La'Roi Damon Glover (; born July 4, 1974) is an American professional football coach and former player who is the defensive line coach for the Orlando Storm of the United Football League (UFL). He played as a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). Glover played college football for the San Diego State Aztecs. He enjoyed a 13-year career in which he made six-consecutive Pro Bowls and was a four-time All-Pro selection. He spent five seasons with the New Orleans Saints (1997–2001), four seasons with the Dallas Cowboys (2002–2005) and finished his playing career with the St. Louis Rams (2006–2008).
Early life
Born in San Diego, California, Glover graduated from Point Loma High School of San Diego in 1992. At Point Loma, Glover lettered in football, wrestling, and track, and he earned awards in all three sports.
Professional playing career
Oakland Raiders (1996)
The Oakland Raiders drafted Glover with the 34th pick in the fifth round of the 1996 NFL draft. In his NFL debut on November 19, Glover made two tackles against the Minnesota Vikings. His only other game in the season was next week on November 26 against the Seattle Seahawks on defensive line and special teams.
New Orleans Saints (1997–2001)
The day after the Raiders waived him, Glover signed with the New Orleans Saints on August 25, 1997. Although he started only 2 of 15 games played in 1997, Glover recorded 6.5 sacks, one forced fumble, a recovered fumble, and 24 tackles. In 1998, Glover started 15 of 16 games and had 59 tackles, 10 sacks, three forced fumbles, and an interception. Glover then made 8.5 sacks, 46 tackles, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery in 1999.
"Glover proved everybody wrong, especially our defensive coaches in New Orleans who initially thought he was too small to play in the middle of our 4-3," said former Saints president/general manager Bill Kuharich who gives credit to pro personnel man Chet Franklin for spotting Glover. "He turned out to be the greatest waiver claim in the history of the Saints."
He was a solid starter during his three seasons with Mike Ditka, but his career blossomed when Jim Haslett was hired as the Saints coach in 2000 and decided to move him to the three-technique tackle within a great front four group.
That season, he led the NFL with 17 sacks – a rare feat and second most ever by a defensive tackle – and was named NFC Defensive Player of the Year. He also became a unanimous first-team All-Pro selection and earned a Pro Bowl berth as he helped lead the Saints to a division championship and first-ever playoff win. He was also voted the New Orleans Saints defensive MVP.
During his tenure in New Orleans, he was also a recipient of the Saints "Man of the Year" and "Unsung Hero" awards. In 2013, the team elected Glover to the Saints Hall of Fame for the Class of 2013. Glover was the lone choice of the Saints Hall of Fame Media Selection Committee. He is the only Cowboys player to make the Pro Bowl in every season he played with the team.
St. Louis Rams (2006–2008)
In 2006, Glover signed as a free agent with the St. Louis Rams, reuniting him with Jim Haslett. He was the Rams 2007 Walter Payton Man of the Year.
On June 22, 2009, Glover officially announced his retirement from the National Football League. After a decorated professional career, he was named to the NFL 2000s All-Decade team.
During his career, he played 13 seasons, went to six straight Pro Bowls, had 433 tackles and 83.5 sacks, eight forced fumbles and two interceptions.
NFL career statistics
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
! colspan="2"| Legend
|-
| style="background:#cfecec; width:3em;"|
| Led the league
|-
| Bold
| Career high
|}
Regular season
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!rowspan="2"| Year
!rowspan="2"| Team
!colspan="2"| Games
!colspan="4"| Tackles
!colspan="4"| Interceptions
!colspan="4"| Fumbles
|-
! GP !! GS !! Comb !! Solo !! Ast !! Sck !! Int !! Yds !! TD !! Lng !! FF !! FR !! Yds !! TD
|-
! 1996 !! OAK
| 2 || 0 || 2 || 2 || 0 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
! 1997 !! NOR
| 15 || 2 || 33 || 24 || 9 || 6.5 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0
|-
! 1998 !! NOR
| 16 || 15 || 67 || 59 || 8 || 10.0 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 3 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
! 1999 !! NOR
| 16 || 16 || 62 || 46 || 16 || 8.5 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 2 || 0
|-
! 2000 !! NOR
| 16 || 16 || 66 || 53 || 13 || style="background:#cfecec; width:3em;"| 17.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 3 || 1 || 0 || 0
|-
! 2001 !! NOR
| 16 || 16 || 47 || 36 || 11 || 8.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 3 || 2 || 12 || 0
|-
! 2002 !! DAL
| 16 || 16 || 50 || 39 || 11 || 6.5 || 1 || 7 || 0 || 7 || 2 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
! 2003 !! DAL
| 16 || 16 || 49 || 33 || 16 || 5.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 2 || 0 || 0
|-
! 2004 !! DAL
| 16 || 16 || 41 || 31 || 10 || 7.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
! 2005 !! DAL
| 16 || 13 || 28 || 23 || 5 || 3.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
! 2006 !! STL
| 16 || 16 || 43 || 38 || 5 || 5.5 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 || 0
|-
! 2007 !! STL
| 16 || 16 || 39 || 33 || 6 || 6.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
! 2008 !! STL
| 16 || 9 || 30 || 20 || 10 || 0.5 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
! colspan="2"| !! 193 !! 167 !! 557 !! 437 !! 120 !! 83.5 !! 2 !! 7 !! 0 !! 7 !! 16 !! 8 !! 14 !! 0
|}
Playoffs
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!rowspan="2"| Year
!rowspan="2"| Team
!colspan="2"| Games
!colspan="4"| Tackles
!colspan="4"| Interceptions
!colspan="4"| Fumbles
|-
! GP !! GS !! Comb !! Solo !! Ast !! Sck !! Int !! Yds !! TD !! Lng !! FF !! FR !! Yds !! TD
|-
! 2000 !! NOR
| 2 || 2 || 6 || 6 || 0 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || style="background:#cfecec; width:3em;"| 1 || 0 || 0
|-
! 2003 !! DAL
| 1 || 1 || 5 || 3 || 2 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
! colspan="2"| !! 3 !! 3 !! 11 !! 9 !! 2 !! 0.0 !! 0 !! 0 !! 0 !! 0 !! 0 !! 1 !! 0 !! 0
|}
Coaching career
Glover was hired by the Los Angeles Chargers as their assistant defensive line coach on April 9, 2019. He missed the team's week 13 game against the New England Patriots in 2020.
Glover was officially hired by the St. Louis BattleHawks on September 13, 2022. On July 24, 2023, he was named as a guest assistant coach for the Saints for training camp and the preseason via the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching fellowship.
Personal life
He is married to Spring, and they have three children: La'Roi Jr., Noemie and Sophia.
Glover is a guest member on the Football Night sportscaster team of San Diego television station KNSD (NBC 7/39).
References
External links
- Dallas Cowboys Top 50 players
- Rams Player Bio for 1996 to 2007 seasons
- Dallas Cowboys bio for 1996 to 2001 season (more in depth)