Defensive end (DE) is the name of a defensive position in the sport of American and Canadian football.

This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations have substantially changed how the position is played over the years. Eleven-time pro bowler and National Football League Hall of Famer Bruce Smith of the Buffalo Bills, usually considered one of the best defensive ends ever, is the all-time leader in career sacks with 200.

History[link]

Early formations, with six- and seven-man lines, used the end as a containment player, whose job was first to prevent an "end run" around his position, then secondarily to force plays inside.

When most teams adopted a five-man line, two different styles of end play developed: "crashing" ends, who rushed into the backfield to disrupt plays, and "stand-up" or "waiting" ends, who played the more traditional containment style. Some teams would use both styles of end play, depending on game situations.

Traditionally, defensive ends are in a three-point stance, with their free hand cocked back ready to "punch" the offensive lineman, or in a "two-point stance" like a linebacker so they can keep containment. Some defensive ends play the position due to their size; they close down their gap so the running back has no hole to run through. Other ends play the position due to their speed and agility; they are used to rush the quarterback. These ends can time the snap of the ball in order to get a jump on the rush.

Most of the time it is the job of the defensive end to keep outside or contain, which means that no one should get to their outside; they must keep everything to the inside. The defensive ends are fast for players of their size, often the fastest and smallest players on the defensive line. They must be able to shed blockers to get to the ball. Defensive ends are also often used to cover the outside area of the line of scrimmage, to tackle ball carriers running to the far right or left side, and to defend against screen passes. Since the creation of zone blitz defenses in the late 1990s, defensive ends have sometimes been used in pass coverages, dropping back to cover routes run close to the line of scrimmage.

In the 3-4 defense, defensive ends are used primarily as run stoppers and are much larger. Often, the position is played by a more agile or slightly undersized defensive tackle. Because of the increased popularity of the 3-4 defense, the value of a defensive tackle prospect that can possibly be used in this manner has increased.

References[link]

See also[link]

• Glossary of American football

Julius Williams (born July 19, 1986 in Decatur, Georgiais a Canadian football defensive linemen who is currently playing for the Edmonton Eskimos. He was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free agent in 2009. He played college football at Connecticut.

Williams has also been a member of the Hartford Colonials.

Professional career[link]

Williams signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars in the spring of 2009 and was one of only two undrafted free agents to make the opening day roster. As a rookie, he was active for 11 games and started one contest at defensive end. He was released by Jacksonville at the final cut down in 2010 and joined Hartford of the UFL for the final weeks of that league's inaugural season.

Williams signed with the Edmonton Eskimos on April 1, 2011. He began the season on the 1-game injured list with a dislocated elbow. He was activated for Game 4 and in 15 games (15 starts) had 20 defensive tackles, 5 quarterback sacks and a tackle for a loss. Julius also started the Western Semi-Final (1 defensive tackle and a quarterback sack) and the Western Final (1 defensive tackle).

References[link]

External links[link]

• Edmonton Eskimos bio

Patrick Ryan Kerrigan (born August 16, 1988) is an American football outside linebacker for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Purdue University, and was recognized as an All-American. He was chosen by the Redskins in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft.

Early years[link]

Kerrigan was born in Muncie, Indiana. He attended Muncie Central High School, and played defensive end and tight end for the Muncie Bearcats high school football team. As a senior he was an all-state selection after recording 90 tackles and 19 sacks as a defensive end. As a tight end he had 40 receptions for 789 yards and six touchdowns.

College career[link]

Kerrigan attended Purdue University, where he played for the Purdue Boilermakers football team from 2007 to 2010. As a freshman in 2007, Kerrigan appeared in 12 games recording 18 tackles and a sack. As a sophomore in 2008 he started 11 of 12 games and was an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection after recording 56 tackles, seven sacks and an interception. As a junior in 2009 he was a second team All-American by Rivals.com and a first team All-Big Ten selection. He finished the season with 66 tackles and 12 sacks.

