William Sutton (born October 3, 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 ...

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

. He was drafted by 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 ...

in the third round of the

2014 NFL Draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

. 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 ...

at Arizona State. As a member of the 2012 team, Sutton earned Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and a

2012 College Football All-America Team The 2012 College Football All-America Team includes those players of American college football who have been honored by various selector organizations as the best players at their respective positions. The selector organizations award the "All-Am ...

selection. In high school, he led the undefeated 2008 Centennial High School California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) state championship football team in

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in th ...

s. He is the son of Mickey Sutton.

Early years

As a sophomore at Centennial High School in

Corona, California Corona (Spanish for "Crown") is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 157,136, up from 152,374 at the 2010 census. The cities of Norco and Riverside lie to the north and north ...

in 2006, he totaled 11 tackles for the

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

team. Centennial finished the 2007 season with a 13–2 record and ranked 24 by ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

''. Sutton had 48 tackles for the 2007 team. The undefeated 2008 Huskies team won a CIF state championship with the help of quarterback Taylor Martinez and Vontaze Burfict. The team finished the 2008 season ranked No. 2 in the nation by ''USA Today''. Sutton totaled 101 tackles, led the state champions with 11.5 quarterback sacks and had four blocked punts. Sutton was one of five Arizona State signees (three from class of 2008) from Centennial High School along with fellow Class of 2009 recruit Burfict.

College career

When he arrived at Arizona State, Sutton was expected to serve as a backup to returning Freshman All-American

Lawrence Guy Lawrence Thomas Guy (born March 17, 1990) is an American football defensive end for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). Prior to being drafted by the Green Bay Packers, he played college football at Arizona State. ...

. As a true freshman for the 2009 Sun Devils, Sutton played 12 games, including 2 starts, at a playing weight of . That season, against

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

on October 10, 2009, both of his tackles were for a loss resulting in a quarterback sack and a forced

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful ...

as part of a 27–14 victory. The following season, he dropped , but he was ruled academically ineligible. By 2010, Arizona had six Centennial players on the roster (

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 ...

s Burfict, Brandon Magee and Shelly Lyons, defensive linemen Will Sutton and Lee Adams and wide receiver Angelo Magee), who were dubbed the Corona Six-Pack, a reference to the municipality and

Corona Beer Corona is a brand of beer produced by Mexican brewery Cervecería Modelo and owned by Belgian company AB InBev. It is the top-selling brand of imported beer in the United States. It is often served with a wedge of lime or lemon in the neck of ...

. For the 2011 season, he cut down to . In the September 8, 2012 45–14 victory against

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, Sutton had 8 tackles, 3 for a loss (including a quarterback sack). In the September 29, 27–17 victory against

Cal Cal or CAL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Cal'' (novel), a 1983 novel by Bernard MacLaverty * "Cal" (short story), a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov * ''Cal'' (1984 film), an Irish drama starring John Lynch and Helen Mir ...

, he had 8 tackles, 4 for a loss (including three quarterback sacks and a forced fumble) and earned Pac-12 Conference Defensive Player of the Week on October 1. In the following game, which resulted in a 51–17 victory against

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

on October 11, Sutton posted 3 tackles for a loss, including 2 quarterback sacks. In the December 29,

2012 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl The 2012 Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl was a postseason American college football bowl game held on December 29, 2012, at AT&T Park in San Francisco, California, United States. The 11th edition of the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl began at 1:00 p.m. PS ...

against

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

, Sutton had 3.5 tackles for a loss, including 2.5 sacks. Sutton was among the 2012 national statistical leaders in both sacks and tackles for a loss, and he helped the Arizona State defense rank among the national leaders in team sacks. He earned First Team All-Pac-12 defensive lineman recognition for the

2012 Pac-12 Conference football season The 2012 Pac-12 Conference football season began on August 30, 2012 with Northern Colorado at Utah. The conference's first game was played on September 15 with #2 USC at #21 Stanford, and the final game played was the Pac-12 Championship Game o ...

by the Pac-12 head coaches as well as by

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W 5 ...

