Bobby Engram

Simon J. "Bobby" Engram III is a professional football wide receiver currently signed with the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He was born in Camden, South Carolina on January 7, 1973.

Engram was selected in the second round by the Chicago Bears as the 52nd pick in the 1996 NFL Draft. The 1996 draft year is regarded as one of the best draft classes for the wide receiver position.  It includes draftees like Marvin Harrison, Eric Moulds, Terrell Owens, Muhsin Muhammad, and several others who gained enough success to make at least one Pro Bowl each.

Engram attended Camden High School in Camden, South Carolina, where he was a three-time All-State selection at wide receiver.

College Career

As a college junior, Engram was the go-to receiver on Penn State's undefeated 1994 team. Wearing #10, he was quarterback Kerry Collins' favorite target. He garnered All-American honors and won the first-ever Biletnikoff Award, recognizing the nation's best wide receiver. Engram was the Nittany Lions' career receptions leader until 2008, when Deon Butler passed his mark of 167. He is still the all-time leader in yards and touchdowns with 3,026 yards and 31 touchdowns. He also racked up 786 career punt return yards for the Nittany Lions, ranking him second in school history.

Engram missed the 1992 season as punishment from head-coach Joe Paterno, when he was charged with being involved in a college apartment burglary with teammate Ricky Sayles. Sayles and Engram went into an apartment and removed a stereo. However, the police investigation revealed that Sayles was the mastermind behind the burglary and Engram may have been led to believe that he and Sayles were authorized to take the stereo. Consequently, Engram was allowed to complete a pre-trial diversionary program and the charges were later dropped. Sayles, on the other hand, was permanently dismissed from the team.

He earned a Bachelor of Science in exercise science from Penn State in 1995.

Engram and his wife Deanna have three children: daughter Bobbi, sons Dean and Trey. Bobbi was born with the hereditary sickle-cell disease. Engram hosted the "Walk for Sickle Cell Disease" in Seattle in September of 2006. In October 2006, Engram was diagnosed with Graves' disease. His subsequent accelerated heart rate, debilitating fatigue, and weight loss caused him to miss a significant amount of playing time during the 2006 season.

Engram was the subject of a November 2008 NFL Network segment profiling his participation in The Home Depot's NFL Neighborhood MVP program. Engram joined a group of volunteers from the non-profit organizations KaBOOM! and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America to install a new playground on the Tulalip Indian Reservation in Snohomish County, Washington.

When playing games in the Pennsylvania cities of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, Engram laces his shoes with white shoelaces as opposed to the regular black as a tribute to the old-school beliefs of his college coach, Joe Paterno.