Kerrigan was a semifinalist for the Rotary Lombardi Award during his senior season.^[1]

After forcing two fumbles against Michigan on November 13, 2010, Kerrigan became the Big Ten's all time leader in forced fumbles. His total of 14 forced fumbles puts him in a 4 way tie for most in the Football Bowl Subdivision ^[2]

Professional career[link]

Measureables[link]

Washington Redskins[link]

2011 Season[link]

Kerrigan was selected by the Washington Redskins with the 16th overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. On July 29, 2011, the Washington Redskins officially signed Kerrigan along with eleven other draft picks.^[4] Kerrigan was converted from defensive end to a outside linebacker. He was made the starting left outside linebacker. During his NFL debut on September 11, 2011, Kerrigan tipped up and intercepted an errant pass from New York Giants quarterback, Eli Manning, subsequently scoring on a 9-yard scamper into the endzone.^[5] His rookie season has been marked by dominant play. Some speculated Kerrigan would win Defensive Rookie of the Year.^[6] At the end of 2011 NFL season, Kerrigan had started in all 16 games and recorded 63 combined tackles, 7.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, one interception, and one touchdown. On January 16, 2012, Kerrigan along with fellow rookie, Roy Helu, were named to the Pro Football Weekly/Pro Football Writers of America all-rookie team.^[7]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Purdue Boilermakers bio

Scottie Pippen

No. 33
Small forward
Personal information
Born	(1965-09-25) September 25, 1965 (age 46) Hamburg, Arkansas, U.S.
High school	Hamburg
Listed height	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight	228 lb (103 kg)
Career information
College	Central Arkansas (1983–1987)
NBA Draft	1987 / Round: 1 / Pick: 5th overall
Selected by the Seattle SuperSonics
Pro career	1987–2008
Career history
1987–1998	Chicago Bulls
1999	Houston Rockets
1999–2003	Portland Trail Blazers
2003–2004	Chicago Bulls
2008	Torpan Pojat
2008	Sundsvall Dragons
Career highlights and awards
6× NBA Champion (1991–1993, 1996–1998) 7× NBA All-Star (1990, 1992–1997) NBA All-Star Game MVP (1994) 3× All-NBA First Team (1994–1996) 2× All-NBA Second Team (1992, 1997) 2× All-NBA Third Team (1993, 1998) 8× NBA All-Defensive First Team (1992–1999) 2× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1991, 2000) #33 Retired by the Chicago Bulls NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team
Career NBA statistics
Points	18,940 (16.1 ppg)
Assists	6,135 (5.2 apg)
Steals	2,307 (2.0 spg)
Basketball Hall of Fame as player
Medals Men's Basketball Competitor for  United States Gold 1992 Barcelona National team Gold 1996 Atlanta National team

This article may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (July 2011)

Scottie Pippen (born September 25, 1965) is a retired American professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association. He is most remembered for his time with the Chicago Bulls, with whom he was instrumental in 6 NBA titles and their record 1995–96 season of 72 wins. Pippen, along with Michael Jordan, played an important role in transforming the Bulls team into a vehicle for popularizing the NBA around the world during the 1990s.^[1]

Considered one of the best small forwards of all time, Pippen was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team 8 straight times and the All-NBA First Team three times. He was a seven-time NBA All-Star and was the NBA All-Star Game MVP in 1994. He was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History during the 1996–97 season, and is one of four players to have his jersey retired by the Chicago Bulls (the others being Jerry Sloan, Bob Love, and Michael Jordan). During his seventeen-year career, he played twelve seasons with the Bulls, one with the Houston Rockets and four with the Portland Trail Blazers, making the postseason sixteen straight times. Pippen is also the only person to have won an NBA title and Olympic gold medal in the same year twice (1992, 1996).^[2] Pippen was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame on August 13, 2010.^[3]

Early life[link]

Scottie Pippen was born in Hamburg, Arkansas, and attended college at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. At the start of his college career, the then 6'1" Pippen was a walk-on for the now-former NAIA school and depended on his stipend for being the team manager and his summer job as a welder to fund his education.^[1] He eventually reached 6'8".^[4] Pippen's 23.6 points per game average and near 60% field goal shooting earned the Central Arkansas senior Consensus NAIA all-American honors in 1987.

