Andre Tippett

Andre Bernard Tippett Sr. (born December 27, 1959) is a former American football linebacker who played his entire 12-season professional career with the New England Patriots in the National Football League (NFL) from 1982 to 1993, establishing himself as one of the league's premier pass rushers. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, and raised in Newark, New Jersey, Tippett attended Barringer High School before playing college football at Ellsworth Community College and then the University of Iowa, where he earned consensus All-American honors as a defensive end in 1981 and was later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2021.

Selected by the Patriots in the second round (41st overall) of the 1982 NFL Draft, Tippett quickly became a cornerstone of the team's defense, appearing in 151 games with 139 starts and recording 100 career sacks—the franchise record that still stands today. His most dominant stretch came in 1984 and 1985, when he amassed an NFL-record 35 sacks over two seasons for a linebacker, including a career-high 18.5 in 1984 and a league-leading 16.5 in the AFC in 1985, earning him First-Team All-Pro honors, AFC Defensive Player of the Year, and his first of five consecutive Pro Bowl selections (1985–1989). Tippett also helped the Patriots reach Super Bowl XX, where he contributed five tackles, one assist, and one pass defensed despite the team's loss to the Chicago Bears. Additional franchise records include most single-season sacks (18.5 in 1984) and career fumble recoveries (17), and he was named to the NFL's All-Decade Team for the 1980s.

A former Baptist, Tippett converted to Judaism.