Ryan Roberts
Personal information
Born: (1980-08-11) August 11, 1980 (age 43)
Camden, New Jersey, US
Height:6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:258 lb (117 kg)
Career information
High school:Haddonfield Memorial High School
College:Notre Dame
Position:Defensive end
Undrafted:2003

Ryan Roberts (born August 11, 1980) is a former American football player who played defensive end in college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team from 1998 to 2002. He is an alumnus of Haddonfield Memorial High School.

Early life

Roberts was born on August 11, 1980, in Camden, New Jersey,[1] and earned three varsity letters in gridiron football at Haddonfield Memorial High School.[1] Lawnside, New Jersey, was his hometown.[2]

When Roberts began high school, he was a soccer player, but was urged by a friend to try football during the fall of his freshman year.[3] He considered two conveniently located Ivy League institutions as potential colleges early in his high school career: in-state Princeton University and nearby University of Pennsylvania.[3]

Due to a congenital condition,[4] Roberts endured back pain while playing both running back and defensive end in high school.[5] Nonetheless, he entered his senior season as a top-100 class of 1998 football recruit according to the Prep Football Report by Tom Lemming.[6]

As a senior, Roberts rushed for over 1000 yards and had 10 quarterback sacks.[7] His official visits included Iowa, Penn State and Notre Dame as well as invitations to visit schools such as Georgia Tech, Northwestern and Syracuse.[8] At one point, he planned to use his five allotted official visits to see Syracuse, Notre Dame, Penn State, Iowa and North Carolina.[7] In late December 1997, he verbally committed to Notre Dame.[9] On February 5, 1998, Roberts signed his National Letter of Intent to play for Notre Dame.[10]

Roberts was a 1997 USAToday honorable-mention All-American Football team selection at defensive end.[1] He was also recognized as a 1997 First team All-State selection by the Associated Press.[11][12] Roberts posted a safety during the inaugural Governor's Bowl All-Star Classic high school football contest of New York state all-stars vs. New Jersey All-stars.[13] The game was an annual event until 2008,[14] but was later reformatted.[15]

College career

Roberts began his Notre Dame career as a linebacker, but switched to defensive end after his freshman season for the 1998 Fighting Irish.[1] He spent 1998 on the scout squad.[5] Roberts played 10 games for the 1999 team but had a seemingly career-threatening fusion back surgery following the season.[1] He only played 37 total minutes in 1999, but made 6 tackles,[5] including one quarterback sack.[16]

Following his surgery on January 13, 2000, he was sidelined through the spring and although not completely healed, was medically cleared to play in the fall.[5] His weight dropped to 220 pounds (99.8 kg), while away from football.[17] Senior Captain Grant Irons was lost for the season with a shoulder injury forcing Roberts into the starting lineup for the 2000 team.[16] He started in 8 of 12 games,[1] recording sacks in each of his first four games.[18] His sack against Texas A&M came on his first play of the game.[5]

After dislodging 5th-year senior Grant Irons from the lineup, he started 5 of 8 games for the 2001 team before season-ending medial collateral ligament injury.[1] One of Roberts' career highlights was a 3-sack performance in 2001 in the rivalry game against USC,[19] during the Carson Palmer era. In the game, he had a total of 4 tackles for a loss as well as a touchdown saving tackle to force a field goal.[20] He also had a few open field rundown from behind tackles.[21]

The 2001 season marked the second losing season in three years, which led to a tumultuous series of coaching transition events as George O'Leary was hired for five days before the discovery of a fake resume.[22] Most of Roberts' Notre Dame career had been under head coach Bob Davie, but his 5th-year redshirt season for the 2002 team was Tyrone Willingham's first season as Notre Dame head coach.[22] Willingham retained Greg Mattison as the defensive line coach, giving Roberts, who by now had earned a science-business degree, some continuity in 2002.[4] The defensive line of Cedric Hilliard, Darrell Campbell, Roberts and Kyle Budinscak with reserves that included sophomore Justin Tuck, was a large part of Notre Dame's sudden rise to prominence in 2002.[23] That year, Roberts posted 2 sacks against both Purdue's Kyle Orton and Michigan State's Jeff Smoker.[3] His contributions helped Willingham become the winningest first-year head coach in Notre Dame history.[22]