NBA career[link]

Early career (1987–90)[link]

He was selected fifth overall in the 1987 NBA Draft by the Seattle SuperSonics and traded to the Chicago Bulls for Olden Polynice and future draft pick options.^[5] Pippen became part of Chicago's young forward tandem with 6'10" power forward Horace Grant, although both came off the bench to back up Brad Sellers and Charles Oakley respectively, during their rookie seasons. With fellow Bull Michael Jordan as a motivational and instructional mentor, Pippen refined his skills and slowly developed many new ones over his career. Jordan and Pippen frequently played one-on-one outside of team practices simply to hone each other's skills on offense and defense. Pippen claimed the starting small forward position during the 1988 NBA Playoffs, helping the Jordan-led Bulls to reach the conference semifinals for the first time in over a decade. Pippen emerged as one of the league's premier young forwards at the turn of the decade,^[6] recording then-career highs in points (16.5 points per game), rebounds (6.7 rebounds per game), and field goal shooting (48.9%) as well as being the NBA's number three leader in steals (211).^[6] These feats earned Pippen his debut NBA All-Star selection in 1990.^[6] Pippen continued to improve, helping the Bulls to the Conference Finals in 1989 and 1990. However, they lost both Conference Finals to the Detroit Pistons, and in 1990, Pippen suffered a severe migraine in Game 7 as the Bulls lost 93–74.^[7]

The Bulls' first three-peat (1991–93)[link]

In 1991, Pippen emerged as the Bulls' primary defensive stopper and a versatile scoring threat in Phil Jackson's 'triangle offense'. He helped lead the Bulls to their first three NBA championships (1991, 1992 and 1993).

Pippen earned 10 NBA All-Defensive Team nods, including 8 on the first team. In 1992, he was named to the original Dream Team which competed in the Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. With the U.S. winning the gold medal, Pippen and Jordan became the first players to win both an NBA championship and an Olympic gold medal in the same year.^[2]

Pippen without Jordan (1993–95)[link]

Michael Jordan retired before the 1993–94 season, and in his absence Pippen emerged from Jordan's shadow. That year, he earned All-Star Game MVP honors and led the Bulls in scoring, assists, and blocks, and the league in steals, averaging 22.0 points, 8.7 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 2.9 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game, while shooting 49.1% from the field and a career-best 32% from the 3-point line. For his efforts, he earned the first of three straight All-NBA First Team nods, and he finished third in MVP voting. The Bulls finished the season with 55 wins, only two fewer than the year before.

However, the most infamous episode of Pippen's career came in his first year without Jordan. In the 1994 NBA Playoffs, the Eastern Conference Semifinals pitted the Bulls against the New York Knicks, whom the Bulls had dispatched en route to a championship each of the previous three seasons. On May 13, 1994, down 2–0 in the series in Game 3, Bulls coach Phil Jackson needed a big play from his team to have any chance of going on to the conference finals. With 1.8 seconds left and the score tied at 102, Jackson designed the last play for rookie Toni Kukoc, with Pippen instructed to inbound the basketball. Pippen, who had been the Bulls' leader all season long in Jordan's absence, was so angered by Jackson's decision to not let him take the potential game-winner that he refused to leave the bench and re-enter the game when the timeout was over.^{[citation needed]}

Although Kukoc did hit the game-winner, a 23-foot fadeaway jumper at the buzzer, there was little celebrating to be done by the Bulls, as television cameras caught an unsmiling Phil Jackson storming off the court.^[8] "Scottie asked out of the play", Jackson told reporters moments later in the post-game interview.^[9]

Teammate Steve Kerr elaborated when recently^[when?] asked to recall the event: "I don't know what got into Pippen. He is such a great teammate and maybe the pressure was getting to him and he just could not take it anymore, no one knows for sure but he is a team player."^{[attribution needed]}

In Game 6, Pippen made the signature play of his career. Midway in the third quarter, Pippen received the ball during a Bulls fast break, charging toward the basket. As center Patrick Ewing jumped up to defend the shot, Pippen fully extended the ball out, absorbing body contact and a foul from Ewing, and slammed the ball through the hoop with Ewing’s hand in his face. Pippen landed several feet away from the basket along the baseline, incidentally standing over a fallen Ewing. He then made taunting remarks to both Ewing and then Spike Lee, who was standing courtside supporting the Knicks, thus receiving a technical foul. This extended the Bulls' lead to 17; they won 93–79.

