Sammie Stroughter
From NCAA College Football Information & Resource
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Sammie Stroughter (born January 3, 1986 in Vallejo, California) is a wide receiver for the Oregon State University Beavers in the NCAA college football tournament. A dynamic player from Sacramento, Stroughter exploded into the scene during his junior year in 2006 when he "wowed" the fans with his display of athleticism after leading the underdog Beavers over the 3rd ranked Southern Cal team. Since then, Stroughter has become one of the household names among collegiate football fans and if not for a roadblock he encountered as a senior, the Granite Bay alumnus would've been strutting his stuff during Sundays. Nevertheless, the hiatus has put things in perspective for the former All-American and All-Pac-10 performer and prepared him for a fresh start to lead the Beavers back to the hunt for the national championship.
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Personal Life
Sammie Stroughter (pronounced straw-ter) is the son of Andrea Brown, a nurse. He also has a couple of step-siblings namely, his older brother Eric Blair and his older sister Cam Blair. He is best friends with Sacramento State safety Jared Vanderbeek, and Oregon State cornerback Brandon Hughes. Apart from playing football, his other hobbies are playing video games, working out and training. A sociology major and a communications minor at Oregon State University, Sammie was recognized for his efforts in the classroom in 2004 when the National Football Foundation honored him for academic and athletic excellence. He is the first in the family to go to college.
In 2007, Sammie underwent a period of depression after deaths to three of his uncles who helped raised him, most notably the man who first introduced him to sports named Kenneth Hill, who died in a freak car accident. He was not able to attend the funeral because of a previous commitment and it was one of the reasons for his depression. People actually thought that Sammie was on drugs during that stage when they noticed personality changes on him but after the tests came negative, the coaches decided it was best for Sammie to head back home to Sacramento. With the help of his friends, family, and some medication, Sammie was back on track and on campus for the team's fall camp. On the second day of camp, he was informed of the death of Jim Gilstrap---the man who recruited him for OSU---who actually passed away in July. The news had Sammie back into depression although he played through it during the season until he suffered a lacerated kidney which he himself called a "destiny." Entering the 2008 season, Sammie has been off antidepressants for a few months.
High School
Stroughter attended Granite Bay High School in Granite Bay, California where he played a number of positions (wide receiver, running back, defensive back and kick returner) on both offense, defense, and special teams for head football coach Ernie Cooper. During his junior year, he helped the Grizzlies make it to the CIF D-ll Section championships only to lose to Oak Ridge in the finale for an overall record of 11-2. By his senior season, Stroughter was already one of the leaders in the team and after opening the season with back-to-back three-point losses to Lincoln of Stockton and Woodland, Stroughter gave his team a surprise "pep talk" declaring that he would go out and play the best game of his career and would lead Granite Bay's turnaround. In that game, Stroughter had caught 100 yards on seven catches, rushed for another 100, and returned punts for 24 and 30 yards to help the Grizzlies win by a huge margin over Del Campo and start a streak of nine consecutive wins.
He finished 2003 rushing for 986 yards and scoring 15 touchdowns on 126 carries (7.8 average), catching 31 passes for 618 yards (19.9 average) and six touchdowns, and returning 322 yards on kickoffs and 395 yards and two scores on punts to help Granite Bay make it all the way to the CIF D2 Section playoffs before losing another two-point heartbreaker to Oak Ridge in the Semifinals. He finished his high school career with 2,321 all-purpose yards, earning for himself first team All-Sierra League and all-section selections and another first team all-metro pick from the Sacramento Bee. The SuperPrep Magazine All-Region receiver was also listed as Rivals.com's 48th-best “athlete” and was included in TheInsiders.com Northwest Hot 100 list. The athletic two-year letterman in football also earned three more letters while competing as a 100-meter standout in track.
College
Oregon State was actually the lone school that offered Stroughter, a three star prospect and the no.68 ranked wide receiver, a scholarship although he also garnered interest from Boise State. He decided to become a Beaver because in his own words, “I love the vibes I had when I first arrived at OSU. It is a family-oriented scenario and the coaches treated me like family. I felt like it was home away from home.”
