Justin Pugh is an NFL player who is currently playing for the Arizona Cardinals as an offensive guard. Pugh played high school football at Council Rock High School South, Holland, Pennsylvania and college football at Syracuse University.
After his college career ended, he was drafted by the New York Giants in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft. After five seasons with the New York Giants, Justin Pugh signed a $45 million contract with the Cardinals in March 2018 which will see him stay with the team for the next five years.
Biography of Justin Pugh
Pugh was born in Holland, Pennsylvania on August 15, 1990 as Justin David Pugh. He attended Rock High School South Council where he started his football career. Initially, he wanted to be a professional hockey player but changed his mind and decided to devote himself to football in which he was doing quite well, despite his skinny stature at the time.
In his sophomore year, Justin was making his mark in football, although he was not yet strong and won second-team all-zone player honors as an offensive tackle. In 2008, he was named second team all-state on defense by the Pennsylvania Football News. Pugh also won team MVP in 2008 and Defensive Player of the Year as team captain.
During his junior and senior years, he earned First-Team League All-Area and All-Suburban One honors. As a senior, he was also named Second Team All-Star defensive lineman.
After high school, he played college football at Syracuse University with the Syracuse Orange football team. Justin Pugh played in thirty-four games during his college career from 2009 to 2012. During those years, he earned All-Big East conference honors for three straight seasons. He won second team in his sophomore year and first in his junior and senior seasons.
He entered the NFL Draft in 2013 with one year of college football eligibility left and was cleared by the National Football League to play in the Senior Bowl in 2013 since he had already graduated.
NFL Career
Justin Pugh was selected 19th by the New York Giants in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft, becoming the 5th offensive tackle and 7th offensive lineman to be selected for the draft that year.
Pugh also became the highest ranked player to be drafted at Syracuse after Dwight Freeney, 11th in the first round of the 2002 NFL Draft. He was also the highest drafted offensive lineman at Syracuse since Bob Fleck in 1954.
He signed a four-year deal with the franchise worth $8.34 million, it’s $7.96 million in guaranteed money and $4.44 million in signing bonuses. . After vying with David Diehl for the starting right tackle in training camp, coach Tom Coughlin later named him the starting right tackle for the season. So he started his rookie season as a starter.
His performance in the first half of his rookie season wasn’t as good, but he made up for mistakes in the second half. During the 2014 season, Justin played fourteen matches. Two were missing due to a quad injury. He would also miss two games the following season due to a concussion. That season, Pugh was named the 5th best offensive guard by performance ratings.
At the end of the 2015 season, Pro Football Focus named him the 9th best offensive guard with an overall rating of 86.7. In 2016, the franchise took out the eight-year, second-year, $8.82 million option on Justin Pugh’s rookie contract. Thus, he remained with the team throughout the 2016/2017 season although he suffered several injuries which hampered his performance. he missed five games in 2017 with a back injury that left him on the injured reserve list.
In March 2018, Pugh signed a $45 million contract with the Cardinals that will keep him on the team for the next five years.
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His salary
With his new contract with the Arizona Cardinals, Pugh’s 2018 base salary is $1,000,000. He will also receive a roster bonus of $31,250 for every game he plays and he is active worth up to $500,000.
By the end of 2018, the offensive guard reportedly earned $11.5 million, which includes his roster and signing bonuses.
Justin Pugh’s family
Justin was born to Carolyn Gavaghan and DavidPugh. His parents separated when he was only five years old. Carolyn said the three years since her divorce from Pugh were not easy for Justin, who needed a man in her life. In 2000, she remarried Frank Gavaghan, who was also a single parent to two boys much older than Justin.
His two older brothers played ice hockey and his stepfather was an ice hockey coach. So he fell in love with ice hockey as a child and wanted to look like Wayne Gretzky.
Pugh’s recently lost his biological father, David Pugh, to cancer.
His height, weight and measurements
Pugh stands at a height of 1.93m or 6ft 4in for which his body weighs 137kg or 302lbs. His arm length is 32″ and his hand size is 10 1/4″.