David Bakhtiari

David Afrasiab Assad Bakhtiari (born September 30, 1991) is an American football offensive tackle who is a free agent.

David Afrasiab Assad Bakhtiari was born on September 30, 1991, in San Mateo, California.

His older brother, Eric Bakhtiari, went on to play defensive end at the University of San Diego and for the Tennessee Titans.

His father, Karl Bakhtiari, immigrated from Iran and runs a real estate business in California.

His mother is of Icelandic descent.

He attended Junípero Serra High School in San Mateo, California, where he lettered two years in football and lacrosse, being named a team captain during his second year.

A notable performance during his high school career in football came against Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory, in which he held future USC Trojan Kevin Greene to no sacks and only allowed two tackles.

In another game later in the season, he had at least eight pancake blocks.

He was named Honorable Mention All-West Catholic Athletic League, All-Metro (Bay Area), and All-San Mateo County as a senior when he helped lead his team to a 6–1 league record, winning the 2008 WCAL Co-Championship with Bellarmine College Preparatory, and made it to the CIF-CCS Open Division Semi-finals, where they lost to the eventual champion Bellarmine Bells.

He was also listed in the Bay Area News Group as number eight out of 25 players from northern California on their 2008 Cream of the Crop team.

Coming out of high school, Bakhtiari was 6 ft tall and weighed 266 lb and was ranked only as a two-star prospect by Rivals.com.

In a 2009 interview, Bakhtiari commented: "People come up to me and go, 'Oh, you're only a two-star'. But I don't really care what my ranking is. All that matters is how you do when you put on the pads."

He received interest from several schools, receiving offers and visiting Colorado, Utah, UTEP, and Washington before signing his letter of intent with Colorado.

He graduated high school in 2009.

Bakhtiari decided to play for the University of Colorado, majoring in communications while playing for the Colorado Buffaloes football team from 2009 to 2012.

He redshirted as a true freshman in 2009.

During his first year on the field for the Buffaloes, he played in all twelve games, starting eleven.

The one game he did not start was against Texas Tech, but he still was on the field for 24 snaps.

He played the third-most snaps on the offense behind future New England Patriots and New York Giants offensive tackle Nate Solder and future Denver Broncos guard Ryan Miller with 796.

Bakhtiari had 59 knockdown blocks, which was fourth on the team, his highest number coming against Iowa State.

He allowed one quarterback sack and seven pressures and was flagged for six penalties.

During the game against Kansas that year, he recovered an offensive fumble and returned it seven yards.

For his efforts, he was named as an honorable mention for Freshman All-American honors by collegefootballnews.com.

He was also a member of the All-Big 12-second-team for Academics.

Bakhtiari's redshirt sophomore campaign began with a severe injury to his knee in the season opener against Hawai’i on the seventh play of the game.

He missed the next two games against California and LSU.

Nonetheless, he still started the remaining games (11 total).

He allowed two sacks on the year and was flagged once the entire season.

At the end of the year, he was named as a member to the All-Pac-12 Conference second-team by the league's coaches and Phil Steele.

Before his final season started, Bakhtiari was named to the preseason first-team All-Pac-12 squad.

He started eleven games at left tackle, missing the game against Oregon with a knee sprain after attempting to play in the pre-game.

He totaled 41 pancake blocks, and allowed 2.5 quarterback sacks and one pressure.

His efforts gained him a spot on the watchlists for the Outland Trophy and the Rotary Lombardi Award.

Additionally, he earned second-team honors by the league coaches for the second year in a row.

Drafted by the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League in the fourth round of the 2013 NFL Draft, Bakhtiari played with the Packers until his release after the 2023 season.

He played college football at Colorado.

On January 8, 2013, Bakhtiari announced his decision to forgo his senior season at Colorado and declare for the 2013 NFL Draft.

He added that his declaration for the draft had nothing to do with Colorado's 1–11 season the year before and subsequent firing of head coach Jon Embree.

Mike MacIntyre, the new head coach of Colorado, said that the team would have loved to have him but would fully support him in his endeavors.

After declaring for the NFL Draft, Bakhtiari stated he received a second or third round evaluation from NFL Draft Advisory Board.