The 2021 Notre Dame Football Media Guide ranked Roberts 8th in career sacks and tied for 7th in single season sacks, and he was ranked fourth in school history for his 19 career sacks and 8 single-season sacks (2002) at the time that he completed his eligibility at Notre Dame following the 2002 season.[24]

Roberts' senior season was the last season in which career-ending bowl games did not count in career stats. Thus, any sacks recorded in the 2003 Gator Bowl against Philip Rivers and NC State are not included in his career total.[24] Roberts' name appears in the 2021 Notre Dame Football Media Guide school records for single-season and career sacks, but not among those with 3.5 or more single-game sacks or at least 19 single-game tackles.[24] The South Bend Tribune reported that he had 23 tackles and 5 sacks against Rutgers in 2000,[21] and 4 sacks against the 2000 West Virginia Mountaineers.[25]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Ryan Roberts" (subscription required). Courier-Post. August 31, 2002. ProQuest 436968745. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
  2. ^ Hansen, Eric (November 7, 1998). "First-year frustrations Patience helps Notre Dame freshmen move forward; NOTRE DAME VS. BOSTON COLLEGE" (subscription required). South Bend Tribune. p. SP4. ProQuest 416915440. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c Kleppel, Ken (October 4, 2002). "DIFFERENT IS OK WITH SENIOR RYAN ROBERTS". University of Notre Dame. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
  4. ^ a b Lowe, Steve (November 19, 2002). "Tunnel vision an Irish gem ; ND lineman values view for players" (subscription required). South Bend Tribune. ProQuest 417148192. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d e Lesar, Al (September 15, 2000). "Ryan Roberts steps up Starting spot earned as he fights through pain" (subscription required). South Bend Tribune. ProQuest 417035581. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
  6. ^ "NATION'S TOP 100 PROSPECTS" (subscription required). Chicago Sun-Times. August 22, 1997. p. 119. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  7. ^ a b Bakas, Mike (December 16, 1997). "NINE MORE RECRUITS COMMIT TO BIG EAST TEAMS MIAMI RECEIVES AN ORAL OK FROM A DEFENSIVE END WHOSE FATHER PLAYED FOR THE HURRICANES" (subscription required). The Post Standard. p. D9. Retrieved June 28, 2022. Ryan Roberts (6-3, 230 from Haddonfield, N.J.) had a very solid season after rushing for more than 1,000 yards on offense at fullback and garnering 10 sacks at defensive end. Roberts planned to trip to Syracuse, Notre Dame, Penn State, Iowa and North Carolina.
  8. ^ Sugiura, Ken (December 15, 1997). "LENAPE'S 8-2 MARK PROVES TO BE MAGNET FOR COLLEGE RECRUITERS" (subscription required). Philadelphia Inquirer. p. D.10. ProQuest 1842089150. Retrieved June 27, 2022. Haddonfield's Ryan Roberts has seen the top of the college football world, but he is ready to stop looking. Roberts, a first-team all-South Jersey defensive end, visited Iowa three weeks ago and Penn State last week. Over the weekend, he was at Notre Dame. He also is considering visits to Georgia Tech, Northwestern and Syracuse. Haddonfield coach Jim Horner said, though, that the Notre Dame visit might be the last. 'I'm looking forward to making this decision right now,' said Roberts, who added that he wants to decide before January. 'It's taking up a large part of my life.' Roberts said last week that he was slightly favoring Iowa. Roberts, who has a 3.6 GPA and scored 1,250 on the SAT, wants to study biology, and at Iowa he met professors in that department. 'I liked the people there, and the academics were excellent,' he said. Roberts, who is 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds, had 64 tackles and 18 sacks this season.
  9. ^ Bakas, Mike (December 23, 1997). "TWO RECRUITS PICK B.C. OVER SYRACUSE BIG EAST TEAMS WERE BUSY GETTING ORAL COMMITMENTS DURING THE PAST WEEK" (subscription required). The Post-Standard. p. D8. Retrieved June 27, 2022. Ryan Roberts (DL from Haddonfield, N.J.) chose Notre Dame over Syracuse, Iowa and North Carolina.
