Lynn McGruder
Encyclopedia
Lynn McGruder is an American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 defensive tackle who currently plays for the Seattle Seahawks
Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team joined the NFL in 1976 as an expansion team...

 of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

. He played college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 for the Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...

 Sooners
Oklahoma Sooners
The University of Oklahoma features 19 varsity sports teams. Both men's and women's teams are called the Sooners, a nickname given to the early participants in the land rushes which initially opened the Oklahoma Indian Territory to non-native settlement. They participate in the NCAA's Division I-A,...

 where he earned a Communications major.

High school career

McGruder was regarded as one of the nation's top defensive linemen during his time at Cheyenne
Cheyenne
Cheyenne are a Native American people of the Great Plains, who are of the Algonquian language family. The Cheyenne Nation is composed of two united tribes, the Só'taeo'o and the Tsétsêhéstâhese .The Cheyenne are thought to have branched off other tribes of Algonquian stock inhabiting lands...

 Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

 High School. He was the second-rated defensive line prospect in the West region by Prep Star, the sixth-best defensive lineman in the country by the National Recruiting Advisor and named to Prep Star's Dream Team. McGruder was listed in SuperPrep's top 25 defensive line prospects and named Gatorade Nevada Player of the Year as a senior. The first-team all-state choice totaled 65 tackles and 12 sacks during his senior season.

College career

McGruder originally choose the University of Tennessee
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...

 over local Nevada-Las Vegas. He appeared in nine games as a reserve defensive tackle for the Vols
Tennessee Volunteers
The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the National Collegiate Athletic Association college sports teams at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. Mike Hamilton is the most recent Men's Athletic Director, but resigned on June 7, 2011, and Joan Cronan is the current Women's...

 in 2000. McGruder was credited with six tackles, a 2-yard sack and three quarterback pressures. McGruder had his scholarship revoked after he was charged with marijuana possession with the intent to distribute. The charge was later dismissed, but McGruder was forced to transfer to a new school.

He accepted an offer to attend the University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...

, sitting out during the 2001 season as a transfer student. In 2002, McGruder appeared in 10 games behind All-American Tommie Harris for the Sooners, collecting 20 tackles (13 solo) with a sack, four stops for losses and four pressures. He again played behind Harris in 2003, delivering 25 tackles (13 solo) with two sacks, four stops behind the line of scrimmage and four pressures.

With Harris having gone to the NFL, McGruder stepped into the starting lineup at weak-side defensive tackle in 2004, starting 11 of 13 games. He recorded 24 tackles (10 solo) with a pair of sacks, six stops for losses and a pressure. For his Sooner career, he totaled 69 tackles (36 solo), four sacks for -11 yards, 14 stops for losses of 31 yards, nine pressures and three pass deflections in 37 games. For his collegiate career, he appeared in 46 contests, making 75 tackles (38 solo), five sacks, 15 stops behind the line of scrimmage and 12 pressures.

Personal

McGruder and Oklahoma wide receiver Mark Clayton assisted victims of a serious automobile mishap on a highway near the Oklahoma campus in the 2003 offseason. McGruder helped save a family of five when he pulled four of the victims through a door, then doused the fire with an extinguisher. "It was adrenaline," he said. "I was just put in that spot by God to help people. Anyone in my shoes would've reacted the same way." He received the Big 12 Sportsman of the Year Award in 2003 and was nominated for the Football Writers Association's Most Courageous Award.
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