Clint Sintim
From NCAA College Football Information & Resource
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Clint Sintim (born February 21, 1986 in Fairfax County, Va.) is a linebacker for the University of Virginia Cavaliers in the NCAA college football tournament. Sintim is not as hyped and as highly regarded as ex-Cavalier Chris Long was, but he is equally effective and productive as his former defensive teammate. Sintim has consistently provided the intangibles on the defense since arriving in Charlottesville in 2004 before emerging to become one of the team's defensive leaders entering his junior year. The 2008 Bronko Nagurski Award candidate ended 2007 as the nation's leader in sacks among linebackers and is poised to become one of the coveted LBs once he elevates to the next level.
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Personal Life
Clint is the son of Doris Bismarck, and Clara and Kofi Sintim. He has two brothers, namely Darryl and Byron, and four sisters, namely Tracy, Michelle, Christi and Brittany. He majored in anthropology at the University of Virginia. He was roomates with former teammate and close friend Chris Long when they played together for the Cavaliers. During the ESPN Awards Show, Long checked in a hotel using the name 'Clint Sintim' so that agents wouldn't bother him. [1] Apart from football, Clint's other sport is basketball.
High School
Sintim only got into football when he was on his freshman year at Gar-Field High School. Prior to that, he did not have much idea about the sport and even wanted to play the running back position originally. He started out on the freshman squad for his team and since then has grown to not only learn the sport, but also become good at it. As a junior, Sintim, a defensive end, was named 1st Team Northwest Region in Virginia after recording seven sacks and 40 tackles for coach Jim Poythress. It was however during his senior year that Sintim caught the attention of several scouts with his head-turning play for Gar-Field, tallying 35 tackles and three sacks to earn for himself first-team All-State, SuperPrep All-American, and PrepStar All-Atlantic Region accolades.
In addition, he was also named an honorable mention All-South by the Orlando Sentinel, a second-team All-Met by the Washington Post, and an All-District on both offense and defense as a senior. As a high school prospect, Sintim was given a three-star rating by TheInsiders.com and Scout.com., was listed as the No. 30 defensive end in the country by Collegefootballnews.com and No. 38 by TheInsiders.com, was No.58 in SuperPrep's list of the top defensive linemen in the nation, was the No.37 player on TheInsiders.com’s Atlantic Hot 100 list, and was ranked as the seventh-best prospect in Virginia on the Charlottesville Daily Progress “Gold List” and No. 8 by SuperPrep and the Roanoke Times.
College
Sintim at one point had offers from 10 schools, including Virginia and Maryland who were at that time his "primary options." Despite sustaining an injury, he was able to visit UVa. and Virginia Tech as he recuperated. The decision eventually boiled down between in-state schools Virginia and Tech, with the former winning his services.
2004
As a true freshman, Sintim suited up as a reserve for all of the Cavaliers' home games and two other road trips to Tech and Fresno State. He did not see the field that year and was instead redshirted.
2005
During his redshirt freshman year, Sintim was given an orange jersey to signify his status as a starter during spring minicamp. He replaced graduated linebacker Darryl Blackstock on the starting line-up at the outside spot. At the season opener against Western Michigan, he made his first career start and tallied five stops, including 1.5 for an 11-yard loss, and a sack for a 10-yard loss in the 12-point win over the Broncos. His first tackle in that game caused quarterback Robbie Haas to fumble, eventually setting up the Cavs' second touchdown of the game. He also chipped in three tackles in the last second victory over Syracuse, then turned out a notable performance against Duke where he registered six tackles, including two for loss, and his second sack of the year in the 38-7 victory. The Cavaliers however were stopped dead on their tracks with consecutive losses to Maryland and Boston College, with Sintim chipping in five stops at College Park and a team-leading season best of seven tackles at Chestnut Hill. Sintim performed consistently throughout the year, contributing three stops against Florida State, Temple, Georgia Tech, and Miami (Fla.) while chipping in four each against North Carolina and Tech with a sack for a 6-yard loss against the 'Canes.
In his postseason debut, he tied his career high with seven tackles in the Music City Bowl win over Minnesota to improve his season total to 53, good for fifth in the team, with a 4.4 tackle per game average (fifth among ACC rookies, second among linebackers). He also was third on the squad with three sacks and fourth with nine tackles for loss. His efforts were rewarded after receiving the Bill Dudley Award as UVa’s Most Outstanding First-Year Player that season as well as Freshman All-ACC and All-American honors from the Sporting News. He also ended up as one of only five defensive players to start every game.
2006
As a RS sophomore, Sintim turned out to be one of the more experienced players on Virginia's young linebacker corps. He was the team's third-leading returning tackler behind defensive backs Marcus Hamilton and Tony Franklin. On a side note, he tore ligaments in his left shoulder during preseason camp which forced him to wear a harness for most of the season.
