Charles Gabriel Alexander (born October 9, 1985) is a former American football defensive tackle.
[1] He played high school football for Breaux Bridge High School and was selected as a first-team 4A all-state player and named to the Baton Rouge Advocate Super Dozen and New Orleans Times-Picayune's Top 20 Blue-Chip list.
[1][4] He began the year as a starter on the defensive line for the 2007 LSU Tigers football team that won the 2008 BCS National Championship Game.
[6] However, his 2007 season ended with a knee injury suffered in a practice session prior to the game against South Carolina.
[1][7] At the time of the injury, LSU Sports Information Director Michael Bonnette described Alexander as a popular player on the team whose attitude would be missed.
Bonnette added that the team was exploring options such as a medical redshirt or an additional year of eligibility for Alexander.
[6] LSU co-defensive coordinator Doug Mallory described the loss of Alexander, "We got off to a great start at the beginning of the year.
In August 2008, after months of rehabilitation, Alexander said, "When they told me I had torn my ACL, I was devastated, just absolutely crushed.
After reviewing Alexander's documentation and considering the time he lost due to injuries, the NCAA granted him an additional year of eligibility.
"[13] A feature story in The Advocate, the daily newspaper in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, noted: "The dream, ideal, feel-good scenario is for LSU defensive tackle Charles Alexander to finally have this one great season that makes good on the struggles of his five previous and injury-plagued years.
Burly and soft-spoken, Alexander opened his sixth fall practice at LSU on Thursday hoping the balance of breaks swings toward lucky after five years of bad ones.
"[15][16] As a sixth-year senior in 2009, Alexander was the only returning starter on LSU's defensive front,[4] and a second-team selection on the All-Southeastern Conference Coaches Preseason team.
"[19] Also in October 2009, a nationally syndicated newspaper story on the LSU noted that the defensive front was loaded with talent, including Alexander.
[24] Alexander was traded to the Pittsburgh Power with two other players on February 24, 2011, in exchange for claim order position.