Bobby Engram
Encyclopedia
Simon J. "Bobby" Engram III (born January 7, 1973 in Camden, South Carolina
) is currently the offensive assistant coach for the San Francisco 49ers
of the NFL
. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears
in the second round of the 1996 NFL Draft
. He played college football
at Penn State
.
Engram has also played for the Seattle Seahawks
, Kansas City Chiefs
and Cleveland Browns
.
' favorite target. He garnered All-America
n honors and won the first-ever Biletnikoff Award
, recognizing the nation's best wide receiver. Engram was the Nittany Lions' career receptions leader until 2008, when Deon Butler
passed his mark of 167. He is still the all-time leader in yards and touchdowns with 3,026 yards and 31 touchdowns. He also racked up 786 career punt return yards for the Nittany Lions, ranking him second in school history.
Engram missed the 1992 season as punishment from head-coach Joe Paterno
, when he was charged with being involved in a college apartment burglary with teammate Ricky Sayles. Sayles and Engram went into an apartment and removed a stereo. However, the police investigation revealed that Sayles was the mastermind behind the burglary and Engram may have been led to believe that he and Sayles were authorized to take the stereo. Consequently, Engram was allowed to complete a pre-trial diversionary program and the charges were later dropped. Sayles, on the other hand, was permanently dismissed from the team.
He earned a Bachelor of Science
in exercise science from Penn State in 1995.
, 52nd overall to the Chicago Bears
. In his rookie season, he had 33 receptions for 389 yards and 6 touchdown passes. He also returned kicks. Engram spent 5 seasons with the Bears.
before the 2001 season. He would spend 8 seasons with the Seahawks and reached the 1,000-yard receiving threshold in 2007 (94 catches, 1,147 yards), which was the only 1,000-yard season of his career. He was named the third receiver on the 35th Anniversary Team for the Seahawks.
in 2009, but only played in 5 games for the team.
in the 2010 preseason, but failed to make the roster and was released before the regular season began.
.
. Engram hosted the "Walk for Sickle Cell Disease" in Seattle in September 2006. In October 2006, Engram was diagnosed with Graves' disease
. His subsequent accelerated heart rate, debilitating fatigue, and weight loss caused him to miss a significant amount of playing time during the 2006 season.
Engram was the subject of a November 2008 NFL Network
segment profiling his participation in The Home Depot
's NFL Neighborhood MVP program. Engram joined a group of volunteers from the non-profit organization
s KaBOOM! and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America to install a new playground on the Tulalip Indian Reservation
in Snohomish County, Washington
.
When playing games in the Pennsylvania
cities of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, Engram laced his shoes with white shoelaces
as opposed to the regular black as a tribute to the old-school beliefs of his college coach, Joe Paterno
.
He currently lives in Murrysville, Pennsylvania.
Camden, South Carolina
Camden is the fourth oldest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina and is also the county seat of Kershaw County, South Carolina, United States. The population was an estimated 7,103 in 2009...
) is currently the offensive assistant coach for the San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...
of the NFL
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 was drafted by 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...
in the second round of the 1996 NFL Draft
1996 NFL Draft
The 1996 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 20–21, 1996...
. 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 Penn State
Penn State Nittany Lions football
The Penn State Nittany Lions football team represents the Pennsylvania State University in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big Ten Conference. It is one of the most tradition-rich and storied college football programs in the...
.
Engram has also played for the Seattle Seahawks
Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team joined the NFL in 1976 as an expansion team...
, Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
and 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...
.
Early years
Engram attended Camden High School in Camden, South Carolina, where he was a three-time All-State selection at wide receiver.College career
As a college junior, Engram was the go-to receiver on Penn State's undefeated 1994 team. Wearing #10, he was quarterback Kerry CollinsKerry Collins
Kerry Michael Collins is an American football quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Carolina Panthers with the fifth overall pick of the 1995 NFL Draft, the first choice in the franchise's history...
' favorite target. He garnered All-America
All-America
An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
n honors and won the first-ever Biletnikoff Award
Fred Biletnikoff Award
The Fred Biletnikoff Award has been presented since 1994 to America's top college football receiver by the TQC Foundation, Inc. , an independent not-for-profit organization which created the award in 1994 and has sponsored it since...
, recognizing the nation's best wide receiver. Engram was the Nittany Lions' career receptions leader until 2008, when Deon Butler
Deon Butler
Vincent Deon Butler is an American football wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Seahawks in the third round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He played college football at Penn State....
passed his mark of 167. He is still the all-time leader in yards and touchdowns with 3,026 yards and 31 touchdowns. He also racked up 786 career punt return yards for the Nittany Lions, ranking him second in school history.
