Dee Winters

Early life

Winters was born on October 17, 2000, and grew up in Burton, Texas, a small town west of Houston that had only one gas station. He played football at Burton High School and was a two-way player, although he was primarily used at wide receiver. A three-star recruit, he ranked as the 87th-best player in the state and committed to TCU over Arkansas, Northwestern, Arizona State and Texas Tech.

College career

Although recruited as a safety, Winters' position was quickly changed to linebacker when he arrived at TCU. As a true freshman, he appeared in 11 games, two of which he started, and posted 28 tackles and a sack. The following year, he won the starting job, started all 10 matches and placed second on the team with 65 tackles, 9.5 of which were for a loss. He remained a starter in 2021, starting all 12 games and leading TCU with 74 tackles while being third on the team with five tackles-for-loss.

As a senior in 2022, Winters led a defense that brought TCU to the national championship game, earning first-team All-Big 12 Conference honors after tallying 79 tackles, the fourth-best on the squad, a team-leading 14.5 tackles-for-lossp (tied with Dylan Horton), and 7.5 sacks, placing second on the team. He was named most valuable player of their playoff semifinals win over Michigan after recording seven tackles, three of which were for a loss, a pass breakup and a 29-yard interception return touchdown. After the season, he was invited to the Senior Bowl. At the time of his graduation, Winters was the career leader in stops among active TCU players.