  10. ^ "OTHER MAJOR COLLEGE SIGNEES" (subscription required). Tampa Bay Times. February 5, 1998. p. 2X. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  11. ^ "SEVEN AREA PLAYERS NAMED TO AP ALL-STATE FIRST TEAM" (subscription required). Philadelphia Inquirer. December 19, 1997. p. D15. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  12. ^ "please scan this" (subscription required). The Trenton Times. December 19, 1997. p. C1. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  13. ^ Hart, Stephen (July 10, 1998). "THE GOVERNOR'S BOWL IS A TALE OF TWO TANDEMS JERSEY RUNNING BACK DUO OVERPOWERS NEW YORK IN THE SECOND HALF WHILE TOTS' SMITH AND MOUNT'S TAJONG ARE FORGOT - HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL" (subscription required). Staten Island Advance. p. C9. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  14. ^ "Governor's Bowl dispute led to creation of New York High School Football Classic". The Post-Standard. June 3, 2010. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  15. ^ "NJ Football: Rosters announced for New Jersey-Northeast All-Star Classic". NJ.com. April 25, 2010. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  16. ^ a b Wilson, Phillip B. (September 24, 2000). "Murray is three-for-three with first-touch scores" (subscription required). Indianapolis Star. p. B. 15. ProQuest 240320307. Retrieved June 27, 2022. Junior defensive end Ryan Roberts stuck Michigan State quarterback Jeff Smoker for a 7-yard sack late in the second quarter. It's the fourth consecutive game Roberts has recorded a sack. Roberts began the season as a backup to senior captain Grant Irons, who was lost to season-ending shoulder surgery after the Nebraska game two weeks ago.The converted outside linebacker had one sack and six tackles in 37 minutes of 10 games last season, his first Irish action.
  17. ^ Coyne, Tom (October 19, 2000). "ROBERTS' AMAZING RETURN AIDS IRISH Nine months after back surgery, defensive end is staple on Notre Dame's line" (subscription required). Post-Tribune. p. C1. ProQuest 343681741. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
  18. ^ Latimer, Clay (October 28, 2000). "NOTRE DAME GETS AIR FORCE'S IRISH UP AT THE RIGHT TIME" (subscription required). Denver Rocky Mountain News. p. 8C. ProQuest 413244993. Retrieved June 27, 2022. Defensive end Ryan Roberts had at least one sack in each of the first four games.
  19. ^ Morrissey, Rick (October 16, 2009). "Irish dare to believe this is their year: Notre Dame buzz says skid will finally end against USC" (subscription required). Chicago Tribune. ProQuest 420845027. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
  20. ^ Hutchens, Terry; Bradford, Mark (October 22, 2001). "Monday morning quarterback" (subscription required). Indianapolis Star. p. D.3. ProQuest 240431002. Retrieved June 27, 2022. Another big move was the insertion of senior Ryan Roberts at defensive end in place of senior captain and team leader Grant Irons . Roberts made a touchdown-saving tackle on Keary Colbert in the third quarter. USC had to settle for a field goal. . .Big day for defense: Notre Dame had a season-high 12 tackles for loss against Southern California, led by Ryan Roberts with four. Eight other Irish defenders contributed one apiece.((cite web)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  21. ^ a b Lesar, Al (October 23, 2001). "Roberts' unique approach helps ND". South Bend Tribune. p. 11. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  22. ^ a b c Bonsignore, Vincent (November 29, 2002). "WILLINGHAM HAS LOOK OF A WINNER AT NOTRE DAME: [VALLEY Edition]" (subscription required). Los Angeles Daily News. p. S1. ProQuest 282509573. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
  23. ^ Stein, Jason (October 12, 2002). "Front 4 leads powerful Irish defense to prominence" (subscription required). The Journal Gazette. p. 1B. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  24. ^ a b c "2021 Notre Dame Football Media Guide" (PDF). University of Notre Dame and Fighting Irish Media. 2021. p. 103. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
  25. ^ Lesar, Al (November 2, 2000). "Dramatic conclusions Porous Irish defense keeping games dangerously close" (subscription required). South Bend Tribune. ProQuest 417034217. Retrieved June 26, 2022.

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