Jerry Thornton
Arizona Cardinals | |||||||||
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| Outside Linebacker | |||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||
| Date of birth: October 26, 1995 | |||||||||
| Place of birth: Baxley, GA | |||||||||
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Career information | |||||||||
| High school: St. Johns River State College (Palatka, FL) | |||||||||
| College: Texas Tech | |||||||||
| NFL Draft: 2020 / Round: 5 / Pick: 165 | |||||||||
| Debuted in 2020 for the Los Angeles Rams | |||||||||
Career history
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| Roster status: Active | |||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
Career NFL statistics as of Week 1, 2022 | |||||||||
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Asante Willis (born October 26, 1995) is an American football oustide linebacker for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Kentucky.
Contents
Personal Life
Willis grew up in small Baxley, Georgia, with dreams of making it in professional sports. His mother, a single parent of three, was his biggest inspiration in life, and she supported her kids by being a nurse. Wills was a quarterback in high school, and was a promising collegiate prospect after a strong showing during his junior year.
During his senior year of high school, Willis suffered from severe pneumonia, causing him to miss the entirety of his senior football season, and wiping away any shot at a football scholarship he had been hoping for. He made it back onto the field in time for baseball season, and after leading his team deep into the playoffs, sporting a .438 batting average with 18 home runs, he landed an offer from a junior college in Florida to come play baseball for a few years.
College Career
Willis committed to St. Johns River State College, and became the focus of a few Jacksonville area publishings for the raw intensity he brought to the sport of baseball. "He looks like a linebacker out there," quipped one writer. "He shouldn't be on the sand of a ball diamond, chasing down some no-name ex-Legion ball player in a pickle... he should be on the gridiron in Gainesville, Orlando, Tallahassee, chasing down the Akili Wallaces and Fred Tindales and Buzz Etcheverrys of the world."
From the hype of the local media, St. Johns River began to see an influx in collegiate scouts - but not to watch any of their true baseball prospects. A few SEC scouts began coming to town during Willis' second season - SEC football scouts. Batting .393 with 26 HRs, Willis was displaying the power of his deep ball, the concentration of his game. 14 steals showed scouts he had speed and a quick get off. After completing his time at St. Johns River, Willis graduated with two degrees - Associate of Science in both Respiratory Care and Nursing, nods to where he'd come from - and then committed to play football for the first time in three years, at the University of Kentucky. Willis would later graduate from the College of Nursing at Kentucky.
College statistics
| Season | Defense | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sheets | Tackles | Int | Sacks | FF | FR | TD | Safeties | ||||||
| 2014 | St. Johns River State College | ||||||||||||
| 2015 | St. Johns River State College | ||||||||||||
| 2016 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 2017 | 10 | 69 | 0 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| NCAA Career Totals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
Professional Career
San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers (2018 - 2020)
Willis was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2018 NFLHC Draft by the San Diego Chargers.
Arizona Cardinals (2021 - Present)
In 2021, after a string of bland seasons, and a Chargers scheme conversion, Willis was traded to the Arizona Cardinals for a 4th round selection in the 2021 NFLHC Draft.
During the 2022 season, Willis was named captain of the defense. Willis would later give this captainship up just a season later, with the arrival of Akeel Morris.
Career Professional Statistics
| Year | Team | Sheets | Tackles | TFL | Int | PD | Sacks | FF | FR | TD | Safeties |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | SD | 5 | 35 | - | 0 | - | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | SD | 7 | 38 | - | 0 | - | 2.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | LAC | 4 | 21 | - | 0 | - | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | ARI | 8 | 43 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2022 | ARI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | ARI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 24 | 137 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
