Will Clapp (born December 10, 1995) 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 ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

for the

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

of the

National Football League 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 ...

(NFL). 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 ...

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

Early years

Clapp attended

Brother Martin High School Brother Martin High School is a private, Catholic, all-male college preparatory school run by the United States Province of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was established by the brothers in 1869 as St. Aloysius Col ...

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

. He committed to play football for the

LSU Tigers The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a ...

in January 2010.

College career

Clapp did not play as a true freshman in 2014 and chose to redshirt. In 2015, as a redshirt freshman, Clapp started all 12 games for the Tigers. He ranked third on the team in total snaps with 776 and knockdown blocks with 88, along with not allowing a sack all season. He was named to the 2015 SEC-All Freshman team. As a redshirt sophomore in 2016, Clapp started 11 of 12 games, missing one due to injury. He played 648 snaps, had 58 knockdown blocks and did not allow a sack for the second straight season. He was named to the

2016 All-SEC football team The 2016 All-SEC football team consists of American football players selected to the All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) chosen by the ''Associated Press'' (AP) and the conference coaches for the 2016 Southeastern Conference football season. The ...

. In 2017, Clapp started all 13 games for the Tigers. He was named to the All-SEC Football Team for the second year in a row. After the season, he announced he was going to forgo his final year of eligibility and enter the

2018 NFL Draft The 2018 NFL Draft was the 83rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2018 NFL season. The draft was held on April 26–28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; it was the first draft ...

Professional career

New Orleans Saints

Clapp was drafted by 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 ...

in the seventh round (245th overall) of the

. On May 10, 2018, Clapp signed his rookie contract with the Saints. He made his NFL debut on December 17, 2018 against the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

as a substitute for

Michael Ola Michael Ola (born April 19, 1988) is a former American football offensive tackle. He played college football at Hampton University and attended Riverdale High School (Riverdale, Georgia), Riverdale High School in Riverdale, Georgia. He has also ...

. On September 26, 2020, Clapp was waived by the Saints and re-signed to the practice squad on September 29. He was promoted to the active roster on October 3. He was waived on October 8 and re-signed to the practice squad two days later. He was elevated to the active roster on October 24, October 31, November 28, and December 5 for the team's weeks 7, 8, 12, and 13 games against the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

, and reverted to the practice squad after each game. On December 19, 2020, Clapp was promoted to the active roster. He was placed on the reserve/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

list by the team on January 16, 2021, and activated on February 4. Clapp re-signed with the Saints on April 20, 2021. He was placed on injured reserve on September 6, 2021. He was activated on October 2. He was waived on October 25, and re-signed to the practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on November 25. He was waived on December 13 and re-signed to the practice squad.

Los Angeles Chargers

On April 26, 2022, Clapp signed with the

. On April 6, 2023, Clapp re-signed with the

References

External links

LSU Tigers bioTwitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clapp, Will 1995 births Living people Players of American football from New Orleans American football centers Los Angeles Chargers players LSU Tigers football players New Orleans Saints players Brother Martin High School alumni