Larry Fort, Jr. (born January 3, 1990) 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 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 ...

Northern Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

and was signed by 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 ( ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2012. Fort has been a member of the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

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 ...

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

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 ...

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

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 ...

, and

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

College career

Fort was a three-year starter at Northern Iowa as an outside linebacker. He was a second-team Missouri Valley Football Conference selection in 2010. The following season, Fort was named the Missouri Valley Football Conference's Defensive Player of the Year and was named a finalist for the NCAA FCS National Defensive Player of the Year Award.

Professional career

Cleveland Browns

Fort signed with the

as an undrafted free agent and made the 53-man roster for the 2012 regular season opener. Fort started for the Browns in Week 1 due to injuries to

Chris Gocong Christopher Andrew Gocong (born November 16, 1983) is a former American football linebacker who played for the Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the third round ...

James-Michael Johnson James-Michael Johnson (born August 20, 1989) is a former American football linebacker. He was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the fourth round of the 2012 NFL Draft. He played college football at Nevada. Professional career Cleveland Brow ...

, and

Emmanuel Acho Emmanuel Chinedum Acho (born November 10, 1990) is a Nigerian-American former linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) and is currently working as an analyst for Fox Sports 1. He played college football at Texas before being dra ...

. He had his first career interception against the Philadelphia Eagles in that game, picking off Eagles' quarterback Michael Vick. Fort played in all 16 regular season games for the Browns, finishing his rookie season with 20 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 interception.

Denver Broncos

Fort signed a future reserve contract with the

on December 31, 2013. He was released by the Broncos on August 29, 2014.

Seattle Seahawks

On October 22, 2014, Fort was signed to the

practice squad. Fort signed with the team as a fullback. He was activated for one regular season game in 2014.

Cincinnati Bengals

On November 26, 2014, Fort was signed to the Bengals' practice squad. He was released on April 29, 2015.

New England Patriots

On August 4, 2015, Fort signed with the

. Fort was released on August 18, 2015.

Pittsburgh Steelers

On August 19, 2015, Fort signed with the

. Fort was released on September 5 and was re-signed to the practice squad the following day. He was promoted to the active roster on December 28 to replace injured fullback Roosevelt Nix for the team’s final game. Fort was released by the Steelers on November 12, 2016 but was re-signed three days later. On September 12, 2017, Fort was waived by the Steelers and was re-signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on September 23, 2017.

Philadelphia Eagles

On March 14, 2019, Fort signed a three-year $5.5 million contract with the

. He was released on September 27, 2019 after four games.

Baltimore Ravens

On September 30, 2019, Fort was signed by the

. On October 13, against the

, Fort made his first start as a Raven, registering 2 tackles and a pass defense. During the Ravens 30-16 win over the

, Fort registered six tackles, including two for loss, a quarterback hit and his first quarterback sack as a Raven. On November 8, 2019, he signed a two-year, $5.5 million contract extension with the Ravens after becoming the starter due to injury. On December 8, 2019, Fort sacked

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. ...

quarterback

Josh Allen Josh or Joshua Allen may refer to: * Josh Allen (offensive lineman) (born 1991), former American football player * Josh Allen (quarterback) (born 1996), American football quarterback in the NFL for the Buffalo Bills since 2018 * Josh Allen (defensi ...

on a crucial third down late in the fourth quarter. In Week 1 of the 2020 season against the

, Fort forced a fumble on punter

Jamie Gillan Jamie Gillan (born 4 July 1997), nicknamed the Scottish Hammer, is a Scottish professional American football punter for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Arkansas–Pine Bluff. Early year ...

and later recovered a fumble lost by running back

Nick Chubb Nicholas Jamaal Chubb (born December 27, 1995) is an American football running back for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia and was drafted by the Browns in the second round of the ...

during the 38–6 win. In Week 2, against 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 ...

, he had a 22-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the 33–16 victory. He was placed on the reserve/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

list by the team on November 3, 2020, and activated four days later. At the start of the 2021 new league year, Baltimore chose not to pick up Fort's option for 2021, allowing him to become a free agent. He re-signed with the team on a one-year contract on April 2, 2021. In 2021, Fort changed his jersey number from #58 to #3 following the relaxation of the NFL's jersey number rules. In the second quarter of the Week 2 preseason game against the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

, Fort tore his ACL, prematurely ending his season. He was placed on injured reserve on August 23, 2021.

NFL career statistics

References

External links

Northern Iowa Panthers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fort, LJ 1990 births Living people American football linebackers Baltimore Ravens players Cincinnati Bengals players Cleveland Browns players Denver Broncos players New England Patriots players Northern Iowa Panthers football players People from Waynesville, Missouri Philadelphia Eagles players Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of American football from Missouri Seattle Seahawks players