LaVar Arrington

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LaVar RaShad Arrington (born June 20, 1978 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is a former professional football player. He played linebacker for six seasons in the National Football League, five seasons for the Washington Redskins and one season for the New York Giants. Arrington, a college standout at Penn State, was a three-time All-Pro, representing the Washington Redskins in three consecutive Pro Bowls from 2001-2003. He began playing football at Pittsburgh's North Hills Senior High School.

[edit] High School Career

Arrington is widely considered one of the greatest high school football players ever to emerge from western Pennsylvania. As a senior linebacker and running back at North Hills Senior High School in Pittsburgh he was named the 1996 Parade National Player of the Year, the Bobby Dodd National Offensive Player of the Year, the Gatorade Player of the Year and USA Today Pennsylvania Player of the Year. He was only the second player in Pennsylvania Class 4-A history to rush for more than 4,000 career yards, with 4,357 on 711 carries (6.1-yard avg.) and 72 touchdowns. He played in the 1997 Big 33 Football Classic, the annual game between Pennsylvania and Ohio's best high school football players.^[1]

Arrington was also a tremendous athlete in basketball and track and field. He was recruited to play basketball by Georgetown, UMass and North Carolina.^[2]

[edit] College career

His career as a college football player at Penn State earned him numerous awards. He wore the number 11 in college. He was an All Big-Ten selection, twice a first team All-American, and he won the 1999 Chuck Bednarik and Dick Butkus awards for his defensive prowess. Among his many outstanding plays, he is most famous for a spectacular play that has come to be known as "The LaVar Leap". During a game against Illinois, Arrington anticipated the snap on a fourth-and-short play, leaping over the offensive line and tackling the runner in the backfield.

Highlight reel plays such as these, along with Arrington's appearance on the cover of the Sports Illustrated 1999 College Football Preview Issue led many to mention him as a possible Heisman Trophy candidate.^[3] Arrington did finish 9th in the Heisman balloting that year.

[edit] NFL career

Arrington was drafted as the second pick overall in the 2000 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins behind Penn State teammate Courtney Brown.

After four seasons with the Redskins, Arrington signed an eight-year, $68 million contract extension with his club. However, his agents, Carl and Kevin Poston, neglected to inspect the final revision of the contract, in which $6.5 million worth of bonuses contained in earlier drafts were missing. The ensuing battle over the mishandling of his contract, along with a tempestuous final two seasons in which he suffered from knee injuries and was benched by head coach Joe Gibbs and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams for freelancing, created a rift between Arrington and the team.^{[citation needed]} On March 5, 2006, he asked to be released by the Redskins, in essence paying the Redskins over $4 million to buy his free agency.^{[citation needed]} Carl Poston was given a two-year suspension by the players' union over the mishandling of Arrington's contract.^{[citation needed]}

In April 2006, Arrington agreed to a seven-year, $49 million contract with the New York Giants. Arrington suffered an injury in week 7 against the Cowboys and missed the rest of the season with a ruptured Achilles tendon. On February 12, 2007, he was released by the New York Giants.^[4]

Initially Arrington's agent Kevin Poston insisted his client intended to play during the 2007 NFL season, saying "things could change at some point, but as of this moment LaVar is focused on playing."^{[citation needed]} Rumor surfaced that Arrington was engaged in talks with the Redskins, but an April 18, 2007, The Washington Post article by Jason LaCanfora reported that Arrington is rumored to be leaning strongly towards retirement. Arrington's serious motorcycle accident in June 2007, seemed to remove any doubt. A September 23, 2007 New York Daily News article confirmed his retirement.^[5]

[edit] NFL statistics

[edit] Broadcasting

Arrington appeared on Comcast SportsNet's September 23, 2007, pregame show and postgame show, before the Redskins' week 3 loss to the Giants. He became a permanent member of the Comcast team on October 14 for the Green Bay Packers game.

[edit] Personal life

Arrington lives in Anne Arundel County, Maryland with his wife Trishia. The couple have three children: daughter Marlee, born in December 2005, and twins, LaVar and Laila, born May 2007.^[6]

Arrington was named in honor of LeVar Burton, following his portrayal of Kunta Kinte in the 1977 television miniseries Roots. He has an older brother, Michael, who played basketball at Slippery Rock University and a younger brother, Eric. His father, Michael, is an ordained minister retired from the military while his mother, Carolyn, is a special education teacher in the Pittsburgh public school system.^[7]

Arrington's 7,500 square-foot restaurant, The Sideline, in Landover, Maryland opened on January 30, 2008.^[8] On December 22, 2007, Arrington previewed the restaurant for 1,000 underprivileged children, who were treated to a holiday meal and donated toys. The event was the inaugural event of the Grand Destiny Foundation, a charity founded by Arrington with fellow NFL linebacker Ray Lewis.^[9]

Arrington appears in several televisions commercials for Easterns Motors with fellow athletes Carmelo Anthony, Clinton Portis, the late Sean Taylor, and Antawn Jamison.^[10] He also appeared on a 2002 episode of the TLC program While You Were Out, where he helped redesign a room for his brother, Michael. Arrington was also a judge in ESPN's Dream Job.

[edit] June 2007 Accident

On June 18, 2007, Arrington was involved in a serious motorcycle accident in suburban Maryland. He was on the Route 50 offramp to the Capital Beltway. Arrington was rushed to Prince George's Medical Center, where he was in serious but stable condition.^[11] Arrington sustained a broken right forearm, broken lower vertebrae, and deep cuts to his leg.

Arrington was issued two citations, one for failure to control speed to avoid a collision, the other for operating a vehicle without a class license that contributed to a crash.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official NFL Player Page
• Lavar Arrington's Career Statistics @ sports.yahoo.com
• Giants Sign LB LaVar Arrington New York Giants website, April 22, 2006
• "Arrington Supports His Agent in Court" The Houston Chronicle April 23, 2006
• The Pennsylvania Football News All-Century Team
• Lavar Arrington Stats
• "Arrington gives first interview after near-fatal crash", New York Daily News, September 23, 2007
• The Sideline, Arrington's Landover, MD restaurant.