LaAdrian Waddle (born July 21, 1991) 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 ...

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

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 ...

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

High school career

A native of

Columbus, Texas Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Colorado County in southeastern Texas. The population was 3,699 as of the 2020 census. It is located on the Colorado River. The Colorado County Courthouse is listed on the National Register of Histori ...

, Waddle attended Columbus High School where he was coached by Brent Mascheck. The Columbus Cardinals finished 5–4 in Waddle's senior year and did not make the UIL playoffs. Behind Waddle pulling and clearing the way for the running back, the Cardinals averaged 281.0 rushing yards per game with 26 rushing touchdowns on the season. Regarded as a three-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 ...

'', Waddle was ranked as the No. 74 offensive guard prospect nationally in a class that also included

Jonotthan Harrison Jonotthan Harrison (born August 25, 1991) is an American football Center (gridiron football), center who is a free agent. He played college football at Florida Gators football, Florida. He was not selected during the 2014 NFL Draft, but signed w ...

, Corey Linsley, and

Chance Warmack Chance Warmack (born September 14, 1991) is an American football guard who is a free agent. He was drafted by the Tennessee Titans tenth overall in the 2013 NFL Draft. He played college football at Alabama, and earned All-American honors. Hig ...

. Waddle was not heavily recruited, receiving offers from

Tulane Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

Rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, and SMU. He planned on going to nearby Houston until Texas Tech recruited him.

College career

Playing from 2009–12 for

, Waddle earned several honors. During his sophomore year, Waddle received All-

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

honorable mention honors as well as an Academic All-Big 12 2nd Team selection. In the following year in 2011, Waddle was named an All-Big 12 Conference 2nd Team selection before being bumped to a 1st Team selection following the 2012 season.

Professional career

Detroit Lions

On April 27, 2013, he signed with the

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 ...

as an undrafted free agent. Despite being undrafted, Waddle unseated Jason Curtis Fox and

Corey Hilliard Corey Hilliard (born April 26, 1985) is a former American football offensive tackle who played seven years in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Oklahoma State, before being drafted by the New England Patriots in th ...

as the

starting right tackle by week eight of his rookie season. He had taken over the job after Hilliard was injured in a week 7 loss to the

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 ...

. Waddle was injured in the 2014 season and went through off-season knee surgery. He was cut by the Lions on December 15, 2015.

New England Patriots

The

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 ...

claimed Waddle off waivers on December 16, 2015. Waddle was re-signed to a two-year deal on March 9, 2016. In the 2016 season, Waddle was inactive for all but two games and played only one offensive snap. On February 5, 2017, Waddle's Patriots appeared in

Super Bowl LI Super Bowl LI was an American football game played at NRG Stadium in Houston, Houston, Texas, on February 5, 2017, to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2016 NFL season, 2016 season. The American Football Confer ...

. He was inactive for the game as the Patriots defeated the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

by a score of 34–28 in overtime. In 2017, Waddle played in 12 games with four starts at right tackle in place of the injured

Marcus Cannon Marcus Darell Cannon (born May 6, 1988) is an American football offensive tackle for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). Prior to the 2011 NFL Draft, Cannon was considered one of the top offensive tackle prospects a ...

. Waddle and the Patriots made it to

Super Bowl LII Super Bowl LII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2017 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles defeated the American Football Conferen ...

, but the Patriots lost 41-33 to 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 ...

. On March 22, 2018, Waddle re-signed with the Patriots. He played in all 16 games, starting three at right tackle in place of an injured

. Waddle won his second Super Bowl when the Patriots defeated the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

13–3 in

Super Bowl LIII Super Bowl LIII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2018 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots defeated the National Football Confe ...

Buffalo Bills

On March 16, 2019, Waddle signed a one-year contract with 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. ...

. On August 4, Waddle suffered a quadriceps injury and was carted off the field during a training camp scrimmage. It was revealed that he suffered a torn quad and was placed on injured reserve two days later, ending his season.

References

External links

Texas Tech bioDetroit Lions bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waddle, LaAdrian 1991 births Living people People from Columbus, Texas Players of American football from Texas People from College Station, Texas American football offensive tackles Texas Tech Red Raiders football players Detroit Lions players New England Patriots players Buffalo Bills players