. That season, he was named the 2012 Pac-12 Pat Tillman Defensive Player of the Year by the conference coaches as well as the conference Defensive Player of the Year by

. He was then selected to various

s, earning consensus All-American recognition. He was the fifteenth different Sun Devil and first since Thomas Weber in 2007 to earn the honor. The following organizations chose him to their first team:

American Football Coaches Association The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) is an association of over 11,000 American football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "mainta ...

, the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

Athlon Sports Parade Media (previously known as AMG/Parade and Athlon Media Group) is a publisher founded in 1967 that is based in Nashville, Tennessee. Nashville's Spencer Hays was its majority stockholder. It was purchased by The Arena Group in 2022 and now ...

CBSSports.com CBSSports.com (formerly CBS SportsLine.com and SportsLine USA) is an American sports news website operated by Paramount Streaming, itself a division of Paramount Global. It is the website for CBS's CBS Sports division that features news, highl ...

, '' Lindy's Sports'', ''

Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

'', ''

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 ...

''. He was also chosen to the second team by FoxSportsNext.com (formerly

Scout.com Scout Media is an integrated sports publishing company that produces Internet content covering hundreds of professional and college teams across America. The company was founded in 2001 and was acquired by Fox Sports in 2005. In 2013, Fox Sports ...

) and

Walter Camp Football Foundation The Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The organization also presents various awards. It is named in honor of foo ...

. He was also the co-winner of the Morris Trophy, by vote of the Pac-12 conference's offensive linemen. On January 8, 2013, Sutton announced that he will return to

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

to play out his senior year. For the season, he had 10.5 tackles for a loss, including 3 sacks, and repeated Pat Tillman Defensive Player of the Year and first team All-Pac-12 Team. Following the regular season, he earned first team All-American recognition by the ''Associated Press'', CBSSports.com, ''

'', second team recognition by Athlon Sports, and honorable mention recognition by ''Sports Illustrated''.

Career statistics

Professional career

2014 NFL Draft

Chicago Bears

Sutton was drafted by the

with the 82nd overall pick in the third round of the

. He signed a four-year deal on May 15, 2014 which rendered the Bears to be the first team to sign their whole draft class. On September 7, he posted his first tackle in the season opener against the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

. In Week 3 against the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

, he made his first career start while

Jeremiah Ratliff Jeremiah Jerome Ratliff (born August 29, 1981), formerly known as Jay Ratliff, is a former American football nose tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys and Chicago Bears. He played college football at Auburn Univ ...

was enduring the effects of a concussion. Sutton suffered an ankle injury in Week 10 of the 2016 season and was placed on injured reserve on November 15, 2016. On May 11, 2017, Sutton was released by the Bears.

Minnesota Vikings

On May 17, 2017, Sutton signed with the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

. He was released on September 2, 2017.

San Francisco 49ers

On July 25, 2018, Sutton signed with the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

. He was released on August 31, 2018.

Arizona Hotshots

On September 14, Sutton was revealed as a new signing for the

Arizona Hotshots The Arizona Hotshots were a professional American football franchise based in Tempe, Arizona, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which played one season from February 2019 to April 2019. They played their ho ...

of the

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan are ...

for the 2019 season. The league ceased operations in April 2019. Sutton was credited with 15 tackles, a sack, and two pass knockdowns in 8 games.

Seattle Dragons

On October 15, 2019 Sutton was drafted by the

XFL XFL may refer to: Sports * XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001 * XFL (2020), a professional American football league Vehicles * Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...

to play for the Seattle Dragons. He was named to the mid-season All-XFL team after recording 15 tackles and a sack. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.

Notes

External links

Chicago Bears bioArizona State bioSutton (college)
at

Sutton (NFL)
at

ESPN.com ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN. It is owned by ESPN Internet Ventures, a division of ESPN Inc. History Since launching in April 1995 as ESPNET.SportsZone.com (ESPNET SportsZone), the website has developed numerous sections including: ...

Sutton
at

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutton, Will 1991 births Living people Players of American football from California Sportspeople from Corona, California American football defensive tackles All-American college football players Arizona State Sun Devils football players Chicago Bears players Minnesota Vikings players San Francisco 49ers players Arizona Hotshots players Seattle Dragons players