Nick Eason

Nicholas Eason (born May 29, 1980) is an American football defensive end for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the fourth round of the 2003 NFL Draft. He played college football at Clemson.

Eason has also played for the Scottish Claymores, Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers.

College career
Eason played college football at Clemson. He played in 47 games starting in 35 and finished his career with 153 tackles and 15 sacks. He graduated from Clemson in August 2001 with a degree in sociology and is currently working on his master's degree in Human Resource Development.

Denver Broncos
Eason was originally drafted in the 4th round (114th overall) of the 2003 draft by the Denver Broncos. His first season was ended by an Achilles injury. In 2004, he was allocated to NFL Europe and played for the Scottish Claymores. On returning, he spent some time on the practice squad before being waived on September 24, 2004.

Cleveland Browns
Eason was signed by the Cleveland Browns on 11 November 2004 and played in one game recording two tackles. The 2005 season was his first full season with the Browns and he played in 16 games recording 19 tackles and a career high two sacks. In 2006, Eason recorded 23 tackles from 13 games.

Pittsburgh Steelers
Eason signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers as an unrestricted free agent on April 16, 2007. In his first season with the team, he played in all 16 games and recorded 14 tackles. In 2008, the Steelers resigned Eason to a 2-year contract.

Eason was released on October 3, 2009 after the Steelers signed Isaac Redman from their practice squad, then re-signed when Redman was waived on October 5. Eason was promoted to the main roster and started in place of the injured defensive end Brett Keisel. In week 17, the final game of the regular season, he had 4 tackles (including a critical tackle for a 3 yard loss on Ricky Williams) against the Dolphins. Perhaps because of Eason's tackle, the next play was a pass from 4th string quarterback Tyler Thigpen that was intercepted, which allowed the Steelers to run out the clock and win a very close game that they needed in order to finish the disappointing season with a winning record.

Arizona Cardinals
Eason was signed by the Arizona Cardinals on on July 29, 2011.