Andre Gurode
 Andre Gurode during the 2009 NFL season with the Dallas Cowboys. |
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| No. 65 Baltimore Ravens | |
| Center / Guard | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Date of birth: March 6, 1978 | |
| Place of birth: Houston, Texas | |
| High School: North Shore High School Houston, Texas |
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| Height: 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | Weight: 334 lb (151 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College: Colorado | |
| NFL Draft: 2002 / Round: 2 / Pick: 37 | |
| Debuted in 2002 for the Dallas Cowboys | |
| Career history | |
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| Roster status: Active | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2011 | |
| Games played | 151 |
| Games started | 127 |
| Stats at NFL.com | |
| Stats at pro-football-reference.com | |
Andre Bernard Gurode (pronounced /dʒəˈrɒd/; born March 6, 1978) is an American football center and guard for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Colorado, and earned All-American recognition. He was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys with the fifth pick of the second round of the 2002 NFL Draft, and has played professionally for the Cowboys and Ravens.
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[edit] Early years
Gurode was born in Houston, Texas.[1] He played high school football at North Shore High School in Houston. As a senior, USA Today, PrepStar and SuperPrep selected him as an honorable mention high school All-America. He was also named to the Houston Chronicle Top 100 List and made the Austin American-Statesman "Fab 55" team. He earned all-area honors as a senior (second team honors as a junior), and was all-district and all-Greater Houston as a junior and senior (when he also was his team's most outstanding offensive lineman).
Gurode lettered three times in basketball and four times in track with personal bests of 186' 0" in the discus and 54' 1" in the shot put.
[edit] College career
Gurode attended the University of Colorado, and played for the Colorado Buffaloes football team from 1998 to 2001. He was a four-year starter for the Buffaloes, played both center and guard on the offensive line, and was a first-team All-Big 12 selection and a consensus first-team All-American as a senior in 2001.
Gurode allowed just 7.5 sacks in 2,653 plays over three-plus years as a starter for the Buffaloes at guard and center. He started his first two and a half seasons at center for Colorado before moving to guard in the middle of his junior year. As a junior in 2000, Gurode earned the John Mack Award, as selected by the coaches for being CU's most outstanding offensive player. Gurode started the first six games of the year at center and the final five games at guard. Gurode earned honorable mention All-Big 12 honors while helping the Buffaloes to a 7-5 record and a win over Boston College in the Insight.com Bowl. As a senior, he started every game at right guard.
He earned a degree in ethnic studies at Colorado, where he was a member of the school's "Academic Starters" team.
[edit] Professional career
[edit] 2002 NFL Draft
Gurode initially projected as a guard and was ranked the best available in the 2002 NFL Draft, along with Kendall Simmons.[2] He was regarded as an early second round pick,[3] and was eventually selected 37th overall by the Dallas Cowboys.
| Ht | Wt | 40-yd dash | 10-yd split | 20-yd split | 20-ss | 3-cone | Vert | Broad | BP | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 4¼ in | 316 lb | 5.34 s | 1.89 s | 3.14 s | 5.05 s | 8.15 s | 30½ in | 8 ft 4 in | |||||||||||
| All values from NFL Combine[4] | |||||||||||||||||||
[edit] Dallas Cowboys
Gurode was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round of the 2002 NFL Draft as a center.
Gurode was selected to help shore up the center position and started fast by becoming the first rookie in club history to start at center on opening day.
In 2002 he also became part of history as the starting center on the Cowboys offensive line that helped Emmitt Smith eclipse Walter Payton as the NFL's all-time leading rusher, playing against the Seattle Seahawks on October 27.
While he started the first six games of the 2002 season at center, Gurode was moved to guard to help compensate for the number of injuries along the offensive line, compiling another eight starts at right guard.
In 2003, Bill Parcells was hired as the Cowboys head coach and decided that Gurode's best position was at guard.
Gurode started 15 games at guard in 2003 and 13 games in 2004 with mixed results, before getting benched for the final two games.
At the start of the 2005 season, Parcells accepted he made a misjudgment by moving Gurode to guard and switched him back to center. The Cowboys also signed Marco Rivera to start at right guard. Gurode became a versatile backup, playing behind Al Johnson at center and Rivera at right guard.
In 2006, he rededicated himself to football and won the starting center job again, over Al Johnson.
On October 1, 2006, in the third quarter of a game against the Tennessee Titans, Titans defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth stomped on Gurode's head. Haynesworth's cleats caused a laceration requiring thirty stitches.[5] Haynesworth was ejected, and subsequently suspended by the NFL for five games without pay.
Following the 2006 season, Gurode was named to his first Pro Bowl as an injury replacement. Prior to that, Gurode had been considered[by whom?] a "pro-bowl snub" after not originally being selected.
On February 20, 2007, the Cowboys re-signed Gurode to a six-year contract worth US$30 million including a $10 million signing bonus.
Gurode has developed into one of the league's most respected centers since returning to being a full-time starter in 2006, and has been selected to the NFL All-Pro Team (2007, 2009), as well as to five straight Pro Bowls (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
He had off-season left knee surgery and missed the 2011 training camp and three out of four preseason games. With the emergence of second year player Phil Costa, he was released after the preseason following failed negotiations regarding a restructured contract.[6]
[edit] Baltimore Ravens
Gurode reportedly visited the Detroit Lions and New England Patriots [1] before signing a 1 year, $3 million contract with the Baltimore Ravens on September 4, 2011.[7]
[edit] References
- ^ "Gurode on Pro-Football-Reference". fbref.com. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/G/GuroAn20.htm. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
- ^ "2002 Draft OG Ranking", NFLDraftScout.com, http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/players.php?genpos=OG&draftyear=2002&sortorder=tsxpos&order=ASC, retrieved December 25, 2009
- ^ "Andre Gurode Draft Profile", Sports Illustrated, April 2002, http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/2002/draft/players/99600.html
- ^ "Andre Gurode Draft Profile", NFLDraftScout.com, http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=59906&draftyear=2002&genpos=OG, retrieved December 25, 2009
- ^ "Titans DT Haynesworth nailed with five-game suspension". Sportsline.com. Associated Press. October 2, 2006. http://sportsline.com/nfl/story/9700905. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
- ^ Jaime Aron (2011-08-29). "Gurode's departure shows Garrett means business". http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/08/29/3321072/gurodes-departure-shows-garrett.html?storylink=digger-topic. Retrieved 2011-09-06.
- ^ Jamison Hensley (2011-09-05). "Ravens sign Pro Bowl center Andre Gurode to one-year contract". http://news.bostonherald.com/sports/football/other_nfl/view/20110905ravens_sign_pro_bowl_center_andre_gurode_to_one-year_contract/srvc=home&position=recent. Retrieved 2011-09-06.
[edit] External links
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