Lawrence Edward "L. J." Collier Jr. (born September 12, 1995) is an American football defensive end for the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

of the National Football League (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 ...

TCU TCU may stand for: Education * Tanzania Commission for Universities, regulatory body for Universities in Tanzania * Texas Christian University, a private university in Fort Worth, Texas ** TCU Horned Frogs, the athletic programs of the school * Tok ...

, and was drafted by the Seahawks in the 1st round 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 ...

Early years

Collier grew up in his father's hometown of Munday, Texas. He attended

Munday High School Munday High School is a public high school located in Munday, Texas (USA) and classified as a 1A school by the UIL. It is part of the Munday Consolidated Independent School District located in southeastern Knox County. In 2003, neighboring Go ...

, where he helped lead the Moguls to a state championship as a junior in 2012. He recorded six tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, and a touchdown on an interception return to earn Defensive MVP honors for the game. On February 5, 2014, he signed a letter of intent to attend Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas on a football scholarship.

College career

Collier redshirted during his first season at

, but became a starter for the Horned Frogs as a redshirt freshman in 2015 despite appearing in just one game. He played in all 13 games for the Horned Frogs as sophomore, recording 4.5 sacks and blocking a field goal against Georgia in the 2016 Liberty Bowl. He recorded 4.5 sacks again as a junior, including one in a crucial late-game situation in the Frogs' comeback win over

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

in the

2017 Alamo Bowl Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...

. As a senior in 2018, Collier finally got the opportunity to become a starter for the Horned Frogs. He responded by tallying 6.0 sacks, 11.5 tackles for loss and 4 pass break-ups to earn First-team All- Big 12 Conference honors and closed out his collegiate career with a sack in TCU's

Cheez-It Bowl The Cheez-It Bowl is an annual college football bowl game that is played in Orlando, Florida, at Camping World Stadium. The bowl is operated by Florida Citrus Sports, a non-profit group which also organizes the Citrus Bowl and the Florida Cla ...

victory over California. Following his senior season, Collier graduated from TCU and was invited to participate in the

2019 Senior Bowl The 2019 Senior Bowl was an all-star college football exhibition game played on January 26, 2019, at 1:30 p.m. CST, at Ladd–Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama. The game featured prospects for the 2019 draft of the professional National F ...

, in which he recorded a sack and a forced fumble.

Professional career

Seattle Seahawks

Collier was selected by the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

in the first round (29th overall) of the

. The Seahawks traded Frank Clark to the Kansas City Chiefs in order to obtain the selection used to select Collier. After suffering multiple injuries, he finished the season with 3 tackles. Collier started the 2020 campaign as the starting defensive end for the

after the departure of Jadeveon Clowney. He had the biggest play of his early career when he stopped

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

quarterback Cam Newton on the 1-yard line to secure a Week 2 35–30 victory on ''

Sunday Night Football Sunday Night Football may refer to: * ''NBC Sunday Night Football'', the Sunday night broadcast of American NFL games by NBC since 2006 * ''ESPN Sunday Night Football'', the Sunday night broadcast of American NFL games from 1987 to 2005 by ESPN * ...

''. In Week 5 against the Minnesota Vikings on ''Sunday Night Football'', Collier recorded his first career sack on Kirk Cousins during the 27–26 win. In Week 11 against the

on ''

Thursday Night Football ''Thursday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''TNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that broadcast primarily on Thursday nights. Most of the games kick off at 8:15 Eastern Time (8:20 prior to 20 ...

'', Collier recorded his second career sack, taking down Kyler Murray during a 28-21 win. The Seahawks declined the fifth-year option on Collier's rookie contract making him a free agent after the 2022 season. Collier was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

to start the 2022 season. He was activated on October 26, 2022.

Arizona Cardinals

On March 21, 2023, Collier signed a one-year contract with the

. He was placed on injured reserve on September 16, 2023.

References

External links

Arizona Cardinals bioTCU Horned Frogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collier, L. J. 1995 births Living people People from Munday, Texas Players of American football from Texas American football defensive ends TCU Horned Frogs football players Seattle Seahawks players Arizona Cardinals players