Ondre Pipkins (born February 25, 1994) 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 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 formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

. 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 ...

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

. He signed by 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 ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2017.

Early life

A native of

Saginaw, Michigan Saginaw () is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw and Saginaw County are both in the area known as Mid-Michigan. Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township and considered part of Greater ...

, Pipkins grew up idolizing

Saginaw High School Saginaw High School (part of the Saginaw City School District) is located in Saginaw, Michigan, USA. The student enrollment is 593 students. History The school was established in 1865 as East Side High School. Alice Freeman Palmer, who later be ...

players

LaMarr Woodley LaMarr Dewayne Woodley (born November 3, 1984) is a former American football outside linebacker. He played college football at Michigan, where he was recognized as a unanimous All-American, and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the seco ...

, Charles Rogers,

Roy Manning Roy Lee Manning, Jr. (born December 4, 1981), is an American football coach and former player who currently serves as the outside linebackers coach, nickel coach, and assistant defensive head coach for the USC Trojans football. Coach Manning play ...

, and

Anthony Roberson Anthony Roberson (born February 14, 1983) is an American professional basketball player who is currently a free agent. Roberson played college basketball for the University of Florida, and signed with the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies as an undrafted f ...

. His father, Al Pipkins, was an assistant coach at Saginaw. At the age of six, Pipkins moved to

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. He later returned to Michigan, spending his freshman high school season at

Rochester Adams High School Rochester Adams High School (also known as Adams High School, Adams, or AHS) is a public high school located in Rochester Hills, Michigan, and is part of the Rochester Community Schools district. Academics Rochester Adams High School has been ...

, before attending

Park Hill High School Park Hill High School is one of two high schools in the Park Hill School District, in Kansas City. The school is located in northern Kansas City, in Platte County. Park Hill's teams are called the Trojans, and its colours are red and white. Park ...

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

, for his remaining three years. At Park Hill, Pipkins was an All-American defensive lineman. Regarded as a five-star recruit by

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

, Pipkins was listed as the third best defensive tackle in his class. In January 2012, he was rated by Rivals as 14th in its ranking of the Top 100 recruits in the country.

College career

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 ...

in 2012, Pipkins appeared in 12 games as a reserve defensive tackle. He made his career debut against

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

, which featured All-American interior linemen

Barrett Jones Barrett A. Jones (born May 25, 1990) is a former American football guard. He played college football at Alabama, and was drafted by the Rams in the fourth round of the 2013 NFL Draft. Early years Jones was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He atten ...

and

Chance Warmack Chance Warmack (born September 14, 1991) is an American football guard who is a free agent. He was drafted by the Tennessee Titans tenth overall in the 2013 NFL Draft. He played college football at Alabama, and earned All-American honors. Hig ...

, registering one tackle. Pipkins arrived in camp for the 2013 season, he had lost more than 30 pounds from 347 pounds as a freshman to 315 pounds in August 2013. Pipkins said he was in the best shape of his life. Through the first two games of the 2013 season, Pipkins registered two tackles before tearing his ACL and sitting out the rest of the season. In 2015, Pipkins, citing pressure to medically retire at Michigan, transferred to continue his career at Texas Tech.

Professional career

Pipkins signed with the

as an undrafted free agent on May 4, 2017. He was waived on September 2, 2017, but later re-signed to the team's

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

on October 19, 2017. Pipkins signed a reserve/future contract with the Redskins on January 1, 2018. On September 1, 2018, he was waived for final roster cuts before the start of the 2018 season. He then signed with 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 ...

for the 2019 season, but was waived during final roster cuts on January 30, 2019. He signed with the

Quad City Steamwheelers The Quad City Steamwheelers were a professional arena football team. They were a charter member of the AF2 and played their home games at iWireless Center in Moline, Illinois. The team was founded on September 1, 1999 when the Quad Cities was ...

of the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams amon ...

on October 13, 2019.

References

External links

Texas Tech Red Raiders bioWashington Redskins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pipkins, Ondre 1994 births Living people American football defensive tackles American football defensive ends Arizona Hotshots players Michigan Wolverines football players Players of American football from Michigan Sportspeople from Saginaw, Michigan Texas Tech Red Raiders football players Washington Redskins players