Corey Wootton

Corey A. Wootton (born June 22, 1987) is an American football defensive end for the Chicago Bears. He played college football at Northwestern University. As a junior, he garnered first team All-Big Ten Conference honors. Wootton was considered one of the top defensive ends talents for the 2010 NFL Draft.

Born in Rutherford, New Jersey, Wootton played high school football at Don Bosco Preparatory High School in Ramsey, New Jersey.

College career
Wootton chose Northwestern over Connecticut, Louisville and N.C. State. During his Freshman season, Wootton got a medical hardship year for 2005 and only played in three of first four games before being sidelined the remainder of the year with a neck injury. In 2006, he was the first Northwestern player since Hudhaifa Ismaeli (1995) to accomplish every major defensive statistic in a single season and the team's seventh-leading tackler and leader in sacks and leader in Tackles for loss. At the end of the season, Wootton earned a Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) Freshman All-American selection and was named to the Sporting News Freshman All-Big Ten team.

In 2007, Wootton finished second on the team with 7.0 Tackles for loss and five pass deflections and second among defensive linemen with 39 tackles.

Pro career
Wootton entered the 2010 NFL Draft and was selected 109th overall in the 4th round by the Chicago Bears. He recorded his first sack on December 20, 2010 against the Minnesota Vikings. The sack forced Vikings quarterback Brett Favre to leave the game with a concussion. The concussion sidelined Favre for the remaining two games of his final season in the NFL. In Week 9 of 2012 against the Tennesee Titans, Wootton scored his first career touchdown off a blocked punt, which had been blocked by former Northwestern teammate Sherrick McManis.