Jadeveon Davarus Clowney ( jə-DEV-ee-on; born February 14, 1993) is an American professional football defensive end for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the South Carolina Gamecocks, winning the Ted Hendricks Award and SEC Defensive Player of the Year in 2012, along with earning consecutive first-team All-American honors between 2012 and 2013.
Clowney was selected first overall in the 2014 NFL draft by the Texans, where he spent his first five seasons. During his final three seasons with the Texans, Clowney received three consecutive Pro Bowl selections and one second-team All-Pro honor. Following his departure from Houston, he played with the Seattle Seahawks, Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers, and Dallas Cowboys. He returned to the Texans in 2026.
Clowney was born February 14, 1993, in Rock Hill, South Carolina. He attended South Pointe High School, where he played for the Stallions high school football team. Already 6’ 3” and 200 lbs as a freshman in 2007, he played running back and defensive end for the school's junior varsity team. In his sophomore year he joined rising seniors Stephon Gilmore and DeVonte Holloman (both four-star recruits) on a South Pointe varsity coming off a 9–4 season. By spring practice, Clowney became a permanent fixture at defensive end. "We knew we had something special. He was 13 years old in that big athletic body. He was wreaking havoc on our offense that spring and fall," said Bobby Carroll, his coach at South Pointe. South Pointe went 15–0 for the season, including a 35–14 win over town-rival Northwestern High at Memorial Stadium for the 2008 South Carolina AAAAAA Division 1 title and a No. 3 spot in the overall annual MaxPreps high school ranking. Despite playing nearly the entire season with a bone spur in his foot, Clowney finished with 17 sacks. He opted to have surgery on the foot in January 2009.
South Pointe had 31 seniors graduate after the 2008 season, including Gilmore and Holloman. Still, Clowney helped the team to a 10–4 record for the season, and a state semifinal berth, where the Stallions lost to Northwestern. Clowney finished the season with 144 tackles and 23 sacks. In his senior season Clowney tallied 162 tackles, 29.5 sacks, 29 tackles for loss, 11 forced fumbles, and six fumble recoveries, and scored five touchdowns on defense while helping lead his team to a 13–2 record. South Pointe made the state finals for the second time in three years, but lost 23–27 to Myrtle Beach at USC's Williams-Brice Stadium. Still, Clowney was named South Carolina's 2010 Mr. Football. South Pointe was 38–6 during his three varsity seasons.
Immediately following his senior season Clowney went to Spartanburg for the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas, where he registered 5 tackles (2 solo, 3 assists), 3 sacks for a loss of 15 yards, 2 tackles for a loss of 17 yards, and 2 quarterback hurries. Clowney was lined up against the North Carolina left tackle on every snap he played and drew five holding calls. After the Shrine Bowl, Clowney headed to Orlando, Florida, for a week of Under Armour All-America Game practices and then the all-star game itself. He was the leading tackler for the Red with seven and had 1.5 sacks. Recruiting analysts were particularly interested in his matchup with Cyrus Kouandjio.
Afterwards, Clowney headed to New York City, for a photo shoot for an ESPN the Magazine feature story that appeared in the journal's February 2011 issue.
During and throughout the entirety of his middle school and high school career, Clowney was often regarded as the best player in his class. ESPN described him as "a special talent who could have vied for the top spot in several previous classes". Both major recruiting services, Rivals.com and Scout.com, as well as ESPNU, considered Clowney not only a five-star recruit, but also they all voted him unanimously as the consensus No. 1 overall prospect of the 2011 class, basically throughout the entirety of his senior year. Unsurprisingly, he received scholarship offers from nearly every perennial BCS powerhouse. However, Clowney left his decision open until after National Signing Day of 2011.
In a live broadcast on ESPN on his eighteenth birthday—February 14, 2011—Clowney announced his commitment to South Carolina, selecting the Gamecocks over Clemson, Alabama, Louisiana State, and Florida State. He was the third-straight South Carolina "Mr. Football" to sign with the Gamecocks, following in the footsteps of his South Pointe teammate Gilmore, and Duncan Byrnes' Marcus Lattimore. "I wanted to play in the SEC. It was easy," Clowney said. "I knew a week ago. I just tried not to tell anybody." Just days earlier, a story in the New York Times questioned Clowney's academic eligibility, but Clowney told reporters he "had no concerns and would be fine".
Clowney was also on the school's track & field team, where he competed as a sprinter, shot putter and discus thrower. He took ninth in the 100 meters at the 2011 York County Championships, with a career-best time of 11.43 seconds. He recorded a personal-best throw of 14.82 meters in the shot put at the 2011 State Championships, and also ran the fourth leg on the 4 × 100 meter relay squad, helping them earn a third-place finish at 42.86 seconds.
Clowney attended the University of South Carolina where he played on the Gamecocks football team under head coach Steve Spurrier from 2011 through 2013.
As a true freshman at South Carolina Clowney played and started in all 12 games of the season. He started the season opener against East Carolina, becoming the first freshman to start on the defensive line since Travian Robertson in 2007. In his debut, Clowney had seven tackles, which one of them was on the opening snap of the game, a pass breakup, and a quarterback hurry. A week later in the SEC season opener against Georgia, Clowney recorded his first career quarterback sack in the second quarter, tackling Bulldogs quarterback Aaron Murray for a 7-yard loss. With just over three minutes remaining in the game and the Gamecocks clinging to a 38–35 lead, Clowney strip-sacked Murray at the 20-yard line, and teammate Melvin Ingram returned the fumble for a touchdown to put South Carolina up by 10, and they would go on to win the game, 45–42. Against Vanderbilt, Clowney forced two fumbles, including one that again was recovered by Ingram and returned for a touchdown. In mid-October against Mississippi State, Clowney recorded up a sack, forced fumble, and two quarterback hurries. In South Carolina's 30–13 win over Nebraska in the Capital One Bowl, Clowney recorded four tackles and two sacks of quarterback Taylor Martinez.
For the season Clowney was credited with 36 tackles, including 12 for a loss of yardage. He ranked eighth in the SEC with 8.0 sacks, the only freshman in the top 10, and logged five forced fumbles. He earned SEC Freshman of the Year and All-SEC 2nd Team honors from the league's coaches, and was also named to multiple Freshman All-American 1st Team lists, including The Sporting News, FWAA, Rivals.com, and CBSSports.com.
In his sophomore season Clowney emerged as the best defensive player in college football. While helping lead South Carolina to an 11–2 (6–2 SEC) record, he set the school single-season record for sacks (13.0) and tackles for loss (23.5). He also amassed 54 tackles (40 solo) and 3 forced fumbles. Against UAB, Clowney was credited with seven tackles with 3.5 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks, for which he was named the SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week. In the 27–17 win over Clemson, he sacked Tigers quarterback Tajh Boyd for a single-game school record 4.5 times, earning SEC Defensive Player and Defensive Lineman of the Week honors again. It was also a Clemson Memorial Stadium record, topping the previous mark jointly held by Notre Dame's Ross Browner (1977) and Virginia Tech's Bruce Smith (1984), both College Football Hall of Famers. Along with being a Unanimous All-American, Clowney won the Ted Hendricks Award as the nation's best defensive end. Additionally, he was a finalist for the Chuck Bednarik Award, the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, the Lombardi Award, and finished 6th overall in the 2012 Heisman Trophy voting. Following Clowney's incredible sophomore season, he was voted by the fans as the 2012 AT&T All-America Player of the Year on January 7.