During the season opener, he only had four stops but had one for a 3-yard loss in the 13-38 defeat at Pittsburgh. In the slim 1-point win against Wyoming, he picked up five tackles with 2 sacks and 2 quarterback hurries while recording a season best 3 TFLs. Against Western Michigan, Sintim recorded a season high 9 stops, with a TFL, in the 10-17 loss then had 5 tackles including one for a loss as Virginia dropped another at Georgia Tech. At Duke, Sintim was limited to a season low 1 stop (a sack) for a 5-yard loss but managed to force a fumble which was subsequently returned by Jeffrey Fitzgerald for a 23-yard score in the 37-0 shut-out victory. In losses to East Carolina and Maryland, and in the shut-out of North Carolina, Sintim was limited to a combined 6 stops before adding 2 and 1 in the win against N.C. State and in the shut-out loss at FSU. Against Miami, Sintim registered 3 tackles while recovering a fumble in the 17-7 win before ending the regular season with a seasin high 9 tackles with a sack for a 9-yard loss in the 0-17 shut-out loss to the Hokies.
He ended the year eight tackles less (45) than the previous year's total, good for 9th in the team, although over one-fourths of his stops were for losses. His 12 TFLs and 4 sacks were also second on the team and for the second straight year, he was able to start all of Virginia's assignments. Before the year ended, Sintim underwent surgery to fix a shoulder injury that bothered him for much of the season. [2]
2007
Sintim entered his junior year with 21 career tackles for loss (three fewer than Long) and 7 sacks (tied with Long). He did not participate in the spring game while recovering from off-season surgery but was given the go-signal by summer camp and with the help of strength coach Matt Balis, was back on tip top shape during the start of the season.
During the season opener, Sintim did not show signs of his injury after making 9 stops in the 3-23 season-opening defeat at Wyoming. After that loss, the Cavaliers compiled a seven-game winning streak, with Sintim delivering steady performances althroughout including a 5-stop, 1 sack peformance against Duke, 3 stop efforts at North Carolina and against Georgia Tech, 7 stops and a sack against Pitt, 6 tackles at Middle Tennessee State, 4 solos with a sack for an 8-yard loss and a forced fumble against the otherwise undefeated Connecticut, and additional four stops in the slim 1-point win at Maryland. Despite the loss at N.C. State, Sintim managed to post 8 tackles with a sack for a 5-yard loss and 2 quarterback hurries. In the 1-point win against No.21 Wake Forest, Sintim recorded his first double digit tackle game with 10 stops including another sack for a 4-yard loss. At Miami, the Cavaliers blanked the 'Canes 48-0 with Sintim pacing the team with 8 tackles afterwhich, he ended the regular season with just his second 10+ tackle game against 8th ranked Virginia Tech. In addition, he also had a season high 3 sacks for an 18-yard loss against the Hokies. One of his sacks however was ruled "illegal" and got him ejected in the game. He did apologize to Sean Glennon after the game and wasn't given a suspension for his excessive hit. [3]
In the Gator Bowl showdown against Texas Tech, Sintim had a season low 1 tackle, which was a sack for a 6-yard loss in the 28-31 defeat to the Red Raiders. He ended the year as the team's third-leading tackler with 77 stops in 13 appearances/starts. He only trailed Long in sacks with 9 (tops in the nation among linebackers), was fourth in the team in TFLs (9), and was tied with three others in forced fumbles (2).
2008
Entering his senior year, Sintim will be one of three returning starters at linebacker on the Virginia defense. Apart from being named captain for the 2008 season, he was also named to the watch list for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, an award given to the nation's best defensive player.
Career Stats
| Tackles | Tackles for Loss | Sacks | Misc | |||||||||||
| Year | Solo | Asst | Tot | Tot/G | TFL | Yds | TFL/G | Sack | Yds | Sck/G | PBU | QBH | FF | K/P B |
| 2005 | 26 | 27 | 53 | 4.42 | 7.0 | 40 | 0.58 | 3.0 | 24 | 0.25 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 2006 | 22 | 23 | 45 | 3.75 | 10.0 | 28 | 0.83 | 4.0 | 18 | 0.33 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 2007 | 44 | 34 | 78 | 6.00 | 9.0 | 48 | 0.69 | 9.0 | 48 | 0.69 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
Achievements
- 2008 Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list
- 2008 Phil Steele Preseason All-ACC Second Team
- 2006 Virginia's Rock Weir Award (for the defense as the most improved player during ’06 spring drills)
- 2005 The Sporting News Third-team Freshman All-American
- 2005 The Sporting News ACC All-Freshman Team
- 2005 Virginia's Bill Dudley Award as UVa’s Most Outstanding First-Year Player
References
- Cavaliers Are Hurting on the Inside
- Clint Sintim cfbstats.com
- Clint Sintim Scout.com Profile
- Clint Sintim Virginia Profile
- UVa football: Playmaker on alert
