Ryan Quinlan Claridge (born April 12, 1981) is a former

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

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 for 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 ...

in the 2005 season, but was released early during 2006 training camp. He played college football at

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...

and is currently the owner of

Big Apple Bagels Big Apple Bagels is an American franchised chain of bakery-cafes based in Deerfield, Illinois. Coffee, along with a variety of other related products are sold. The products are sold as three different brands: Big Apple Bagels, Brewster's Coffee, ...

Traverse City, Michigan Traverse City ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Grand Traverse County, although a small portion extends into Leelanau County. It is the largest city in the 21-county Northern Michigan region. The population was ...

, which he purchased in May 2022.

High school career

Claridge attended Almont High School in

Almont, Michigan Almont is a village in Almont Township, Lapeer County, Michigan. Its population was 2,846 at the 2020 census. History Almont was first settled in 1828 by James Deneen. It received a post office in 1835 named Bristol, for Oliver Bristol, the seco ...

, and was a four-sport standout in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and track. In football, as a senior, he rushed for more than 1,300 yards and 27 touchdowns, was a first team All-Southern Thumb Association selection, was the League

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

and a first team All-State selection. He is the school record holder in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns, having played three years on the varsity team. In basketball, Claridge was the team's leading scorer and rebounder during his sophomore and senior seasons (he missed his junior season due to injury). In tennis, as a senior, he was also a first-team All-State selection. In track, as a junior, Claridge qualified for the state finals in the high jump and was also All-Southern Thumb Association in the 100-meter dash and the high jump.

College and professional career

Claridge was recruited by

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

John Robinson John Robinson may refer to: Academics *John Thomas Romney Robinson (1792–1882), Irish astronomer and physicist * John J. Robinson (1918–1996), historian and author of ''Born in Blood'' *John Talbot Robinson (1923–2001), paleontologist *John ...

to the

University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...

as a linebacker for the Rebels football team. Claridge would play his entire eligibility at UNLV over five years, receiving a medical redshirt during the 2002 season due to a sports hernia. Claridge was drafted by the

in the 5th round (170th overall) in the

2005 NFL Draft The 2005 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The NFL draft, draft was held April 23–24, 2005 NFL seaso ...

. Claridge would spend the entire 2005 season on the team's practice squad before being cut during training camp in 2006.

Personal

Claridge's brother, the late

Travis Claridge Travis Claridge (March 23, 1978 – February 28, 2006) was an American football offensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the Atlanta Falcons between 2000 and 2003 and for the Carolina Panthers in 2004. Early life T ...

out of

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

was a second round pick

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

for 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 ...

in 2000. After his professional football career was over, Claridge returned to southern Nevada and took up a coaching position with Coronado High School's Junior Varsity squad in 2007. The following season, Claridge would become the defensive coordinator for the varsity team at

Del Sol High School Del Sol Academy of the Performing Arts, commonly known as Del Sol High School, is a nine-month public high school in Las Vegas, Nevada and is part of the Clark County School District. Del Sol was one of three schools (including Canyon Springs an ...

and become a full-time teacher in the schools Driver's Education, Health and Physical Education Department. In 2011, Claridge left teaching/coaching to become a franchisee of Firehouse Subs in the Henderson/Las Vegas area. He owned and operated multiple

Firehouse Subs Firehouse Subs is an American restaurant chain based in Jacksonville, Florida. It was founded in 1994 by former firefighter brothers Chris and Robin Sorensen. Firehouse Subs has over 1,210 restaurants in 46 states, Puerto Rico, and Canada. Hi ...

before selling them after he moved back to

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. In 2015, he went back into education as a Physical Education teacher at Liberty High School and also served as the linebackers coach for Liberty's varsity football team. Claridge was an investor in Philippi Sports Institute in Las Vegas, the institute is owned and operated by former World's Strongest Man finalist

Mark Philippi Mark Philippi (born 21 March 1963) is an American world champion powerlifter and strongman competitor. Philippi is a multiple entrant to the World's Strongest Man competition, and former holder of the America's Strongest Man title. Strongman A ...

. In May 2022, he purchased and locally operates a Big Apple Bagels franchise in Traverse City, Michigan.

References

External links

UNLV Rebels player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Claridge, Ryan 1981 births Living people People from Almont, Michigan Sportspeople from Metro Detroit Players of American football from Michigan American football linebackers UNLV Rebels football players New England Patriots players