Yawin Alexander Smallwood (born December 25, 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 wi ...

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, ...

. He was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the seventh round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He played college football at

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...

. He was also a member of the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their hom ...

High school career

Smallwood attended

Doherty Memorial High School Doherty Memorial High School is a public high school of commerce located in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. It opened its doors in the fall of 1966, replacing two closing schools: Worcester Classical High School and Worcester Commerce Hi ...

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

. He recorded 71 tackles as a senior in 2009 with five sacks, rushed for 769 yards and 10 touchdowns and also passed for 126 yards. As a junior, playing as a

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

, he passed for 726 yards and six touchdowns and rushed for 724 yards and six touchdowns. He was a three-time Division I all-star and two-time Division I Defensive MVP. Considered a three-star recruit by ''

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'', he was rated as the 4th best prospect in the state of

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

. He accepted a scholarship from

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

College career

After redshirting in 2010, he enjoyed a terrific first year of playing collegiate football in 2011 by starting all 12 games at middle linebacker. He was the second-leading tackler on the team with 94 stops, just three off the team lead, and also had 2.5 tackles for a loss, 1.5 sacks and a 28-yard interception returned for a TD. As a redshirt sophomore, he was a first team All-

BIG EAST The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

selection in 2012 and led the Huskies in tackles with 120 and was second in tackles for a loss with 15 and also had four sacks and two forced fumbles. In 2013, he led the team in tackles with 118, was second in tackles for loss with 9.5, he also had four sacks and had a 59-yard interception return TD against

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

, and was named first-team All- AAC. On December 7, 2013, Smallwood announced he would forgo his remaining eligibility and enter the 2014 NFL Draft.

Professional career

He was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the seventh round (253rd overall) of the 2014 NFL Draft. The Falcons waived Smallwood on August 29, 2014. On November 20, 2014, Smallwood was signed to the Tennessee Titans practice squad.

References

External links

Connecticut profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smallwood, Yawin 1991 births Living people American football linebackers Atlanta Falcons players UConn Huskies football players Players of American football from Worcester, Massachusetts Tennessee Titans players Doherty Memorial High School alumni