Samuel David Baker (born May 30, 1985) 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 ...

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 ...

. 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 ...

for the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

(USC), and was a three-time All-American. He was selected by 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 the first round of the

2008 NFL Draft The 2008 NFL Draft was the 73rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 26 and April 27, ...

Early years

Baker was born in

Tustin, California Tustin is a city located in Orange County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. In 2020, Tustin had a population of 80,276. The city is located next to the county seat, Santa Ana, and does not include the unincorporated community ...

. He graduated from

Tustin High School Tustin High School is a public high school in Tustin, California, United States. It is part of the Tustin Unified School District. It was established in 1921 as the Tustin Union High School. History Founded in 1921, Tustin High School was ori ...

, where

Frostee Rucker Frostee Lynn Rucker (born September 14, 1983) is a former American football defensive lineman. He played college football at USC, and was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the third round of the 2006 NFL Draft. Rucker has also played for the ...

, Matt McCoy, Chris Chester, and

DeShaun Foster DeShaun Xavier Foster (born January 10, 1980) is a former American football running back, who currently serves as the running backs coach at UCLA. He was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the second round of the 2002 NFL Draft. He played coll ...

went. He played in the 2003 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

College career

Baker attended the

, where he played for coach

Pete Carroll Peter Clay Carroll (born September 15, 1951) is an American football coach who is the head coach and executive vice president for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously the head football coach at USC Troja ...

USC Trojans football The USC Trojans football program represents University of Southern California in the sport of American football. The Trojans compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Pac-12 Con ...

team from 2003 to 2007. He was a first-team All-American as a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

sophomore in 2005. He was on the official 2006 watch list for the

Lombardi Award The Rotary Lombardi Award is an award for college football in the United States. Awarded by the Rotary Club of Houston, Texas annually to the college football player "who best embodies the values and spirit of NFL's legendary coach Vince Lombar ...

and the

Outland Trophy The Outland Trophy is awarded to the best college football interior lineman in the United States as adjudged by the Football Writers Association of America. It is named after John H. Outland. One of only a few players ever to be named an All-Ame ...

for the best lineman. In his collegiate career Baker blocked for

Reggie Bush Reginald Alfred Bush Jr. (born March 2, 1985) is an American former football running back who now serves as an on-air college football analyst for Fox Sports. He played college football at USC, where he earned consensus All-American honors twi ...

and

Matt Leinart Matthew Stephen Leinart (born May 11, 1983) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. He played college football at USC, where he won the Heisman Trophy ...

. He was named a first-team All-

Pacific-10 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division ...

selection by the league's coaches in 2005 and 2006. He was a recognized as a consensus first-team All-American, having received first-team honors from the

Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

, ''Sporting News'' and CBSSports.com. Going into his fourth year as a starter, Baker was on the Lombardi Award and Outland Trophy watch lists. He was ranked as one of the "Top 20 Players Heading Into 2007" by ''Sports Illustrated''. Before his final season in 2007, Baker was already regarded by most NFL scouts as a certain top-five player in the

. During the 2007 season, Baker took on a leadership role in the offensive line, taking over the reins from departed senior

Ryan Kalil Ryan Joseph Kalil (born March 29, 1985) is an American film and television producer and former NFL center. He played college football at USC, where he was a member of two national championship teams, was named a first-team All-American, and won ...

and providing motivation as well as helping teach younger players.Gary Klein
Top of the line
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', September 21, 2007. Despite suffering from injuries that held him out of games, Baker was again a first-team All-Pac-10 selection for his third consecutive year.Pac-10 Football Awards and All-Conference Team Announced
, Pacific 10 Conference, December 3, 2007. Baker was also named Walter Camp first-team All-American in 2007.

Professional career

Atlanta Falcons

Sam Baker was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the first round (21st overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft after the Falcons traded two of their second-round picks (No. 34 and No. 48) and a fourth round pick (No. 103) with the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

to move to No. 21 overall. On July 25, he signed a multi-year contract. In his rookie year, 2008, Baker started 5 games. On March 13, 2013, Baker re-signed with the Falcons for six years worth $41.5 million, including $18.25 million guaranteed. Baker's career was marred by injuries and he only competed in all 16 games in two seasons (2010 and 2012). He played in four games in 2013 before suffering a torn left patellar tendon which sidelined him for the rest of the year. In the second game of the 2014 preseason, Baker suffered a torn patellar tendon injury in his right knee, which ended his season. Baker was released on June 15, 2015.

Personal

Baker is the son of former

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...

President & CEO and former

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

commissioner C. David Baker. Sam married his wife, Antoinette, in 2008. He also is the brother of Ben Baker, who is the Senior Director of Broadcasting for NASCAR.

References

External links

Atlanta Falcons bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Sam 1985 births Living people People from Tustin, California Sportspeople from Orange County, California Players of American football from California American football offensive tackles USC Trojans football players All-American college football players Atlanta Falcons players