Antonio Garay
Encyclopedia
Antonio Garay is an American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 defensive tackle for the San Diego Chargers
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

.

He played college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 at Boston College
Boston College Eagles football
The Boston College Eagles football team is the collegiate football program of Boston College. The team is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, a Division I Bowl Subdivision league governed by the NCAA. Within the ACC, the Eagles are one of six teams in the Atlantic Division...

. He was drafted by the Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 in the sixth round of the 2003 NFL Draft
2003 NFL Draft
The 2003 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936. The draft was held April 26–27, 2003 at the Theatre at...

.

Garay has also been a member of the Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

 and New York Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

.

He is notable for his outrageous hairstyles. He also drives a Antonio Garay in Hello Kitty Smart Car.

Early years

Garay is Jewish. Garay's mother is Jewish and his father is a Catholic of Jamaican, Costa Rican, and Puerto Rican descent. He was exposed to both parents' faiths. He attended Rahway High School
Rahway High School
Rahway High School is a four-year public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Rahway, in Union County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Rahway Public Schools. The high school's present location was built in 1941...

 in Rahway, New Jersey
Rahway, New Jersey
Rahway is a city in southern Union County, New Jersey, United States. It is part of the New York metropolitan area, being 15 miles southwest of Manhattan and five miles west of Staten Island...

, and was a standout offensive and defensive lineman. He was also the NJSIAA 275 lb (124.7 kg). state and national wrestling champion in 1998.

Professional career

---Hustlers---
During his college summer breaks, Garay occasionally played left center for the Hustlers, a Union County Softfball summer team in Rahway River Park.

Chicago Bears

Garay spent two seasons with the Chicago Bears and was a member of the 2006 NFC Championship team
2006 Chicago Bears season
The 2006 Chicago Bears season was their 87th regular season and 25th post-season completed in the National Football League. The club posted a 13-3 regular season record, the best in the NFC, improving on their previous year’s record of 11-5...

. In a December 2007 game against the Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...

, Garay was injured by an illegal block. He was placed on injured reserve for the remainder of the 2007 season. On March 8, 2008, the Chicago Bears announced that they would part ways with the defensive tackle, and he became an unrestricted free agent
Free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....

 on February 29, 2008.

New York Jets

On October 20, 2009, the New York Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 announced that they had signed Garay to their practice squad.

San Diego Chargers

Garay was signed off of the New York Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 practice squad on December 9, 2009, by the San Diego Chargers
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

. He was re-signed to a two-year deal on March 6, 2010. Garay was able to earn the starting job at nose tackle for the bulk of the 2010 season, and he finished 2010 with 48 tackles and 5.5 sacks, leading all San Diego defensive linemen in both categories.

External links

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