However, the Bulls went on to lose the 1994 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Knicks in 7. A key play occurred in the series at the end of Game 5 when Pippen was called by referee Hue Hollins for a questionable touch foul on the Knicks' Hubert Davis in the waning seconds of the game, which allowed the Knicks to shoot the game-winning free throws.^[10] This helped lead the Knicks to a seven-game series victory. All seven games were won by the home team, and the Knicks had home court advantage.

Trade rumors involving Pippen escalated during the 1994 off-season. Jerry Krause, the Bulls' General Manager, was reportedly looking to ship Pippen off to the Seattle SuperSonics in exchange for all-star forward Shawn Kemp, moving Toni Kukoc into Pippen's position as starting small forward with Kemp filling in the vacant starting power forward position in place of Horace Grant, a free agent who left the Bulls for the up-and-coming Orlando Magic during the off-season. However, the trade was never made and those rumors were put to rest once it was announced that Michael Jordan would be returning to the Bulls late in the 1994–95 season. The Pippen-led Bulls did not fare nearly as well in the 1994–95 season as they had in the season before—in fact, for the first time in years they were in danger of missing the playoffs (though much of this may be due to a lack of interior defense and rebounding due to Grant's departure). The Bulls were just 34–31 prior to Jordan's return for the final 17 games, and Jordan led them to a 13–4 record to close the regular season. Still, Pippen finished the 1994–95 season leading the Bulls in every major statistical category—points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks—becoming only the second player in NBA history to accomplish this (Dave Cowens did it in 1977–78).^[1][11]

The Bulls' second three-peat (1996–98)[link]

With the return of Jordan and the addition of two-time champion Dennis Rodman, the Bulls posted the best regular-season record in NBA history (72–10) in 1995–96 en route to winning their fourth title against the Seattle SuperSonics. Later that year, Pippen became the first (and to this date, the only) person to win an NBA championship and an Olympic gold medal in the same year twice, playing for Team USA at the Atlanta Olympics.^[2]

In the following season, Chicago finished a league-best 69–13 and again won the title, this time defeating the Utah Jazz. Amid speculation that the 1997–98 season would be the last in Chicago for Pippen, Jordan, and Jackson, the Bulls followed up by topping the Jazz again in the 1998 NBA Finals to cap their second three-peat. Pippen was selected as one of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players when the league was celebrating its 50th season in 1997.

Later career (1998–2004)[link]

After being in Chicago for 11 seasons, Pippen, the second all-time leader in points, assists, and steals in Bulls franchise history, was traded to the Houston Rockets for the lockout-shortened season of 1998–99. Pippen's trade to Houston received much publicity, including his only solo cover of Sports Illustrated.^[12] He teamed with Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley, but there were chemistry problems, especially with Barkley.^[13] In that season, the Rockets went 31–19, but lost to the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs, 3–1.

On April 22, 1999, Pippen was detained under suspicion of driving while intoxicated,^[14] but the charges were later dropped due to insufficient evidence.

Pippen playing in Europe, 2008

Following the lockout-shortened season in Houston, Pippen was traded in the off-season to the Portland Trail Blazers, whom he helped to the Western Conference Finals. But once there, they lost to the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers in seven games, despite holding a 15-point lead (75–60) in the fourth quarter of Game 7. Pippen played on for several more seasons in Portland, but they never advanced that far again in the playoffs. After the 2002–03 season, he signed once more with the Bulls, but due to injuries, he was only able to suit up for 23 games in 2003–04 and retired shortly after the season.