2004
OSU acquired Stroughter's services with the intention of using him mainly as a return specialists while learning the ropes from Mike Haas, one of the best receivers in school history. Stroughter made his collegiate debut against New Mexico but made his first punt return at Arizona State where he returned a 24-yarder in the 13-point loss to the Sun Devils. Against California the following week, he had four kickoff returns for 89 yards, including a career-long of 37, in the 7-49 defeat to the Golden Bears. He returned a season high five punt for 39 yards in the 19-point win over Washington State, which he matched in the five-point victory at Stanford where he gained 23 yards. His season high did not come until at the end of his freshman year when he returned 54 yards on 4 punts, including a 52-yard return early in the first quarter of the 38-21 Insight Bowl win over Notre Dame. He finished the season as the team's leading punt returner with 28 returns for 195 yards and was second behind Lamar Herron in kickoff returns with 8 for 164 yards while seeing action as one of six true-freshmen to play for the Beavers that season.
2005
As a sophomore, Stroughter continued his punt/kickoff returning duties while finally getting some playing time at the wide receiver spot. He opened the year with a season high 4 punt returns for only 12 yards in the 41-14 victory over Portland State then returned three more punts for 24 yards and his first kickoff returns (2) for 47 yards in the three point win over Boise State. At Louisville, he had his most kickoff returns of the season when he returned four for 73 yards in the 27-63 setback to the Cards. In the team's second straight loss to Arizona State, he caught his first career reception for 34 yards while returning 2 punts for 20 yards. Against WSU, he had a season best 44 yards on 4 punt returns with a kickoff return for 24 yards in the 11-point win over the Cougars. He only returned a punt for 18 yards in the 3-point win at Cal then set season highs of 3 receptions for 21 yards with 2 kickoff returns for 50 yards in the 28-51 victory at UCLA. The rest of the year, he was almost exclusively utilized in punt returns---with 3 for 6 yards in the 2-point loss to Arizona, two for 23 yards in the win at Washington, 4 for 21 yards in the 3-point setback to Stanford, and 1 for 4 yards in the lopsided defeat at Oregon---with the only exception being the season finale against the Ducks where he caught a 3-yard pass. He finished the year with 26 punt returns for 170 yards for a 6.54 average which is good for eighth in the Pac-10 and was named as a second team Pac-10 Conference All-Academic selection.
2006
With the departure of Haas, Stroughter finally had the inside track at the starting wide receiver spot. He made his first start of the season against Eastern Washington where he returned a punt for a 51-yard touchdown, caught two passes for 29 yards, and had his first carry for a 2-yard gain in the 56-17 win. At Boise State, he returned another punt all the way to the endzone on a line-drive punt of 64 yards while catching six passes for 73 yards in the 14-42 loss. The feat of returning a punt for a TD in back-to-back games was a first in school history. In the shut-out win over Idaho, he returned 3 punts for 26 yards and caught five passes for 68 yards before catching 3 more for 35 yards in the 13-41 loss to Cal. In the 1-TD loss to the Cougars, Stroughter established a new career high with 100 yards on four punt returns in addition to his first ever 100-yard receiving game (124 yards on 6 receptions). At Washington, he recorded a career high of 223 receiving yards (second-highest number in the conference and the fourth-highest ever at OSU) and an 80-yard TD on 7 receptions to help OSU win 27-17 and earn Pac-10's Offensive Player of the Week honors. He also added another TD reception and 91 yards on five catches in the 1-TD win at Arizona then tallied a season high 8 catches for his third 100-yard game (127 yards) while returning a punt 70 yards for a touchdown to earn the league's Special Teams Player of the Week after leading the Beavers to a thrilling 33-31 victory over No. 3 USC.
In the win over ASU, Stroughter chipped in five catches for 95 yards then caught four more for 51 yards in the 7-25 loss at UCLA. After that setback, OSU went on a four-game winning tear to close the season out, starting with a 30-7 demolition at Stanford where Stroughter contributed 70 yards and 1 TD on 4 receptions. He also had back-to-back 100-yard receiving games in the wins over Oregon and Hawai'i, registering 114 yards on 8 catches against the Ducks and 106 yards and an 80-yard TD on only 3 receptions against the Warriors. At the Sun Bowl, Stroughter chipped in 87 yards and 1 TD on 8 receptions and returned 3 punts for 54 yards to help OSU escape with a 39-38 win over Missouri. He ended the season with 1,293 receiving yards (third highest in a single season by an OSU receiver) and five TDs on 74 receptions (matching James Newson's 5th most catches in school history among receivers) on offense and 30 punt returns for 470 yards and 3 TDs (school-record) on special teams with an average of 15.6 return yards per punt which ranked third in the nation. His exploits were recognized with All-America citations while his ST efforts had him listed as a finalist for the inaugural Randy Moss Return Man of the Year. Apart from that, he was also named as a first team Pac-10 All-Academic selection for his work on the classroom.
