George Karlaftis

Yorgos "George" Matthew Karlaftis (born April 3, 2001) is an American football defensive end for the Purdue Boilermakers. A native of Greece, he moved to the United States when he was 13. Karlaftis was a multi-sport athlete as a youth, playing football, track and field, basketball, and water polo; the latter of which he played with the Greek national team.

George Karlaftis
Purdue Boilermakers – No. 5
PositionDefensive end
ClassJunior
MajorRetail Management
Personal information
Born: (2001-04-03) April 3, 2001
Athens, Greece
Height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight275 lb (125 kg)
Career history
College
High schoolWest Lafayette (West Lafayette, Indiana)
Career highlights and awards
  • First-team All-Big Ten (2021)
  • 2× Second-team All-Big Ten (2019, 2020)
  • USA Today High School All-American (2018)

Early years

He was born Yorgos Karlaftis on April 3, 2001, in Athens, Greece.[1][2] His father Matthew died of a heart attack in 2014, leaving his mother Amy to move him and his two siblings to her hometown of West Lafayette, Indiana in the United States.[2] He began attending West Lafayette High School soon after arriving and Anglicized his name to George.[1] Karlaftis had 41 sacks during his high school career.[3] He played in the 2019 U.S. Army All-American Game, where he was named the Defensive Player of the Year.[4][5] He also performed track and field for the school, including winning back-to-back state championships in shot put.[2] Karlaftis committed to Purdue University to play college football.[6][7]

College career

As a true freshman at Purdue in 2019, Karlaftis started all 12 games, recording 54 tackles and 7.5 sacks. He only played in three games as a sophomore in 2020 due to a positive COVID-19 result, finishing the year with four tackles and two sacks.[8]

Personal life

Karlaftis was once a youth member of the Greece men's national water polo team.[2] His father Matthew performed track and field and played football at the University of Miami until suffering a severe skull injury.[2] His brother Yanni won a judo world championship while in Greece and joined the Boilermakers as a linebacker in 2021.[2]

References
  1. Joey. "Purdue's George Karlaftis 1000% Needs To Go By His Greek Name". Barstool Sports. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  2. King, Sam. "Once told he 'sucks at football,' Division I prospect has long list of suitors". Journal & Courier. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  3. Freshman DL Karlaftis could add punch to Purdue pass rush
  4. West Lafayette's George Karlaftis, Purdue football on national stage at All-American Bowl
  5. West Lafayette's George Karlaftis wins national award
  6. Four-star DE George Karlaftis commits to Purdue
  7. Early Commit: DE George Karlaftis to Purdue
  8. Purdue Boilermakers DE George Karlaftis tests positive for COVID-19
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.