Paul Posluszny
Paul Michael Posluszny is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for eleven seasons in the National Football League, primarily with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He played college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions, winning the Chuck Bednarik Award twice and the Dick Butkus Award once. He was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the second round of the 2007 NFL draft. Following four years in Buffalo, Posluszny spent the remainder of his career with the Jaguars. Posluszny earned Pro Bowl honors during the 2013 season after leading the league in solo tackles. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2024.
Early life
Posluszny was born in Butler, Pennsylvania on October 10, 1984. He is of Polish descent. He was a star halfback and linebacker at Hopewell High School in Hopewell Township, Beaver County, Pennsylvania. In 2002, his senior year, he helped lead the Vikings to the WPIAL championship with an 8–1 record, followed by the AAA State Championship.College career
Posluszny played football at Penn State University from 2003 to 2006. He debuted in the fifth game of his 2003 freshman season, and in the last game of the season made his first career start at Michigan State. During the season, he recorded 36 tackles, an interception, a fumble recovery, and was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team by The Sporting News.In 2004, he was named as a second-team All-Big Ten player as well as earning academic All-Big Ten honors. Prior to that season he changed to jersey No. 31, in honor of former Penn State players who had worn the number including All-Americans Shane Conlan and Andre Collins. He started in all 11 games and led his team with 104 tackles, and his 9.5 tackles per game average put him in a tie for fifth in the Big Ten. He also recorded 12 tackles for loss and three sacks, helping Penn State reach the national top 10 in scoring and total defense. In fact, the defense did not allow an opponent to reach over 21 points in a game all season. He also caught an interception, broke up three passes and forced a fumble on the season. He won the Big Ten Defensive Player-of-the-Week for his performance against Indiana, making 13 tackles and playing a key role in Penn State's goal-line stand to ensure the win.
In 2005, Posluszny became the first junior captain for Penn State since Mike Reid and Steve Smear in 1968. He posted 116 tackles on the season, 14 for loss, and 4 sacks, including a 22-tackle game against Northwestern. He was named Big Ten Defensive Player-of-the-Week a record-breaking three consecutive times. He then joined LaVar Arrington as the second Penn State player to win both the Chuck Bednarik and Dick Butkus Awards as the College Defensive Player and Linebacker of the Year respectively, and was named as a member of the 2005 All-America Team. He helped lead the Penn State Nittany Lions to a win in the 2006 Orange Bowl against Florida State but left the game in the fourth quarter after partially tearing two ligaments in his knee; the injury did not require surgery. He subsequently announced that he planned to return to Penn State for his senior year of college, rather than declare himself eligible for the 2006 NFL draft, a decision which, a year later, was considered "a boon," with Posluszny completing the 2006 season with 116 tackles and a school-high career total 372 tackles.
In 2006, he continued captaincy, along with Levi Brown. Jack Ham, former All-American Linebacker at Penn State, said that Posluszny was the greatest linebacker to ever play at Penn State. On November 4, 2006, he broke Greg Buttle's school record for tackles. Posluszny had 372 career tackles, with 116 of them coming during that season, including 9.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, and two forced fumbles. Posluszny won the 2006 Chuck Bednarik Award to become only the second person to win the award two times. Posluszny was also named a member of the 2006 All-America Team, the first Penn State linebacker to be a two-time Associated Press All-American.
Posluszny graduated a semester early in December 2006 with a Bachelor of Science in finance and a 3.57 GPA. He is a two-time ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American and was named 2006 Academic All-American of the Year. He was also a finalist for the Draddy Trophy, which is presented to the nations' top student-athlete.
Posluszny was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2024.
Professional career
Pre-draft
Posluszny was graded high in the NFL Combine.Buffalo Bills
2007
The Buffalo Bills selected Posluszny in the second round with the 34th overall pick in the 2007 NFL draft. The Bills traded their second and third round picks to move up nine spots and select Posluszny. The Lions went on to select Drew Stanton with their second round pick and traded their third round pick to the Baltimore Ravens. He was the fourth linebacker selected in 2007, after future Pro bowlers Patrick Willis, Lawrence Timmons, and Jon Beason.On July 26, 2007, the Bills signed Posluszny to a four-year, $4.75 million contract that includes $2.55 million guaranteed.
Throughout training camp, Posluszny competed against veteran John DiGiorgio for the job as the starting middle linebacker after it was left vacant by the departure of London Fletcher. Head coach Dick Jauron named Posluszny the starting middle linebacker to start the regular season.
