Nathaniel Irving (born July 12, 1988) 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 ...

inside 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 ...

. 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 ...

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

and was drafted by 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 ...

in the third round of the

2011 NFL Draft The 2011 NFL Draft was the 76th installment of the annual NFL Draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York C ...

Early life

Irving attended Wallace-Rose Hill High School in

Teachey, North Carolina Teachey is a town in Duplin County, North Carolina, United States. Its population was 376 at the 2010 census. Geography Teachey is located in southwestern Duplin County at (34.769292, -78.006933). U.S. Route 117 passes through the center of town ...

, where he tallied 110 tackles, six forced fumbles, three sacks, and one interception in his senior year. Regarded as only a two-star recruit by ''

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'', he was not listed among the top prospects of the class of 2006.

College career

Irving was a 2010 All-American selection by ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'' and

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. Irving holds the NCAA FBS record for tackles for loss in a single game with eight in 2010.

Professional career

Denver Broncos (2011–2014)

Irving was selected in the third round (67th overall) by the

in the 2011 NFL Draft. He officially signed with the Broncos on July 29, 2011. Irving was placed on injured reserve in November 2014 with a knee injury that required surgery. He had 44 tackles through 8 games prior to the injury. Irving became a free agent at the end of the 2014 season.

Indianapolis Colts (2015)

On March 20, 2015, Irving signed a 3-year, $9.25 million contract with the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

. On December 8, 2015, Irving 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 ...

. On September 3, 2016, Irving was released by the Colts as part of final roster cuts.

References

External links

NC State Wolfpack bioDenver Broncos bioIndianapolis Colts bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irving, Nate 1988 births Living people People from Wallace, North Carolina Players of American football from North Carolina American football linebackers NC State Wolfpack football players Denver Broncos players Indianapolis Colts players