvian language, Latvian masculine given name. It is a short form of Indriķis, the Latvian form of Henry (given name), Henry, and may refer to: * Ints Cālītis (born 1931), Latvian politician and former political prisoner * Ints D� ...

, four sacks and 3 blocked kicks. Earl earned a reputation as a hard hitter in the Irish secondary. He was one of the better enforcers Notre Dame had in recent years, even being labeled as "The Quiet Assassin" by teammates.

Professional career

Houston Texans

Earl was drafted by the Houston Texans in the fourth round of the

. He made 31 starts through his first three seasons and had a career-high 74 tackles in 2006. Earl was knocked out with a torn

Lisfranc ligament The Lisfranc ligament is one of several ligaments which connects the medial cuneiform bone to the second metatarsal. Sometimes, the term ''Lisfranc ligament'' refers specifically to the ligament that connects the superior, lateral surface of the me ...

in his foot during the 2007 preseason in a game at Reliant Stadium. After four years in Houston, Earl was released on August 29, 2008.

Chicago Bears

After two seasons away from the NFL recovering from his foot injury, Earl agreed to terms on a one-year contract with 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 ...

on March 20, 2009.Bears, Earl Agree to One-Year Deal
ESPN.com, March 21, 2009 On July 28, 2009, Glenn Earl retired. "He's decided to hang it up," Craig Domann said. "He's been dealing with some injuries since he came out of Notre Dame. I think he felt like it was time to move on."

References

External links

Houston Texans bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Earl, Glenn 1981 births Living people American football safeties Chicago Bears players Houston Texans players Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players People from DuPage County, Illinois Sportspeople from Southfield, Michigan