Willie Colon (American football)

Willie Colon (born April 9, 1983) is an American former professional football player who was a guard in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fourth round of the 2006 NFL draft. He was part of the Steelers' Super Bowl XLIII victory. He played college football for the Hofstra Pride. He currently is a sports analyst for First Things First: OT on Fox Sports 1 (FS1).

Colon attended Cardinal Hayes High School in The Bronx. As a senior, he received the Cardinal Hayes Outstanding Defensive Player Award as the defensive MVP. He chose to attend Hofstra, majoring in interdisciplinary studies. Colon is of Puerto Rican descent.

Colon was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fourth round (131st overall) of the 2006 NFL draft.^[1] He started the first two games of his career in Weeks 16 and 17 of the 2006 season, replacing an injured Max Starks. This sparked a position battle with Starks for starting right tackle, which continued through an unspectacular 2007 season.^[2] Colon was a member of the Steelers' Super Bowl XLIII championship team of 2008–2009, winning the game against the Arizona Cardinals. He re-signed with the Steelers after the 2008 season for a one-year deal worth $2.2 million.^[3]

While working out during the offseason in June 2010, Colon tore his Achilles tendon, forcing him to miss the entire 2010 NFL season.

On July 29, 2011, Colon signed a five-year deal worth $29 million with the Steelers.^[4] In week 1 against the Baltimore Ravens, Colon tore his triceps and missed the rest of the season.

Colon was released from the Steelers on March 13, 2013.^[5]

The New York Jets signed Colon to a one–year contract on March 15, 2013.^[6] The New York Jets re-signed Colon to a one-year contract worth $2 million on March 19, 2014.

Colon joined Barstool Sports in 2018 when Barstool launched a 24-hour SiriusXM radio channel.^[7][8] He hosted a morning radio show on the network along with Large, Francis Ellis, and Julie Stewart-Binks.^[9] Colon became embroiled in controversy in July of 2020 when he started a podcast with the 'N-word' as the acronym for the show.^[10]. Colon, his podcast co-host Brandon Newman, and Barstool employee Kevin Clancy became the subject of additional controversy in August of 2020. While discussing the shooting of Jacob Blake on an episode of the "2 Biggs" podcast^[11], Colon, Newman and Clancy omitted critical facts of the case that were known at the time and would ultimately lead to the exoneration of the officer involved. Though the three repeatedly mentioned Blake being shot seven times in the back, no mention was made of the fact that Blake was reaching for a knife in a car full of children at the time of the shooting. The hosts also made no mention of Blake continuing to violently resist arrest despite being repeatedly warned and tased, violating a restraining order, and having an outstanding arrest warrant for third degree sexual assault charges. Additionally, the hosts falsely labeled Kyle Rittenhouse as a "murderer".^[12] The episode received significant backlash from Barstool's audience and was later removed from barstool's website.^[13] Colon left the company in 2021 when Barstool ended its contract with Sirius.

Colon joined the Morning Men Radio Show on SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio on channel 82, becoming the 3rd host alongside Evan Cohen and Mike Babchik.

• Hofstra bio
• New York Jets bio Archived May 6, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
• Pittsburgh Steelers Bio Archived February 25, 2013, at the Wayback Machine