O'Brien Schofield

O'Brien Schofield (born April 3, 1987) is an American football linebacker for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League. As a fifth-year redshirt senior for the 2009 Wisconsin Badgers he ranked second in the nation in tackles for a loss (TFLs) and second in the Big Ten Conference in quarterback sacks. For the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season, he earned several second team and honorable mention All-American recognitions by various publications. He was a first-team 2009 All-Big Ten Conference selection. He earned the defensive MVP award at the 2010 East–West Shrine Game, but was injured during practice for the 2010 Senior Bowl the subsequent week.

Background
His uncle Andre Carter played safety at Clemson. Schofield is a cousin of both Vonnie Holliday and Bobby Engram who both have had long National Football League careers. Schofield attended North Chicago Community High School. In high school Schofield was a Lake County, Illinois 2003 All-county second team selection and 2004 first team selection in football. He was also a special mention All-state selection in 2004. In basketball, he was an All-county honorable mention for 2004–05. In high school he played wide receiver as a sophomore, defensive end as a junior and end, linebacker, receiver, fullback, placekicker, kick returner and punt returner as a senior. He also ran track. Scout.com rated him as the 55th best high school football linebacker in the country. Rivals.com ranked him as the 24th best defensive end in the country and the 24th best football prosepect in Illinois.


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College
Schofield did not appear in any games for the 2005 Badgers and recorded no statistics although he appeared in five games for the 2006 Badgers. He recorded his first tackle on September 15 for the 2007 Badgers against The Citadel Bulldogs and his first sack and TFL on August 30 for the 2008 team against the Akron Zips. He concluded his career with a total of 17 sacks and 33 TFLs. He also accumulated 4 forced fumbles.

He was the 2009 Big Ten Conference runner-up in sacks with 12 to Ryan Kerrigan and runner-up in TFLs with 24.5 to Brandon Graham. He ranked second in the nation in TFLs/game. At the conclusion of the 2009 Big Ten Conference football season he was a 2009 First-team All-Big Ten selection by the coaches and media.

He concluded his career for Wisconsin Badgers football with the 2009 team in the December 29, 2009 Champs Sports Bowl. For the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season, he was a second team All-American selection by Scout.com and an honorable mention by College Football News, Sports Illustrated, and Pro Football Weekly. During the season he was the October 4, 2009 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week for his October 3 performance against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. He was selected as a midseason semifinalists for the Bednarik Award.

The January 23, 2010 East–West Shrine Game, in which he earned defensive MVP, was his last game. He recorded an interception on a Max Hall pass and made three solo tackles in the game. Schofield was projected to play linebacker in the NFL. During the week of practice at the Shrine Game, he performed with the linebackers in order to demonstrate his NFL potential for scouts. However, in the subsequent week of practice for the January 30, 2010 Senior Bowl, Schofield tore his anterior cruciate ligament.

Professional career
Schofield was drafted in the 4th round of the 2010 NFL Draft, 130th overall, by the Arizona Cardinals. Since Schofield was injured, he was considered a good value because his talent level was near first round draft choice level. He is expected to begin the 2010 NFL season on the physically unable to perform list, but is expected to return late in the year as an outside linebacker. Although he played on the defensive line in college, he is projected to play outside linebacker for the Cardinals who had Joey Porter and Will Davis on their roster. Schofield signed a 4-year contract on July 27, 2010. On August 31, he was placed on the reserve/non-football injury list.

2010–present
He made his NFL debut on October 31, 2010 in Week 8, against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Schofield forced a fumble against the Minnesota Vikings on November 7 on kick coverage that was recovered for a touchdown. Schofield recorded his first NFL sack on December 25, 2010, when he sacked QB Stephen McGee for an 11 yard loss in a 27-26 Arizona win over the Dallas Cowboys. In the Cardinals January 2, 2011 regular season finale against the San Francisco 49ers, Schofield sacked QB Alex Smith for a 5 yard loss.

He had his first two-sack game on December 18, 2011, against Seneca Wallace on back-to-back fourth quarter plays of an overtime victory over the Cleveland Browns. He became a starter during the 2012 NFL season.