Thurston Armbrister (born December 25, 1992) 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 ...

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 ...

. 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 the

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, incl ...

. He signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars 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 2015.

Early years

Armbrister was born in 1992 on Christmas morning in

Hollywood, Florida Hollywood is a city in southern Broward County, Florida, United States, located between Fort Lauderdale and Miami. As of July 1, 2019, Hollywood had a population of 154,817. Founded in 1925, the city grew rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s, and is now ...

as the third of five children. His family affectionately nicknamed him "Head" during his childhood due to his head being big in proportion to his body. Armbrister attended

Hollywood Hills High School Hollywood Hills High School is a high school in Hollywood, Florida. Attendance zones The school serves sections of Hollywood and Davie, Florida, Davie. - Compare this map to attendance boundary maps and/or street addresses of particular schoo ...

where he played safety. Armbrister also played basketball and ran track and field in high school.

College career

Armbrister signed with the

as late as June 2011 and joined its practice squad as a true freshman. He began his college career in his sophomore year during the 2012 season and went on to play in all the games until his senior year during the 2014 season. While at the University of Miami, Armbrister majored in

exercise physiology Exercise physiology is the physiology of physical exercise. It is one of the allied health professions, and involves the study of the acute responses and chronic adaptations to exercise. Exercise physiologists are the highest qualified exercise ...

with a back-up plan to start a career as a physical therapist.

Professional career

Jacksonville Jaguars

On May 2, 2015, Armbrister signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free agent following the conclusion of the

2015 NFL Draft The 2015 NFL Draft was the 80th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. It took place in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre and in Grant Park, from April 30 to May 2. The previous ...

. On September 3, 2016, he was released by the Jaguars.

Detroit Lions

On September 4, 2016, Armbrister was claimed off waivers by the Lions. On September 2, 2017, Armbrister was waived by the Lions and was signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on September 30, 2017. He was waived on October 11, 2017 and was re-signed to the practice squad. He was released on November 29, 2017, but re-signed two days later.

New York Giants

On January 9, 2018, Armbrister signed a futures contract with the

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

. He was waived/injured on August 20, 2018 due to a hamstring injury and was placed on injured reserve. He was released on October 2, 2018.

Arizona Cardinals

On November 28, 2018, Armbrister was signed to the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

practice squad, and promoted to the active roster two days later. He was placed on injured reserve on December 11, 2018. On February 20, 2019, Armbrister was waived by the Cardinals.

Tampa Bay Vipers

Armbrister signed with 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 ...

's Team 9

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, ...

during the regular season. He was signed off of Team 9 by the Tampa Bay Vipers on March 9, 2020. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.

Personal life

Armbrister has an older brother Terrence Ebagua who was a walk-on tight end 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 ...

and went on to play in the Professional Indoor Football League. Armbrister had a younger sister born a year after him, who died at age 3.Miami Herald.com
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References

External links

Thurston Armbrister
at NFL.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Armbrister, Thurston 1992 births Living people People from Hollywood, Florida Armbrister, Thurston American football linebackers Miami Hurricanes football players Jacksonville Jaguars players Detroit Lions players New York Giants players Arizona Cardinals players Team 9 players Tampa Bay Vipers players