Jared Taylor Odrick (born December 31, 1987) is an American professional auto racing driver, writer, actor, and former professional football player. He currently competes part-time in the NASCAR Canada Series, driving the No. 24 Ford for BC Race Cars and full-time in the Trans-Am Series in the TA2 Pro-Am class, driving the No. 00 for TRB Autosport. Odrick is most widely known for his time as a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) where he was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the first round of the 2010 NFL draft. He played college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions and also played for the Jacksonville Jaguars later in his professional career.
Odrick is now a professional actor in movies such as Roller Coaster (2015), Filling (2016) and more recently opposite Sylvester Stallone in Samaritan (2022).
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Early life
Odrick was a 2005 USAToday, Parade Magazine, and U.S. Army All-American as a senior at Lebanon High School in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. He was named first-team all-state and played in the 2006 Big 33 Football Classic and the 2006 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
College career
Odrick played sparingly his freshman season at Penn State University, but earned the starting job at defensive tackle in 2007. He would make 16 tackles, with four tackles-for-loss, two sacks, and one blocked kick. In 2008, Odrick started 11 games, earning First-team All-Big Ten honors. He recorded 41 tackles, with 9.5 tackles-for-loss, 4.5 sacks, one forced fumble, and three pass breakups.
Odrick was named an AFCA and CBSSports.com All-American in 2009. He was also named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, the Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year, and First-team All-Big Ten by the conference's coaches, He is ranked No. 8 in the Big Ten with 6.0 sacks and was fifth on the team with 41 tackles, has 10.0 tackles for loss, with one blocked field goal, one pass break-up and three quarterback hurries.
Professional career
Miami Dolphins
Odrick was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the first round with the 28th overall pick of the 2010 NFL draft. He signed a five-year, $13 million contract (with $7.1 million guaranteed) with the Dolphins on July 29, 2010. He is represented by Drew Rosenhaus. In October 2010, Jared broke his foot in practice and missed the rest of the season.
In 2011, Odrick had a strong season having an interception and six sacks as a backup defensive end. Odrick became infamous during that season for performing the "Pee-Wee Herman Dance" after recording a sack, reenacting a scene from Pee-Wee's Big Adventure.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Odrick was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars on March 11, 2015.
Odrick was placed on injured reserve on December 10, 2016, with a shoulder injury.
On February 20, 2017, Odrick was released by the Jaguars.
Arts and entertainment
Writing
Odrick has written many articles for a variety of sports publications, including "Football, the flag, and the right to speak our minds Archived October 24, 2020, at the Wayback Machine," for Sports Illustrated, "Who do you cheer for?" Archived October 24, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, for Sporting News, and most recently "Kneeling to Nike", a critical response to Kaepernick and Nike.
TV and film
In 2015, Odrick made his debut on HBO's Ballers, written by Stephen Levinson and starring Dwayne Johnson. He appeared in four episodes between 2015 and 2016.
Odrick is the executive producer of three short films: "Roller Coaster" (2015), "Filling in" (2016), and "Jade" (2017). He acted in both "Filling in" and "Jade," playing the role of Kevin in the former, and Justin in the latter. He made an appearance in Sylvester Stallone's thriller film, Samaritan, which was released in 2022.
Visual arts
In 2017, Odrick curated an art exhibit in the city of Jacksonville, taking over ten select billboards and juxtaposing local artists' work against commercial advertisements. The contrast between the art and advertisement emphasized "how much we've allowed commercialism to hoard our public viewing space". The project was a collaborative effort with University of North Florida art student, Jenna Sparrow, and the Jaguar's Director of Photography, Everett Sullivan.
Racing career
Early career
In 2021, Odrick was invited by a family friend to see him race in a Mazda Miata, where he caught the racing bug. The following year he bought a Porsche 991.1 and obtained his racing permit in March.
Odrick began racing in the Sports Car Club of America GT2 class in 2022. He finished 16th at the Runoffs. On September 29, 2023, Odrick won the SCCA National Championship Runoffs GT2 at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia in a Porsche 991.2 GT3 Cup.
Trans-Am
In 2024, Odrick took on a full-time drive in the Trans-Am Series TA2 Pro-Am class with CB Motorsports. After five races, he moved to Nitro Motorsports for the remainder of the season. Odrick finished fourth in the final standings. For 2025, he moved to TRB Autosport in a Chevrolet Camaro. After taking victory at the final race in Circuit of the Americas, Odrick claimed the TA2 Pro-Am championship by six points over Keith Prociuk.
Racing record
Racing career summary
* Season still in progress† Guest driver ineligible to score points
