St. Louis Rams

Laurinaitis was drafted in the 2nd round 35th overall by the St. Louis Rams

St. Louis Rams

The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...

. On July 29, 2009, he signed a four-year, $5.1 million contract. The deal contained $3.3 million guaranteed. Laurinaitis earned the starting middle linebacker position at the beginning of the season and led the Rams in tackles and was voted the Carroll Rosenbloom Memorial Award, which goes to the Rams rookie of the year. He was also named the NFL All-Rookie team by Sporting News.

Career statistics

Year	Team
2009	STL St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...	16	16	120	107	13	4	2	5	2	1	1	6	0	0
2010	STL St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...	16	16	114	98	16	8	3	5	1	0	1	7	0	0
2011	STL St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...	11	11	90	68	22	4	2	6	2	0	1	4	0	0
|Career	43	43	324	273	51	16	7	16	5	1	3	17	0	0

Family

Both his father and two uncles were professional wrestlers. His father, Joe

Road Warrior Animal

Joseph Aaron "Joe" Laurinaitis is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring names, Road Warrior Animal and Road Warrior...

 wrestled under the name Animal as one half of the tag-team

Tag-Team

"Tag-Team" is the fifth episode of the first season of the 1974 American television series Land of the Lost. Written by Norman Spinrad and directed by Dennis Steinmetz, it first aired in the United States on October 5, 1974 on NBC.-Plot:...

 The Road Warriors, one of the most famous tag teams in wrestling history. His uncle John

John Laurinaitis

John Joseph Laurinaitis is the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations for WWE and appears on WWE's Raw Brand as interim General Manager. He was previously a professional wrestler under the ring name Johnny Ace, and wrestled for such promotions as the National Wrestling Alliance and All...

, known as Johnny Ace, is currently the Executive Vice President, Talent Relations for World Wrestling Entertainment

World Wrestling Entertainment

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...

. His uncle Marcus

Marcus Laurinaitis

Marcus "Marc" Laurinaitis also known by his ring name of The Terminator, is an American professional wrestler who has primarily in Florida, Japan and Europe as well as a stint with World Championship Wrestling...

, The Terminator, was mainly known as one half of the tag team The Wrecking Crew.

James' older brother, Joseph Jr., served in Iraq with the U.S. Army and is currently training to become a police officer. His younger sister, Jessica, played on her high school hockey team and graduated from high school in 2008.

External links

• James Laurinaitis Official Website
• Ohio State's Laurinaitis wins Bronko Nagurski Trophy College Football News Wire, December 4, 2006
• Depth Chart, The-Ozone.net