Engram missed the 1992 season as punishment from head-coach Joe Paterno
Joe Paterno
Joseph Vincent "Joe" Paterno is a former college football coach who was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions for 46 years from 1966 through 2011. Paterno, nicknamed "JoePa," holds the record for the most victories by an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision football coach with...
, when he was charged with being involved in a college apartment burglary with teammate Ricky Sayles. Sayles and Engram went into an apartment and removed a stereo. However, the police investigation revealed that Sayles was the mastermind behind the burglary and Engram may have been led to believe that he and Sayles were authorized to take the stereo. Consequently, Engram was allowed to complete a pre-trial diversionary program and the charges were later dropped. Sayles, on the other hand, was permanently dismissed from the team.
He earned a Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
in exercise science from Penn State in 1995.
Chicago Bears
Engram was drafted in the 2nd round of the 1996 NFL Draft1996 NFL Draft
The 1996 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 20–21, 1996...
, 52nd overall to 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...
. In his rookie season, he had 33 receptions for 389 yards and 6 touchdown passes. He also returned kicks. Engram spent 5 seasons with the Bears.
Seattle Seahawks
Engram signed with the Seattle SeahawksSeattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team joined the NFL in 1976 as an expansion team...
before the 2001 season. He would spend 8 seasons with the Seahawks and reached the 1,000-yard receiving threshold in 2007 (94 catches, 1,147 yards), which was the only 1,000-yard season of his career. He was named the third receiver on the 35th Anniversary Team for the Seahawks.
Kansas City Chiefs
Engram joined the Kansas City ChiefsKansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
in 2009, but only played in 5 games for the team.
Cleveland Browns
Engram signed with the Cleveland BrownsCleveland 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 2010 preseason, but failed to make the roster and was released before the regular season began.
Retirement, Coaching Career
On January 28, 2011, Engram announced that he had retired from the NFL as a player, but that he had accepted a job as an offensive assistant coach for the San Francisco 49ersSan Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...
.
Personal
Engram and his wife Deanna have three children: daughter Bobbi, and sons Dean and Trey. Bobbi was born with the hereditary sickle-cell diseaseSickle-cell disease
Sickle-cell disease , or sickle-cell anaemia or drepanocytosis, is an autosomal recessive genetic blood disorder with overdominance, characterized by red blood cells that assume an abnormal, rigid, sickle shape. Sickling decreases the cells' flexibility and results in a risk of various...
. Engram hosted the "Walk for Sickle Cell Disease" in Seattle in September 2006. In October 2006, Engram was diagnosed with Graves' disease
Graves-Basedow disease
Graves' disease is an autoimmune disease where the thyroid is overactive, producing an excessive amount of thyroid hormones...
. His subsequent accelerated heart rate, debilitating fatigue, and weight loss caused him to miss a significant amount of playing time during the 2006 season.
Engram was the subject of a November 2008 NFL Network
NFL Network
NFL Network is an American television specialty channel owned and operated by the National Football League . It was launched November 4, 2003, only eight months after the league's 32 team owners voted unanimously to approve its formation...
segment profiling his participation in The Home Depot
The Home Depot
The Home Depot is an American retailer of home improvement and construction products and services.The Home Depot operates 2,248 big-box format stores across the United States , Canada , Mexico and China, with a 12-store chain...
's NFL Neighborhood MVP program. Engram joined a group of volunteers from the non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
s KaBOOM! and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America to install a new playground on the Tulalip Indian Reservation
Tulalip
Tulalip is a group of Native American peoples from western Washington state in the United States. Today they are federally recognized as the Tulalip Tribes of the Tulalip Reservation.- History :...
in Snohomish County, Washington
Snohomish County, Washington
Snohomish County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. It is named after the Snohomish tribe. Since 2000, the county's population has grown from 606,024 to 713,335 residents , making it one of the fastest-growing in the state, ranking third in overall population after King and...
.
When playing games in the Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
cities of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, Engram laced his shoes with white shoelaces
Shoelaces
Shoelaces, which are also called shoe-strings, shoe laces, or boot laces, are a system commonly used to secure shoes, boots and other footwear. They typically consist of a pair of strings or cords, one for each shoe, finished off at both ends with stiff sections, known as aglets...
as opposed to the regular black as a tribute to the old-school beliefs of his college coach, Joe Paterno
Joe Paterno
Joseph Vincent "Joe" Paterno is a former college football coach who was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions for 46 years from 1966 through 2011. Paterno, nicknamed "JoePa," holds the record for the most victories by an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision football coach with...
.
He currently lives in Murrysville, Pennsylvania.