2007
After sorting out his personal issues, Stroughter returned in fall camp and actually suited up for the season opener against Utah but was not fielded in during the 24-7 win. On the road opener at Cincinnati, he saw action and tallied 2 punt returns for 29 yards in the 3-34 setback. Against Idaho State, he was held to 7 yards on 2 punt returns but erupted for a season best 160 yards on nine catches with 2 TD receptions and a 19-yard kickoff return to help the Beavers secure a 61-10 win. At Arizona State, he notched a second straight 100-yard game after catching six passes for 102 yards in the 32-44 defeat to the Sun Devils. Unfortunately, it was during that game that Stroughter sustained a lacerated kidney which would sideline him for the rest of the year. In the three games he played, he was able to record 262 receiving yards and two TDs on 15 receptions with 17.5 yards per catch and 87.3 yards per game averages.
2008
Stroughter was back on harness after being granted a medical hardship year by the Pac-10 Conference which allowed him to regain his senior year. He caught 3 passes for 58 yards during the spring game. He was named as one of the four team captains of the 2008 Beaver team and was listed as one of 76 individuals on the preseason watch list for the 72nd annual Maxwell Award, presented annually to the nation’s top college football player. He enters his senior year just 24 catches short of moving into 10th place on the OSU receiving chart.
Career Stats
| Receiving | Rushing | Punt Return | Kickoff Return | |||||||||||||||||||
| Year | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Ret | Yds | Avg | TD | Ret/G | Yds/G | Ret | Yds | Avg | TD | Ret/G | Yds/G |
| 2004 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 195 | 6.96 | 0 | 2.8 | 19.5 | 8 | 164 | 20.5 | 0 | 0.8 | 16.4 |
| 2005 | 5 | 58 | 11.6 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 170 | 6.54 | 0 | 2.4 | 15.5 | 9 | 194 | 21.56 | 0 | 0.8 | 17.6 |
| 2006 | 74 | 1293 | 17.5 | 80 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 2.7 | 5 | 0 | 30 | 470 | 15.67 | 3 | 2.1 | 33.6 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 2007 | 15 | 262 | 17.5 | 48 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 41 | 5.13 | 0 | 2.0 | 10.3 | 1 | 19 | 19.0 | 0 | 0.3 | 4.8 |
Highlights
| Sammie Stroughter's punt return for TD in the upset win over USC (2006). |
Achievements
2008
- CollegeFootballNews.com Preseason All-Pac-10 First Team (PR)
- CollegeFootballNews.com Preseason All-Pac-10 Second Team (WR)
- CollegeFootballNews.com's No.12 Preseason Player in the Pac-10
- Maxwell Award Preseason Watch List
- Phil Steele Preseason All-American Second Team (WR)
- Phil Steele Preseason All-American Third Team (PR)
- Phil Steele Preseason All-Pac-10 First Team (WR/PR)
2007
- CollegeFootballNews.com Preseason All-Pac-10 First Team (WR)
- CollegeFootballNews.com Preseason All-Pac-10 Second Team (PR)
2006
- All-Pac-10 Second Team (Wide Receiver/Punt Returner)
- Associated Press Third Team All-American (All-Purpose)
- CollegeFootballNews.com All-Pac-10 Team
- CollegeFootballNews.com's No.1 WR in the Pac-10
- CollegeFootballNews.com's No.4 Player in the Pac-10
- Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Week (vs. Washington)
- Pac-10 Special Teams Player of the Week (vs. USC)
- Randy Moss Return Man Award Finalist
- Rivals.com All-America second team
- SI.com All-America second team
- SI.com's one of its 32 “most fun athletes to watch”
- Sports Illustrated's 13th-best receiver in the NCAA
References
- Granite Bay Touchdown Club Website
- Oregon State's Stroughter stronger than ever after tragic year
- Sammie Stroughter Cfbstats.com
- Sammie Stroughter Oregon State Profile
- Sammie Stroughter Scout.com Profile
- Stroughter's long road back
