BIOGRAPHY
David DeCastro was born on January 11th, 1990, in Bellevue, Washington. He is a guard in the NFL.
DeCastro was born in Kirkland, Washington. Of South African descent, DeCastro grew up in Bellevue and attended Bellevue High School, where he was teammates with Stephen Schilling. He grew up a Seahawks fan, idolizing Steve Hutchinson. Also a standout athlete, DeCastro competed for the school's track and field team as a shot putter. He got a top-throw of 17.93 meters at the 2008 Washington 3A-4A State T&F Championship, winning the event. He also competed in the discus (top-throw of 37.24 meters).
Considered a three-star prospect by Rivals.com he was listed as the No. 11 center in the class of 2008. He chose Stanford over offers from Washington, Washington State, and Oregon State. DeCastro attended Stanford University in Stanford, California, where he was a member of the Stanford Cardinal football team from 2008 to 2011. He did not play in any games as a freshman in 2008. As a redshirt freshman in 2009 he started all 13 games at right guard. He was an honorable mention All-Pac-10 selection and a first team freshman All-American by College Football News.
As a sophomore in 2010, he started all 13 games and was a first-team All-Pac-10 selection. Following his junior season in 2011, he was again a first-team Pac-12 selection, and was recognized as a unanimous first-team All-American. Under head coach David Shaw, the Cardinal finished 11-2 in DeCastro's final season. Afterward, he decided to forgo his final season of college eligibility and enter the NFL Draft.
The Pittsburgh Steelers selected DeCastro in the first round (24th overall) of the 2012 NFL Draft. He was the first offensive guard taken in the first round by the Steelers since Kendall Simmons in 2002 and was one of four Stanford players taken in the first two rounds of the 2012 NFL Draft. On April 9, 2015, the Pittsburgh Steelers exercised the fifth-year option on DeCastro's rookie contract, paying him a salary of $8.07 million for 2016. He also received a $3.20 million signing bonus for 2016.
On September 8, 2016, the Steelers signed DeCastro to an additional five-year, $50 million extension. The contract includes a signing bonus of $16 million. Together, both extensions bring his present contract to a six-year, $58.07 million deal including a total signing bonus of $16.00 million and signs him throughout 2021. On December 19, 2017, DeCastro was named to his third-straight Pro Bowl along with fellow Steeler offensive linemen Alejandro Villanueva and Maurkice Pouncey.
He was ranked 44th by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2018. In week 1 against the Cleveland Browns, DeCastro fractured his right hand and was forced to miss the next two games against the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was able to play again in week 4 against the Baltimore Ravens. He received an overall grade of 71.7 from Pro Football Focus in 2018, which ranked as the 11th highest grade among all qualifying offensive guards.
He signed a six-year extension with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2016.
