Torrin Tucker
Torrin Tucker is an American former professional football offensive tackle who played for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League. He played college football for the Southern Miss Golden Eagles.
Early life
Tucker attended Southeast Lauderdale High School. As a senior defensive tackle, he posted 87 tackles, while scoring touchdowns on a fumble return and a blocked punt. He received All-district 7-2A, Most Valuable Defensive Lineman in the district and second-team All-state honors.He accepted a football scholarship from the University of Southern Mississippi. As a redshirt freshman, he started in 5 out of 9 games. As a sophomore he started every game, playing at both right tackle and left guard. As a junior and senior, he started every game at right guard. He made the Dean's List in his last two years.
Professional career
Dallas Cowboys
Despite being ranked by different publications as one of the top guard prospects available in the 2003 NFL draft, Tucker was not selected and had to sign as an undrafted free agent with the Dallas Cowboys. After being waived on August 31, he was signed to the practice squad on September 30. On October 1, he was promoted to the active roster.As a rookie, he was switched to offensive tackle and would play as the "swing" tackle, backing up the left and right tackle positions, while appearing in seven games and being declared inactive in 6 contests. In 2004, he started 13 games at right tackle after passing Kurt Vollers on the depth chart. He was declared inactive in the final 3 contests, as Vollers regained his starting position.
Entering the 2005 season, he was expected to compete for the starting right tackle role, but struggled after coming in to camp overweight and lost the position to rookie Rob Petitti. He became the starter at left tackle after the sixth game of the season, when Flozell Adams was lost after tearing his ACL.
In the 2006 offseason, he was as a restricted free agent and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed him to a two-year offer sheet, that included a $100,000 signing bonus, a $1.2 million and $1.1 million base salaries, along with a $200,000 roster bonus if he was on the team in 2007. The Cowboys eventually decided not to match the offer and lost Tucker without receiving any compensation.