CLEVELAND - With the 25th pick of the 7th round (#252 overall) of the 2021 NFL Draft, the Los Angeles Rams selected Concordia-St. Paul senior outside linebacker (EDGE)
Chris Garrett. The Milwaukee, Wisconsin native becomes the second Concordia player selected in the NFL Draft, joining Zach Moore in 2014.
"Our program is ecstatic about Chris being drafted by the Rams, representing our program in the NFL," said head coach
Shannon Currier. "As good of a pass rusher as he is, he is an even better person. And while he was an outstanding player at CSP, he leaves a legacy that will always impact the program. We are excited to watch him do well with this opportunity with the Rams!"
A defensive lineman (DE) for Concordia, Garrett has been listed as an outside linebacker and an edge rusher by various draft publications leading up to the 86th annual NFL Draft. Garrett helped the Golden Bears improve each of his three seasons on the gridiron, moving from a 2-9 squad as a freshman in 2017 to a winning 6-5 campaign as a junior in 2019 following a three-win improvement in his sophomore year.
Garrett joins Zach Moore, also an explosive pass rusher for Concordia, who was selected in the 2014 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots in the sixth round (#198 overall). Moore went on to have a five year career in the NFL, winning the Super Bowl as a rookie in the 2014 season with the Patriots. He played in 26 games with two starts, with a career-high 3.5 sacks in his final season with the Arizona Cardinals in 2018. He was also a member of the Carolina Panthers, Minnesota Vikings and Dallas Cowboys.
He becomes the fifth Golden Bear to sign an NFL contract since 2012, joining Tom Obarski (2015), Zach Moore (2014), Charles Gilbert (2012) and Tyler Hendrickson (2012), and he is the sixth Concordia football player to sign an NFL contract since the program was founded in 1969, joining the first to do so, Mike Bailey in 1971 with the Dallas Cowboys.
#52 Chris Garrett (OLB/EDGE, 6-3, 243, Sr., Milwaukee, Wis. / Milwaukee Lutheran HS)
- 2021 Hula Bowl participant
- 2021 East-West Shrine Bowl selection
- 2020 Street & Smith's Division II Preseason All-America First Team
- 2020 CFA Division II Preseason Starting Lineup
- 2019-20 CSP Male Athlete of the Year
- 2019 Harlon Hill Trophy semifinalist from Super Region 4
- 2019 Cliff Harris Award finalist
- 2019 D2CCA, D2Football.com, Don Hansen & Associated Press All-America First Team selection
- 2019 AFCA All-America Second Team selection
- 2019 D2CCA & Don Hansen Super Region 4 Defensive Player of the Year
- 2019 D2CCA & Don Hansen All-Super Region 4 First Team
- 2019 NSIC Defensive Player of the Year
- Two-time All-NSIC South First Team selection
- 2018 AFCA & AP All-America First Team
- 2018 D2CCA All-America Second Team & Don Hansen All-America Third Team
- 2018 D2Football.com All-America Honorable Mention
- 2018 All-Super Region 4 First Team by D2CCA & Don Hansen's Football Gazette
- Two-time 2019 NSIC Defensive Player of the Week and earned D2Football.com National Defensive Player of the Week once
- A two-time National Defensive Player of the Week and five-time NSIC Defensive Player of the Week choice in his career
- National leader with seven forced fumbles, 3rd most in DII history in a season
- Set DII career record with 15 forced fumbles
- Second-straight year leading NSIC in sacks (1.27/game), ranking 2nd in DII after leading the nation in 2018
- Second in the NSIC and ninth in NCAA DII with 1.9 TFLs per game
- Set CSP career sacks record with 36.5, ranking 13th in DII career history and second in NSIC history
- Ranks third in NCAA Division II history with 1.30 sacks per game in his career
- Has 48.5 career TFLs in just 28 games played following junior year, third most in CSP history
- Ranks 14th in NCAA Division II history with 1.73 career tackles for loss per game
- Finished the year ranked 18th in the NSIC with 69 total tackles and has 166 tackles in 28 career games
- Set school record with 6.5 TFLs and second-most sacks (5.0) in CSP history with NCAA DII & NSIC single game highs vs MSU Moorhead
- His 5.0 sacks against MSUM are seventh most in a single game in NCAA DII history
- His 6.5 TFLs against MSUM are 11th most in a single game in NCAA DII history
- His three forced fumbles against MSUM is tied for third most in a game in NCAA DII history, an achievement he matched as a freshman at Augustana
