Björn Werner (; born August 30, 1990) is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

-born 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 ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

. He played college football at

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

, where he earned All-American recognition, and was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts 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) in the first round of the

2013 NFL draft The 2013 NFL Draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall ...

Early years

Werner grew up in the

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

neighborhoods of

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and

Reinickendorf Reinickendorf () is the twelfth borough of Berlin. It encompasses the northwest of the city area, including the Berlin Tegel Airport, Lake Tegel, spacious settlements of detached houses as well as housing estates like Märkisches Viertel. Subdi ...

. He originally played for the

Berlin Adler The Berlin Adler ( en, Berlin Eagles) is an American football club based in Berlin, Germany. The club is one of the most successful clubs in the sport in Germany, having won six German Bowls as well as a ten ''Ladies Bowls'' and five ''Junior Bow ...

, before attending

Salisbury School Salisbury School is an all-boys, private college-preparatory boarding school founded in 1901 and located in Salisbury, Connecticut. Its school newspaper is ''The Cupola''. Its mascot is the Crimson Knight. The school's motto is '' Esse quam vid ...

Salisbury, Connecticut Salisbury () is a town situated in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The town is the northwesternmost in the state of Connecticut; the Massachusetts-New York-Connecticut tri-state marker is located at the northwest corner of the town ...

, as an

exchange student A student exchange program is a program in which students from a secondary school (high school) or university study abroad at one of their institution's partner institutions. A student exchange program may involve international travel, but d ...

in 2007, as part of an exchange program organized by Pat Steenberge. He had 54 tackles, including 24 for losses, 12 sacks and two fumble recoveries in just eight games, but returned to Germany for his junior year. In 2008, he played on the U-19 Germany national team against the Poland U-19 squad in

Będzin Będzin (; also ''Bendzin'' in English; german: Bendzin; yi, בענדין, Bendin) is a city in the Dąbrowa Basin, in southern Poland. It lies in the Silesian Highlands, on the Czarna Przemsza River (a tributary of the Vistula). Even though pa ...

, winning 67–0. In 2009, Werner returned to Salisbury, and logged 57 tackles in seven games with three sacks, four forced fumbles and two blocked field goals as a senior. Despite having played

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 ...

for only two years, Werner was regarded a three-star recruit and ranked the fifth overall prospect in the state of Connecticut by

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. Werner chose FSU over

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...

, and

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, during a

National Signing Day National Signing Day has traditionally been the first day that a high school senior can sign a binding National Letter of Intent for a collegiate sport with a school that is a member of the United States National Collegiate Athletic Association ...

telecast on

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. Over spring break 2010, Werner married his girlfriend Denise, whom he had met in tenth grade in Berlin.

College career

Werner enrolled in Florida State University in

Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the populatio ...

, where he was a member of coach Jimbo Fisher's

Florida State Seminoles football The Florida State Seminoles football team represents Florida State University (variously Florida State or FSU) in the sport of American football. The Seminoles compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Col ...

team from 2010 through 2012. He appeared in all 14 games as a

true freshman Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

, registering 20 tackles, including 6.0 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks, as a backup of senior defensive end Markus White. In his sophomore season, he took over as starter at left defensive end, registered 37 tackles, including 25 solo stops, 11 tackles for loss and 7 sacks for a Florida State defense that ranked second in rushing defense, fourth in scoring defense and sixth in total defense. In his junior season, he had his best collegiate season. He registered 42 tackles, 30 solo stops, 18 tackles for loss and 13 sacks. He was voted the 2012 Defensive Player of the Year.

Professional career

2013 NFL Draft

In preseason

mock draft Mock draft is a term used by sports websites and magazines in reference to a simulation of a sports league draft or fantasy sports league's draft. ESPN has run mock drafts on the front page of its website, allowing any visitor to vote towards a sp ...

s from May 2012, Werner was listed as a late first-rounder for the

2013 NFL Draft The 2013 NFL Draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall ...

. By mid-season, he had moved up to a top-3 spot. The Seminoles had not seen one of their players selected in the top-3 since Andre Wadsworth in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

. On January 3, 2013, Werner announced his decision to enter the

. He signed with agent

Jimmy Sexton Jimmy Dale Sexton (born December 15, 1951) is an American former professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Houston Astros, Oakland Athletics, and St. Louis Cardinals. Sexton signed his fi ...

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. In the 2013 NFL Draft, the Indianapolis Colts selected him in the first round, 24th overall.

Indianapolis Colts

2013 season

On July 24, 2013, Werner signed a four-year contract worth $7.9 million featuring a $4.12 million signing bonus. On September 8, 2013, Werner played his first NFL game. During a 21-17 win over the Oakland Raiders, Werner made also his first tackle. In week 15, Werner had his first sack in the NFL against the Houston Texans. During the season, Werner played in 13 games making 18 tackles with 4 passes defended and 2.5 sacks. Werner entered the playoffs with the Colts and played in both of the Colts' playoff games: their Wild Card win over the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

and their Divisional Round loss to the New England Patriots.

2014 season

Werner had 3 tackles in a Week 1 loss against the

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 headquar ...

. He had his first career two-sack game against the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

in Week 5. After Week 7, however, his only stat other than tackles was a pass defensed in Week 16 against the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

. Although he was active for the Colts' playoff wins over the Cincinnati Bengals and

, he was inactive for their AFC Championship Game loss to the New England Patriots.

2015 season

Werner appeared in 10 games during the 2015 season, making 13 combined tackles. On March 8, 2016, he was waived by the Colts.

Jacksonville Jaguars

2016 season

Werner signed with the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...

on May 11, 2016. He was released on August 30, 2016.

Retirement

On January 15, 2017, during the divisional playoff game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Atlanta Falcons, Werner, as a color commentator for German broadcaster Sat.1, announced his retirement from professional football, citing ongoing problems from injuries as his reason. Werner will continue his work on supporting young European talents to become players in America and the NFL.

Broadcasting career

Since his retirement from professional football, Werner has served as a commentator and analyst for NCAA and NFL games on German television. He is co-host of the podcast ''Football Bromance''.

References

External links

Indianapolis Colts bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Werner, Bjorn 1990 births Living people Sportspeople from Berlin German players of American football American football linebackers American football defensive ends Florida State Seminoles football players All-American college football players Indianapolis Colts players Jacksonville Jaguars players German expatriate sportspeople in the United States