Olivier Vernon is a football player who began his professional career with the Miami Dolphins after being drafted 72nd overall in the 2012 National Football League (NFL) Draft.
Vernon played college football at the University of Miami, where he was considered an outstanding pass rusher and edge player. He joined the New York Giants in 2016 on a five-year, $85 million contract as an outside linebacker.
Olivier Vernon’s bio
Olivier Alexander Vernon was born in Miami,Florida on October 7, 1990. He was raised by his parents; his Swiss-born mother, Bernadette, a department store clerk, and Jamaican-born Lascelles Vernon, a Miami Police Department veteran of 25 years before his retirement in 2016.
Although Vernon is known as a private person and a man of few words, he has spoken about his family and what it’s like to be raised by parents like his in one of his interviews. According to him, “It takes a lot of hard work to get where you want to go,” and that’s the value he learned from his parents.
Raised in the city of Miami, Vernon attended American High School where he was an active football player and graduated as a four-star recruit from Rivals . He was also touted as the 11th best defender in his class.
career
After three years of football for Miami, University of Miami Hurricanes football team Olivier Vernon totaled 81 tackles (30 solo tackles), including 20.5 tackles for loss, nine sacks, one fumble recovery and one forced fumble. He began playing professionally after drafting early for the 2012 NFL Draft and being picked by the Miami Dolphins for the 72nd time. Vernon’s 3rd round was the first time the Dolphins had selected a University of Miami player since 2004.
On October 28, 2012, during the game against the New York Jets, Vernon scored his first NFL touchdown, scoring a field goal in the dying seconds of the second half. He averaged 3.5 sacks, 25 tackles and 7 assists in 16 games that season. He played for the franchise from 2012 to 2015 and in all 64 games with the team, Vernon totaled 143 tackles and 29.0 sacks.
The New York Giants signed Olivier Vernon to a five-year, $85 million contract in 2016. While he’d rather not talk about the contract that put him on the NFL’s highest-earning list, Vernon understands that with more money, a even greater test.
He started all 16 games of his freshman season with the Giants, who recorded 63 tackles with 8.5 sacks, winning the second-team All-Pro. The following season, he had 6.5 sacks, 22 tackles and one interception in 12 games at fullback. As far as football goes, Vernon wants to be known as an overall player. Stop the run, rush the passerby and fall back.
body stats
Height: 1.88m
Weight: 122kg
Arm Length: 33″
Hands: 10 1/8″
Strength: Vernon is known for excelling as an edge crusher. In his draft analysis, he is described as an undersized defensive end likely to be moved to full-back in a 3-4 defense where he has much more value. His strength on the field makes him a competitive and rather intimidating opponent against the run who can play from one alignment to the next or sideline to sideline.
The Weakness: According to NFL analysis, Vernon is limited only by his inexperience due to a lack of ways to hedge into human systems. Thus he struggled on the few occasions when he was expected to cover faster players.
Wife
As of 2018, Olivier Vernon was still flying solo with no wife or children of his own. As far as we know he loves dogs and has a pit bull terrier.
Other facts
Despite making millions as a famous athlete, Vernon craves respect more than money in the world of football. His $85 million deal with the Giants with $52.5 million guaranteed puts him in brighter lights as he continues to work towards becoming a household name in the game.
Known for his love of privacy, it’s not surprising how the Miami native tries to keep his name out of the gossip columns and TV shows. He said it’s fine for people to judge his performance on the pitch, but his day-to-day life and the way he behaves off the grid should not be the subject of scrutiny.
Vernon is involved in charity events, typically sponsoring an annual camp at his old high school.
Olivier Vernon was the only Giants player who knelt during the national anthem throughout the 2017 season. Due to the NFL’s new policy of fining any player who refuses to pass during the national anthem, he quit the matter in 2018, saying he’s “not trying to get a fine, so no.” It was a reluctant decision However, spending the season in a locker room is not attractive to him when the player is aiming for the top.