Justin Trattou (born August 28, 1988) is a former American football defensive end. He played college football for the University of Florida. He was signed by the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent in 2011. He later played with the Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, retiring from the NFL in 2018. He was part of championship teams at all three levels of his career in football.
![]() Trattou at Super Bowl XLVI media day | |||||
No. 69, 94 | |||||
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Position: | Defensive end | ||||
Personal information | |||||
Born: | Maywood, New Jersey, U.S. | August 28, 1988||||
Height: | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||
Weight: | 258 lb (117 kg) | ||||
Career information | |||||
High school: | Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, New Jersey) | ||||
College: | Florida | ||||
Undrafted: | 2011 | ||||
Career history | |||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||
Career NFL statistics | |||||
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Player stats at PFR |
Early life
editTrattou was born in Maywood, New Jersey.[1] He lived in Maywood, Hawthorne and Franklin Lakes, New Jersey and attended Don Bosco Preparatory High School in Ramsey, where he was named all-state during both his junior and senior years.[2][3][4] He collected 65 tackles, eight sacks and an interception as a sophomore. He helped lead Don Bosco to the state final his junior year by recording 96 tackles and totaling 11 sacks. As a senior playing for the Don Bosco Ironmen high school football team, he tallied 82 tackles and 17 sacks, and helped lead Don Bosco to a perfect 12–0 record and its first state title since 2003.[4] He was chosen as a U.S. Army All-American and was also honored at the High School Heisman ceremony.
Regarded as a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, Trattou was rated No. 4 among New Jersey’s Top 30 prospects. He was rated fourth among defensive ends by Scout.com. He was also selected to be on the ESPN 150 list. He chose Florida over Notre Dame and committed on January 25, 2007. He also had scholarship offers from Ohio State, Boston College and Penn State, among others.[5]
College career
editTrattou accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida, where he played for coach Urban Meyer's Florida Gators football team from 2007 to 2010.[6] He played in 52 games at Florida, including 31 starts. For his career, he amassed 121 tackles (75 solo, 47 assisted), 26.0 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks, three interceptions, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, one pass breakup and three pass deflections.
During his sophomore season, the Gators won a Southeastern Conference (SEC) championship and the 2009 BCS National Championship Game. As a senior team captain in 2010, he memorably returned an interception thirty-five yards for a touchdown, and was the recipient of the Gators' Fergie Ferguson Award, recognizing "the senior football player who displays outstanding leadership, character and courage."[6] In his four seasons as a Gator, he played in fifty-two games, and started thirty-one of them, including all thirteen games during his senior year.[4]
Professional career
editHeight | Weight | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Bench press | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
249 lb (113 kg) |
4.72 s | 1.62 s | 2.77 s | 4.47 s | 7.12 s | 34 in (0.86 m) |
22 reps | ||||
All values from Pro Day[7] |
New York Giants
editThe New York Giants signed Trattou as an undrafted free agent in 2011, and he appeared in six regular season games during his rookie season.[1] He was waived/injured on August 16, 2012, and subsequently reverted to injured reserve on August 18.
Minnesota Vikings
editOn October 9, 2013, Trattou was signed by the Minnesota Vikings.
On September 20, 2015, Trattou got his first career interception against the Detroit Lions during a Vikings 26-16 victory.
On December 14, 2013, Trattou was re-signed by the Minnesota Vikings.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
editOn July 28, 2017, Trattou signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.[8] He was placed on injured reserve on August 28, 2017.[9]
Personal life
editTrattou majored in sports management at the University of Florida and was named twice to SEC’s academic honor roll.
References
edit- ^ a b National Football League, Current Players, Justin Trattou. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
- ^ Stapleton, Art. "Franklin Lakes' Justin Trattou battling to make Giants roster as defensive end", The Record (Bergen County), August 23, 2013. Retrieved August 24, 2013. "Justin Trattou has four championship rings, including one for each of the rungs on his football ladder from Don Bosco to Florida and with the Giants. Not only has the Franklin Lakes native never been more desperate to prove he belongs in the NFL, but also that he deserves to stay."
- ^ Hutchinson, Dave. "Giants' Justin Trattou is making a name for himself", The Star-Ledger, August 23, 2013. Retrieved December 9, 2014. "But so is third-year pro Justin Trattou, a Ramsey native and undrafted free agent who just keeps making plays."
- ^ a b c GatorZone.com, Football History, 2010 Roster, Justin Trattou Archived September 24, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved September 20, 2011.
- ^ Justin Trattou. Rivals.com. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
- ^ a b 2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide Archived April 2, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 154, 185 (2011). Retrieved January 9, 2012.
- ^ "Hall of Football".
- ^ Smith, Scott (July 28, 2017). "Last Camp Add: Justin Trattou". Buccaneers.com.
- ^ Smith, Scott (August 28, 2017). "Buccaneers Sign DEs Abdesmad, Ekpe". Buccaneers.com. Archived from the original on January 2, 2018.
External links
edit- Justin Trattou – Florida Gators player profile
- Justin Trattou – New York Giants player profile
- Media related to Justin Trattou at Wikimedia Commons