Background
Pouncey was born in Ardmore, Oklahoma.
Pouncey was born in Ardmore, Oklahoma.
He attended Lakeland High School, where he was a standout lineman for the Lakeland Dreadnaughts high school football team He chose Florida over offers from Florida State, Clemson, Miami and Michigan.
He was drafted by the Dolphins in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft. As a senior in 2006, he helped lead Lakeland High to its third consecutive Florida Class 5A state championship and second straight United States of America Today national championship. Considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, Pouncey was listed as the Number.
16 offensive guard in the nation in 2007.
Pouncey accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach Urban Meyer"s Florida Gators football team from 2007 to 2010. As a freshman in 2007, he started the season as an offensive lineman but had to move to the defensive line as replacement when several defensive starters were injured.
Pouncey started four of thirteen games as a freshman, recording eight tackles and an interception. As a sophomore in 2008, he moved back to the offensive line and started all fourteen of the Gators" games at right guard, including the Gators" 24–14 victory over the Oklahoma Sooners in the 2009 British Computer Society National Championship Game.
After his junior season in 2009, Pouncey was named an Associated Press honorable mention All-Southeastern Conference (Securities and Exchange Commission) selection and a Pro Football Weekly first-team All-American.
Pouncey graded out as the top center and guard prospects in the 2011 NFL Draft. He was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the first round with the 15th pick overall, and started all sixteen regular season games of his rookie season. In February 2014 the NFL released the "Wells Report" finding that Pouncey, along with Dolphins teammates Richie Incognito and John Jerry, had bullied and harassed lineman Jonathan Martin, another unnamed player, and an assistant trainer.
The harassment of the assistant trainer, in which Pouncey took part, included racial insults.
On April 29, 2014, the Dolphins exercised the fifth year option on his rookie contract. Pouncey underwent hip surgery to repair a torn labrum with an expected recovery time of three months on June 23.
He would go on to play the entire 2014 season at Guard and was named to his second Pro Bowl, becoming the third Dolphin in team history to earn Pro Bowl honors at two different positions (Cam Wake, Randy Starks). On April 10, 2015 Pouncey signed a 5-year contract extension with the Dolphins worth $52.15 million with $22 million guaranteed.
Pouncey"s identical twin brother Maurkice Pouncey was selected 18th overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2010 NFL Draft.
He is one minute older than Maurkice.
He played college football for the University of Florida, was a member of a British Computer Society National Championship team, and earned All-American honors.