He made his professional regular season debut and first career start in the Bills' season-opener against the Denver Broncos and recorded ten combined tackles in their 15–14 loss. The following week, he recorded a season-high 12 combined tackles during a 26–3 loss at the Pittsburgh Steelers. On September 23, 2007, Posluszny made four combined tackles before leaving in the third quarter after suffering a broken left forearm in their 38–7 loss at the New England Patriots. He was placed on injured reserve, ending his rookie season. At the time of his injury, he was third in the league with 26 combined tackles, which was tied for the most tackles among rookies with Patrick Willis. He finished his rookie season with 26 combined tackles in three starts and three games.
2008
Posluszny returned as the starting middle linebacker in 2008, along with outside linebackers Angelo Crowell and Kawika Mitchell. On December 7, 2008, Posluszny recorded a season-high 11 combined tackles in the Bills' 16–3 loss to the Miami Dolphins. The following week, Posluszny recorded five combined tackles, two pass break ups, and made his first career interception off of quarterback Brett Favre during the Bills' 31–27 loss at the New York Jets. Posluszny finished the 2008 season with 110 combined tackles, six pass deflections, a fumble recovery, and an interception in 16 games and 16 starts. He was named the Bills' Defensive MVP.2009
Head coach Dick Jauron named Posluszny the starting middle linebacker along with outside linebackers Kawika Mitchell and Keith Ellison to begin the regular season. Posluszny was one of six team captains selected prior to the start of the 2009 season.He started the Bills' season-opener against the New England Patriots and recorded six solo tackles before leaving the 25–24 Monday Night Football loss in the first quarter after breaking a bone in his left forearm. The injury was expected to sideline him for at least six weeks, but Posluszny was able to recover quickly and returned in four weeks while missing only four games. He returned in Week 6 and recorded nine combined tackles, one pass deflection, and an interception during a 16–13 victory at the New York Jets. On November 15, 2009, Posluszny recorded a season-high 12 combined tackles in their 41–17 loss at the Tennessee Titans. Head coach Dick Jauron was fired two days later after the Bills started the season with a 3–6 record. Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell was elevated to interim head coach for the remainder of the season. The next week, Posluszny collected a season-high tying 12 combined tackles in the Bills' 18–15 loss at the Jacksonville Jaguars. In Week 13, he recorded five solo tackles and made his first career sack on quarterback Mark Sanchez in the Bills' 16–13 loss to the New York Jets. On December 20, 2009, Posluszny made nine combined tackles and intercepted Tom Brady for his third pick of the season as the Bills lost to the New England Patriots 17–10. He finished his third season with 111 combined tackles, four pass deflections, three interceptions, and one sack in 12 games and 12 starts. The Bills finished the 2009 season fourth in the AFC East and did not qualify for the playoffs for the third consecutive season after finishing with a 6–10 record.
2010
On January 20, 2010, the Bills announced that they hired former Dallas Cowboys' head coach Chan Gailey as their new head coach. Defensive coordinator George Edwards decided not to continue to use a base 4-3 defense and installed a 3-4 defense that relied heavily on the linebacking core and used two inside linebackers instead of a sole middle linebacker. Throughout training camp, Posluszny competed to be a starting inside linebacker against Kawika Mitchell and Andra Davis. Head coach Chan Gailey named Posluszny and Andra Davis the starting inside linebackers, along with outside linebackers Chris Kelsay and Aaron Maybin.He started the Bills' season-opener against the Miami Dolphins and recorded eight combined tackles and a sack as the Bills lost 15–10. He left the game during the third quarter after sustaining an apparent knee injury while tackling running back Ronnie Brown with two teammates. The following day, it was revealed that Posluszny had suffered a sprained MCL and was expected to be sidelined for only two weeks. On October 31, 2010, Posluszny recorded a season-high 17 combined tackles and broke up a pass during a 13–10 loss at the Kansas City Chiefs. In Week 13, he collected 15 combined tackles and sacked quarterback Tarvaris Jackson as the Bills were routed by the Minnesota Vikings 38–14. Throughout the season, Posluszny had ten games with at least ten combined tackles. He finished his final season in Buffalo with 151 combined tackles, four pass deflections, and two sacks in 14 games and 14 starts.
On March 1, 2011, the Bills assigned a one-year free agent tender to Posluszny. The tender became null and void, making Posluszny an unrestricted free agent after the signing of the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement by the NFLPA that ended a four-month lockout. General manager Buddy Nix and Posluszny showed mutual interest on an extension, with Posluszny saying his first intention is to consider re-signing. After his departure, Posluszny stated he felt he was not in their plans and not a fit for the team once Nix stated the Bills' desire to have him around 245–250 lbs.