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Bryce Paup

Bryce Paup
Northern Iowa Panthers
Position:Assistant head coach & defensive line coach
Personal information
Born: (1968-02-29) February 29, 1968 (age 56)
Jefferson, Iowa, U.S.
Height:6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight:250 lb (113 kg)
Career information
High school:Scranton (Scranton, Iowa)
College:Northern Iowa
NFL draft:1990 / round: 6 / pick: 159
Career history
As a player:
As a coach:
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Tackles:545
Sacks:75.0
Forced fumbles:15
Fumble recoveries:6
Interceptions:6
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Bryce Eric Paup (born February 29, 1968) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for eleven seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Green Bay Packers, Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars and the Minnesota Vikings.

Early life

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Paup grew up on a farm in Scranton, Iowa, where he played football at Scranton High School, a small school that saw Paup as one of just 19 senior graduates in 1986.

He played collegiately at the University of Northern Iowa and was selected by the Packers in the sixth round of the 1990 NFL draft.[1]

Professional career

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Paup played five games in his rookie 1990 season, recording no sacks. In the first game of the 1991 season, Paup was involved in a tackle below the waist on quarterback Randall Cunningham of Philadelphia Eagles that saw contact on the knee for what was soon diagnosed as a torn ACL for the quarterback that sidelined him the rest of the season (Cunningham was quoted as curious about why his knee was hit like that when Paup was already down around the waist but did not wish to put a burden on him).[2] Paup recorded a career-high 4.5 sacks in his second year on September 15 against Tampa Bay, which also included him recording a safety in the 15–13 victory.[3] Paup was utilized in four defensive positions during his Green Bay years, which would see him record 11 sacks in 1993 but somehow was not a Pro Bowl selection. It was 1994 when he managed to earn a Pro Bowl selection when he recorded three interceptions and 7.5 sacks.[4] Despite being named to the Pro Bowl that year, he was not offered a contract by the Packers (who were paying him less than $600,000 that year) after the season ended, as they initially cited the salary cap as a reason before team GM Ron Wolf admitted his error in letting Paup go loose. His aggressive physical style led Packers fans to refer to his tackle as “Paup Smear”, with Paup recording 32.5 sacks in his time with Green Bay.[5]

On March 8, 1995, the Bills signed Paup to a three-year contract worth $7.6 million with a $3.3 million signing bonus that would pair him with Bruce Smith in a 3-4 defense that had Paup assigned to "line up over the tight end and rush the quarterback all game."[6] In 1995, his first season with the Buffalo Bills, Paup was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year by the Associated Press. Paup led the NFL with 17.5 sacks, the fourth-highest single-season total of the 1990s.[7] Paup has been considered one of the top 50 players in Bills history.[8] NFL Total Access listed him as one of the Top 10 free agents of all time.[9]

On February 15, 1998, Paup signed a five-year contract worth $22 million with the Jacksonville Jaguars, making him the second highest-paid linebacker in the league next to Junior Seau.[10] Troubles with being asked to drop into coverage and a decline in sacks (having just 7.5 in 31 games) led to his unhappiness in Jacksonville; he was released after the 1999 season ended.[11] Paup signed a one-year contract just above the league minimum on February 6, 2000.[12] He made no starts in ten games played that year while recording two sacks.

In his career, Paup was a four-time Pro Bowl selection.

NFL career statistics

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Legend
NFL Defensive Player of the Year
Led the league
Bold Career high

Regular season

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Year Team Games Tackles Interceptions Fumbles
GP GS Cmb Solo Ast Sck Int Yds TD FF FR
1990 GB 5 0 1 – – 0.0 0 0 0 0 0
1991 GB 12 1 28 – – 7.5 0 0 0 3 0
1992 GB 16 10 43 – – 6.5 0 0 0 1 2
1993 GB 15 14 74 – – 11.0 1 8 0 2 0
1994 GB 16 16 79 47 32 7.5 3 47 1 2 2
1995 BUF 16 16 89 70 19 17.5 2 0 0 3 1
1996 BUF 12 11 48 38 10 6.0 0 0 0 2 0
1997 BUF 16 16 78 58 20 9.5 0 0 0 2 1
1998 JAX 16 16 68 55 13 6.5 0 0 0 0 0
1999 JAX 15 14 30 24 6 1.0 0 0 0 0 0
2000 MIN 10 0 7 6 1 2.0 0 0 0 0 0
Career 148 113 545 298 101 75.0 6 55 1 15 6

Coaching career

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On March 19, 2007, Paup was introduced as the head football coach at Green Bay Southwest High School.[13] He compiled a 22–14 regular season record in his first four seasons, and in 2009 secured the second playoff victory in school history. Prior to accepting the job, he was an assistant volunteer football coach for the De Pere High School Redbirds of De Pere, Wisconsin for three years, working primarily with the linemen and linebackers.

On March 5, 2013, Paup resigned from Green Bay Southwest and began his first season as the defensive line coach at the University of Northern Iowa.[14]

January 14, 2017, Paup was named University of Minnesota's defensive line coach. After one season with the Gophers, Paup left the Minnesota coaching staff, reportedly to pursue a coaching opportunity in the NFL.[15]

In August 2018, he returned to the University of Northern Iowa defensive line coach.[16]

Personal life

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Paup lives in Cedar Falls, IA, with his wife Denise. They have six children: Alex, Nathan, Rachel, Hailey, and twins Paige and Lauren.[17]

References

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  1. ^ "1990 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
  2. ^ https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1991/09/03/test-confirms-eagles-fears-cunningham-out-for-season/7163beca-d77c-4cf1-b5f7-57321b8c525b/
  3. ^ https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/P/PaupBr00/gamelog/
  4. ^ https://vault.si.com/vault/1996/03/04/paup-fiction-buffalos-bryce-paup-nfl-defensive-player-of-the-year-and-sack-leader-had-to-cook-up-a-buzz-cut-tough-guy-demeanor-to-offset-a-family-man-image
  5. ^ https://www.deseret.com/1995/12/29/19212541/buffalo-s-paup-wins-nfl-defensive-player-honors/
  6. ^ https://www.chicagotribune.com/1995/03/10/packers-lose-paup/
  7. ^ "Player Season Finder Query Results - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  8. ^ Jun, Kurupt (June 11, 2009). "Top 50 All-Time Bills, No. 42: LB Bryce Paup". Buffalo Rumblings. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
  9. ^ "Video: Top 10 free agents all-time". NFL Total Access.
  10. ^ https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1998/02/17/jaguars-sign-paup-to-22-million-deal/cbcde78a-088e-4e11-be8d-410815aef2d3/
  11. ^ https://www.espn.com/blog/jacksonville-jaguars/post/_/id/17082/hugh-douglas-bryce-paup-among-worst-jaguars-free-agent-signings
  12. ^ https://www.upi.com/Archives/2000/06/06/Vikings-sign-free-agent-Paup/1572960264000/
  13. ^ "High school sports in Northeastern Wisconsin: Bryce Paup named coach of the week by former employer | greenbaypressgazette.com | Green Bay Press-Gazette". www.greenbaypressgazette.com. Archived from the original on July 31, 2012. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  14. ^ "Bryce Paup reportedly coming back to UNI to coach". wcfcourier.com. March 5, 2013. Retrieved March 28, 2015.
  15. ^ "West in, Paup reportedly out as Gophers football coaching changes continue". Star Tribune. February 7, 2018. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
  16. ^ "UNI football: Relationships, expertise driving force in Bryce Paup's return to Panthers". The Des Moines Register.
  17. ^ "Bryce Paup Bio". unipanthers.com. May 7, 2013. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 26, 2015.