Justin Ikeem Staples (born December 10, 1989) 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 ...

who is currently a free agent. 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 ...

for the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

. He has been a member of the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

and

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

Early years

Staples played

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 ...

at St. Edward High School in

Lakewood, Ohio Lakewood is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, on the southern shore of Lake Erie. Established in 1889, it is one of Cleveland's historical streetcar suburbs and part of the Greater Cleveland, Greater Clevelan ...

. He was named to the Cleveland

Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday. As of Ma ...

All-State team as a linebacker his senior year, recording 92 tackles, seven sacks, one interception, 11 pass break-ups, six forced fumbles and two recovered fumbles. He was also picked for the

Big 33 Football Classic The Big 33 Football Classic is an all-star American football game featuring the top high-school football players in Pennsylvania. Played since 1957, the game is often described as the "Super Bowl of High School Football." Contests currently pit ...

, which at the time featured the best Pennsylvania and Ohio seniors.

College career

Staples played for the

Illinois Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports. The University operates a number of athletic faci ...

from 2009 to 2012. He was

redshirted 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 ...

in 2008. He played 48 games as a

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

for the Illini, recording 62 career tackles, 2.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. He is also a member of the

Omega Psi Phi Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African-American fraternity. The fraternity was founded on November 17, 1911, by three Howard University juniors Edgar Amos Love, Oscar James Cooper and Frank Coleman, and their faculty advi ...

fraternity

Professional career

Staples was rated the 79th best defensive end in the

2013 NFL Draft The 2013 NFL Draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in ...

by NFLDraftScout.com.

Cleveland Browns

Staples signed with the

in April 2013 after going undrafted in the 2013 NFL draft. He was released by the Browns on August 31 and signed to the team's practice squad on September 25, 2013. He signed a futures contract with the Browns on December 30, 2103. He was released by the Browns on September 9, 2014.

Tennessee Titans

Staples was signed to the

' practice squad on September 16, 2014. He was promoted to the active roster on November 20 and made his NFL debut on November 23, 2014 against the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

, recording one tackle. He was released by the Titans on September 6, 2015 and signed to the team's practice squad on September 8, 2015. Staples was promoted to the active roster on October 17, 2015. On September 2, 2016, Staples was released by the Titans as part of final roster cuts and was signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on December 5, 2016. On September 2, 2017, Staples was released by the Titans.

References

External links

College stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Staples, Justin Living people 1989 births American football linebackers American football defensive ends African-American players of American football St. Edward High School (Lakewood, Ohio) alumni Illinois Fighting Illini football players Cleveland Browns players Tennessee Titans players Players of American football from Ohio Sportspeople from Lakewood, Ohio 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people