Timothy William Stratton (born July 15, 1979) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

. He played his

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

and won the inaugural John Mackey Award in 2000. Playing for the

Purdue Boilermakers The Purdue Boilermakers are the official college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams representing Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana. As is common with athletic nicknames, the Boilermakers nickname ...

from 1998-2001, Stratton was the favorite target of quarterback

Drew Brees Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees is sec ...

. He compiled 38 catches for 380 yards (10.0 avg) and 7 touchdowns his freshman year while finishing second nationally among tight ends in all three categories. He was given Honorable Mention All-Big Ten and he was subsequently named to the Sporting News freshman All-American team. He followed up with 49 catches for 593 yards (12.1 avg) and four touchdowns in his sophomore year. While being named First Team All-Big Ten. His junior year was followed by 56 receptions for 579 yards (10.3 avg) and two touchdowns, being named First Team All-Big Ten, named to the BCS All America Team and winning the inaugural John Mackey Award, given to the nation's top tight end. In his senior year, Stratton caught 47 passes for 423 yards (9.0 avg) and two touchdowns from Kyle Orton, Brees' successor as Boilermaker quarterback. He was named First Team All-Big Ten and becoming just the fourth player in school history to be named First Team All-Big Ten three years in a career. He also finished as a semi-finalist for the John Mackey Award. By the time Stratton finished his career at Purdue, he was school's all time leader in receptions at 204. He finished 14th on the school's list for touchdowns (15) and finished 20th in yards. His career average of yards per catch was 10.4 yards. Remembered at Purdue for his "childish energy and immaturity", Stratton nearly got suspended when a fellow student fleeced his helmet while Stratton climbed up the goal post after a come-from-behind win over

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. Prior to college, Stratton played at York Community High School in

Elmhurst, Illinois Elmhurst is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage and Cook County, Illinois, Cook counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is a western suburb of Chicago. The population was 45,786 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History M ...

while a resident of

Oak Brook, Illinois Oak Brook is a village (Illinois), village in DuPage County, Illinois, with a very small portion in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County. The population was 8,163 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A suburb of Chicago, it contains th ...

. Stratton was part of coach Joe Tiller's first recruiting class at Purdue. He resides with his wife and children in Chicago.

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References

External links

Purdue Boilermakers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stratton, Tim 1979 births Living people People from Oak Brook, Illinois American football tight ends Purdue Boilermakers football players