Quarterbacks beware.

Threatening the opposition's signal-caller is the goal of every defensive end: causing disruption, havoc and confusion to the offense.

Throughout its history, Purdue has produced many outstanding defensive ends, creating an institution unlike any other in college football - The Den of Defensive Ends.

The tradition of The Den of Defensive Ends dates to the days of Leo Sugar and Lamar Lundy from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s and subsequently Turner in the late 1970s, but it has flourished more recently. While Purdue's high-powered offense has made headlines under head coaches Joe Tiller and Jeff Brohm, the Boilermakers' defense made a name for itself principally for the play of its ends.

In the 1998 Alamo Bowl, Rosevelt Colvin and Chike Okeafor were unstoppable, combining for six sacks of Kansas State quarterback and Heisman Trophy runner-up Michael Bishop. Colvin holds Purdue records for sacks in a season (15 in 1998) and a career (35).

Since 1999, 11 Boilermaker defensive ends have been selected in the National Football League Draft, including first-round picks Anthony Spencer in 2007, Ryan Kerrigan in 2011 and George Karlaftis in 2022.

Eight members of The Den have gone on to be selected for the NFL Pro Bowl - Sugar, Lundy, Keena Turner, Colvin, Shaun Phillips, Spencer, Kerrigan and Cliff Avril - while five have played for Super Bowl champions: Turner, Colvin, Avril, Ninkovich and Karlaftis.

The term Den of Defensive Ends was coined by Purdue senior associate athletics director for communications Tom Schott in 2004.