Pippen was a near-constant presence in the NBA Playoffs during his career, reaching the playoffs 16 straight years (11 with Chicago, 1 with Houston, 4 with Portland).

Retirement[link]

Scottie Pippen, 2009

The Bulls retired Pippen's jersey number in a ceremony on December 9, 2005. The team played against the Los Angeles Lakers that night, and Pippen was reunited with Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan, Dennis Rodman, and Horace Grant during the ceremony. Pippen's 33 joined Michael Jordan's 23, Bob Love's 10, and Jerry Sloan's 4 as the only numbers retired by the Bulls.

In January 2008, Pippen made a brief comeback to professional basketball at age 42, when he made a tour of Scandinavia and played two games for top Finnish league team Torpan Pojat (ToPo), and top Swedish league team Sundsvall.^[15] In his first game, on January 4, Pippen scored 12 points in ToPo's 93–81 win over Porvoo. He registered nine points and nine rebounds in a 98–85 win over Honka on January 5.^[16] In his third game of the tour, Pippen registered 21 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and two steals in 30 minutes in a 102–74 Sundsvall Dragons win over Akropol of Rinkeby. The Dragons paid Pippen $66,000 for his appearance.^[15]

Pippen returned to the Bulls on July 15, 2010 as a team ambassador.^[17]

Player profile[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (June 2010)

Pippen was renowned for his defensive abilities, having made the NBA All Defensive Team ten consecutive years during his career and leading the league in steals in 1994–95. Phil Jackson once described him as a "one-man wrecking crew, capable of guarding anyone from the point guard to the five position."^{[attribution needed]} Pippen is one of three NBA players to record 200 steals and 100 blocks in a season, and he also has the record for career steals by a forward (2,307), as well as in the playoffs (395). He was skilled at staying in front of his man on defense, and particularly effective as a help defender, with his long arms in traps.

On offense, Pippen relied primarily upon his remarkable athleticism to gain an advantage towards the basket and slashed towards the basket for higher percentage shots. Early in his career, particularly, Pippen was not an adept jump shooter, and struggled when shooting directly on a line to the basket. He favored shooting his jump shots on angles, such as along the free throw line extended (to the right and left of the elbows of the free throw lane), such that he could bank the ball off the backboard into the basket. He honed this shot over the course of his career and became more effective at scoring from distance late in his career.^{[citation needed]}

Legacy[link]

Pippen is remembered as one of the most versatile and agile players, and perhaps most notably as one of the greatest defenders ever. Much like fellow Bull Michael Jordan, he provided tenacious on-the-ball perimeter defense, or tough interior defense, and was particularly effective as a help defender. He was gifted with extraordinary athleticism, even compared with other professional athletes, and skills in areas that bode well for basketball.

His unusually long arms and jumping agility helped him clog the passing lanes on defense, to block shots from behind on players that had managed to pass by him, to grab out-of-reach rebounds, to make unusual plays in mid-air, and to make passes around defenders that most players are physically unable to make. He often led the Bulls in assists and blocks as a result. Pippen was also a selfless player. His team-focused approach to the game was a key component in the Bulls’ championships. Pippen’s career assists total of 6,135 (5.2 per game) is a testament to that approach. It is the record among forwards and was 23rd all-time among all players when he retired (now 26th).

His intense work ethic and athletic physique gave him the ability to consistently make highlight-reel plays, such as applying defensive intensity, forcing a turnover, stealing the ball and starting a one-man fast break that he would finish with a thunderous slam dunk. As Pippen himself has attested, he and Jordan would compete to see who could force more turnovers and produce more offense from defense in each game (fast break points). During the 1990 Slam Dunk Contest, Scottie exhibited his leaping ability with a dunk from the free throw line. He was an athletic finisher at the rim, both with dunks and a skillful finger roll that he added to his skill set over time. He was also a prolific perimeter shooter, taking about three thousand and making almost one thousand three-pointers in his career.

Career statistics[link]

Averages[link]

Career highs[link]