Lawrence Daniel Warford III (born June 18, 1991) 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 ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

. He was drafted by the

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in the third round of 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 ...

. He made the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

in all three of his seasons with the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

. 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 ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

Early years

Born in

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to an

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

father and a Samoan mother, Warford attended

Oceanside High School Oceanside High School (California) is an American public secondary school located in Oceanside, California. It is part of the Oceanside Unified School District. History and Campus Oceanside High School is one of two high schools in the Oceanside ...

during his freshman and sophomore year. By his sophomore year, he had earned a starting job as offensive tackle, protecting quarterback Jordan Wynn. One of his teammates on the offensive line was

Brian Schwenke Brian Max Schwenke Jr. ( ; born March 22, 1991) is a former American football player. He played college football at California and was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the fourth round of the 2013 NFL Draft. Early years Schwenke was born in ...

. After Warford's father retired from the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, his family moved to

Richmond, Kentucky Richmond is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Madison County, Kentucky, United States. It is named after Richmond, Virginia, and is home to Eastern Kentucky University. In 2019, the population was 36,157. Richmond is the fourth-la ...

, where he attended Madison Central High School and became a two-year all-state honoree. In his senior year, he was named a first-team all-state selection by the

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and ''

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''. Regarded as a three-star recruit by

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, Warford was listed as the No. 30 guard prospect in his class, behind

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 ...

(No. 20) and

Alvin Bailey Alvin Dewayne Bailey (born August 26, 1991) is a former American football guard. He played college football at Arkansas. He was signed by the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent in 2013. High school career A native of Broken Arrow, Okla ...

(No. 27). Warford chose Kentucky over

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and

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

College career

Warford attended the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

, where he played for the

Kentucky Wildcats football The Kentucky Wildcats football program represents the University of Kentucky in the sport of American football. The Wildcats compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern D ...

team from 2009 to 2012. He started his career mostly as a reserve at right guard, appearing in 10 games, before earning a starting spot his sophomore year. He would go on to start 37 consecutive games for the Wildcats, and earned second-team All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) honors in three consecutive seasons.

Professional career

Detroit Lions

Warford was selected by the

in the third round, with the 65th overall pick, of the

. He signed his rookie contract with the Lions on May 9, 2013; financial terms were not disclosed. In his rookie season, Warford became an immediate starter at right guard for the Lions, and he did not give up a sack the entire 2013 season. He was named

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's Rookie of the Year. He was named the 2013 recipient of the Detroit Lions/Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association Rookie of the Year Award. Warford started all 16 regular-season games as a rookie.

New Orleans Saints

On March 9, 2017, Warford signed a four-year, $34 million contract with the

. In his first season in New Orleans, he started 14 games at right guard, missing two games due to an abdomen injury, on his way to his first Pro Bowl.
In 2018, Warford started 15 games and made his second straight Pro Bowl appearance. In 2019, Warford was selected to his third straight Pro Bowl. On May 8, 2020, Warford was released by the Saints after three seasons. He decided to opt out of the 2020 season due to the

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on July 28, 2020.

References

External links

*
New Orleans Saints bioOfficial website (archived from 2013)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warford, Larry 1991 births Living people American sportspeople of Samoan descent Players of American football from Kentucky African-American players of American football American football offensive guards Kentucky Wildcats football players Detroit Lions players New Orleans Saints players National Conference Pro Bowl players Players of American football from San Diego People from Richmond, Kentucky 21st-century African-American sportspeople