He played college football as a linebacker for the Northern Illinois Huskies and was selected by the San Diego Chargers in the first round of the 2009 NFL draft.

At Marmion Academy, in Aurora, Illinois, English was named team co-captain, MVP, and First-team All-Suburban Catholic Conference both as a junior and senior.

He made 98 tackles and six sacks while playing inside linebacker and as a running back he rushed for 312 yards on 38 carries (8.2 avg).

In 2007, English was the Mid-American Conference's MVP and was a consensus choice First-team All-MAC and a Fourth-team All-American by Phil Steele as he recorded 17 tackles for loss–which ranked 18th in the NCAA.

[10] English had 23 tackles as a rookie, but suffered a foot fracture in the 2010 training camp and started just four games in total going into the 2013 season for the Chargers.

[13] [14] English served as the honorary chairman of the American Lung Association inaugural Fight For Air Climb in San Diego on February 27, 2011.

On May 19, 2017, English married model Nicole Williams, with whom he appeared on WAGS, a reality series about the romantic partners of athletes.