Niko Stelios Koutouvides (born March 25, 1981) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the fourth round of the 2004 NFL draft. He played college football for the Purdue Boilermakers.

He also played for the Denver Broncos, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New England Patriots.

Early life Koutouvides was born in New Britain, Connecticut, to Stelios and Niki Koutouvides. His paternal grandfather's side of the family were Greeks who fled Asia Minor during the Greek-Turkish War, early in the 20th century, and settled in Tanzania, Africa. Subsequently, Niko's father moved to the United States. His mother's side of the family is from the Greek island of Kefalonia in the Ionian Sea. Growing up, Niko and his two brothers used to work as busboys or in the kitchen of the family-owned restaurant, The Stonewell, in Farmington, Connecticut."Niko Koutouvides" , Macedonia On the Web, March 28, 2008

Koutouvides attended Plainville High School, where he was a letterman in football. He topped the team in sacks and ranked second in tackles in 1999. He was named the team's Most Valuable Player, was an All-Conference selection, and an All-State Honorable Mention selection. Niko's older brother, Daki, was a senior defensive back at Merrimack College.

College career At Purdue, Koutouvides started in 32 of 50 games from 2000 to 2003. His career stats include 296 tackles (180 solo), 21½ tackles for a loss, five interceptions, four sacks, four fumble recoveries, and four forced fumbles. He majored in Organizational Leadership and Supervision."#34 Niko Koutouvides" Purdue Sports

As a junior, Koutouvides started all 13 games and notched a career-high of 121 tackles (80 of them solo) to lead the team to their 6th straight bowl game appearance. He had a team-high of 11.5 tackles for loss, including 4 sacks. He knocked down 3 passes and intercepted 3; posted at least 11 tackles in six games. Koutouvides saw action in every game during his first two seasons in a reserve role with 74 tackles, 4 fumble recoveries, and 3 forced fumbles.

His senior year began with him winning the Hammer Award as Purdue's best tackler. After anchoring a great Boilermaker defense that played in the 2004 Capital One Bowl, Koutouvides was named first-team All-Big Ten by the media and second-team by the coaches after starting every game as middle linebacker. Koutouvides finished second on the team with 101 tackles (57 of them solo), including 5.5 stops for losses, 2 pass interceptions and 4 passes knocked down, and causing & recovering 1 fumble.

Professional career

Seattle Seahawks Koutouvides was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the fourth round of the 2004 NFL draft.K. J. Wright info , Seahawks.com He played four seasons for the team, from 2004 to 2007. He was a member of the 2005 team that played in Super Bowl XL.

Denver Broncos On March 3, 2008, Koutouvides signed a three-year, $7.5 million contract with the Denver Broncos."Koutouvides, Colbert Sign Deals; Ekuban Re-Signs" , DenverBroncos.com, March 3, 2008 After one season with the team, he was released on February 16, 2009., DenverBroncos.com, February 16, 2009

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed Koutouvides on March 2, 2009."Help for the We-Fense" , Buccaneers.com, March 2, 2009 He became one of the Buccaneers' top special teams performers in his first season with the team in 2009Niko Koutouvides , Buccaneers.com

New England Patriots Koutouvides signed with the New England Patriots on August 14, 2011."Patriots sign veteran LB Niko Koutouvides" , Patriots.com, August 14, 2011 He was cut on September 3 but re-signed on November 9, 2011,"Patriots make a series of roster moves" Patriots.com, November 9, 2011 and went on to appear as a member of the special teams at the 2012 Super Bowl. He was released by the Patriots on August 31, 2012, during final cuts. Koutouvides was re-signed by the Patriots on September 19, 2012. On August 26, 2013, he was cut by the Patriots.

NFL career statistics Legend Bold Career high

Regular season Year Team Games Tackles Interceptions Fumbles GP GS Cmb Solo Ast Sck TFL Int Yds TD Lng PD FF FR Yds TD 2004 SEA 16 2 62 49 13 1.0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2005 SEA 12 0 13 10 3 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2006 SEA 16 0 15 12 3 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2007 SEA 15 0 27 22 5 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 2008 DEN 14 0 10 9 1 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2009 TAM 16 0 11 11 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2010 TAM 14 0 12 11 1 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2011 NWE 8 1 14 7 7 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2012 NWE 14 0 4 3 1 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 125 3 168 134 34 1.0 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0

Playoffs Year Team Games Tackles Interceptions Fumbles GP GS Cmb Solo Ast Sck TFL Int Yds TD Lng PD FF FR Yds TD 2004 SEA 1 1 8 7 1 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2005 SEA 3 0 7 5 2 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2006 SEA 2 0 1 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2007 SEA 2 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2011 NWE 3 0 1 0 1 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2012 NWE 2 0 1 0 1 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 1 18 13 5 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

References

External links Niko Koutouvides interview, with singing Patriots.com video