Sebastian Vollmer

Sebastian Georg Vollmer (born July 10, 1984) is an American football offensive tackle who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the New England Patriots in the second round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He played college football at Houston. He is one of two German players in the NFL (the other is the New York Giants' Markus Kuhn).

Early years
Born in Düsseldorf, Germany, Vollmer did not start playing American football until he was 14 years old. He attended Quirinus Gymnasium, a secondary school in Neuss, Germany. He played American football for the Düsseldorf Panthers and helped his team to a 25-0 record and two national Junior Bowl wins. After appearing in the 2004 Global Junior Championships in San Diego, California, he was recruited by college coaches as a 250-pound tight end.

College career
Vollmer was recruited to play college football by several schools, but chose to attend the University of Houston beginning in 2004. When Vollmer first arrived at Houston, he was a tight end who barely spoke English. He redshirted his freshman season in 2004, and appeared in eight games as a reserve tight end in 2005. After requiring back surgery as a sophomore, Vollmer switched to left tackle, where he started 25 straight games for Houston. At Houston, Vollmer's offensive line coach was Joe Gilbert, who had previously worked at the University of Toledo, where he coached another Patriots lineman, Nick Kaczur. As a senior, he was named to the first-team All-Conference USA at left tackle.

Pre-draft
Vollmer was not invited to the NFL Combine, but did have a private workout with Patriots offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia prior to the 2009 NFL Draft.

2009 season
Vollmer was drafted by the New England Patriots in the second round (58th overall) of the 2009 NFL Draft. On July 17, he signed a four-year contract.

Vollmer made his official NFL debut in the Patriots' first game of the season. He made his first start at left tackle, filling in for an injured Matt Light, in the Patriots' record-setting 59–0 victory in Week 6 against the Tennessee Titans, and started the next four games. After being sidelined for two weeks with a head injury, Vollmer made his sixth start of the season in Week 14 against the Carolina Panthers; Vollmer lined up at both left tackle and right tackle, in place of veteran tackle Nick Kaczur, during the game. Vollmer started the Patriots' next two games after Kaczur was injured, and when Kaczur returned in Week 17, he continued to start at right tackle, including the Patriots' playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

2010 season
In 2010, Vollmer started all 16 games of the regular season at right tackle for the Patriots. He performed well throughout the season and was named to the Associated Press 2010 All-Pro Team (2nd team, thus one of the four best tackles—left or right—in the NFL), but was not voted to the 2011 Pro Bowl, as “Vollmer's anonymity kept him out of the Pro Bowl”.

2011 season
Vollmer injured his back in a preseason game and missed the beginning of the 2011 season. He returned in week 2 and rotated with Nate Solder at RT but was injured again in the win over the San Diego Chargers. Vollmer returned in week 8 vs the Pittsburgh Steelers, rotating again with Solder.

2012 season
Vollmer played and started in 15 out of the 16 regular season games. Vollmer is set to become a free agent after the season.