Adam Trautman (born February 5, 1997) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played college football at

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

and was drafted by the Saints in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

Early life and high school

Trautman grew up in

Williamsburg, Michigan Williamsburg is an unincorporated community in the northwestern Lower Peninsula of Michigan. It is located in central Whitewater Township, which is part of Grand Traverse County. M-72 runs directly through the town. History There is evidence ...

and attended Elk Rapids High School, where he played basketball and football and was an All-County selection in both sports. Trautman set every major school passing record and was named the Lake Michigan Conference Player of the Year as a senior.

College career

Trautman

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

his true freshman season as he changed positions from quarterback to tight end. As a redshirt freshman, he caught 24 passes for 238 yards and three touchdowns. He had 43 receptions for 537 yards and five touchdowns and was named second-team All-

Pioneer Football League The Pioneer Football League (PFL) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as a football-only conference. It has member ...

in his sophomore season. As a junior, Trautman led the team with 41 receptions, 604 yards and nine touchdowns and was again named second-team All-PFL. As a Senior, he was named the PFL Offensive Player of the Year and first-team All-PFL after catching 70 passes for 916 yards and 14 touchdowns. He finished his collegiate career with 171 receptions for 2,295 yards and 31 touchdowns. Trautman played in the

2020 Senior Bowl The 2020 Senior Bowl was an all-star college football exhibition game played on January 25, 2020, at 1:30 p.m. CST, at Ladd–Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama. The game featured prospects for the 2020 draft of the professional National Fo ...

, catching two passes.

Professional career

New Orleans Saints

Trautman was drafted by the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

in the third round with the 105th overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft. He was the first Dayton football player to be drafted since Bill Westbeld in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

. Trautman made his NFL debut on September 13, 2020, in the season opener against the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...

, becoming the first Dayton player to appear in an NFL game in 45 years. He caught a 17-yard pass from

Drew Brees Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees i ...

for his first career reception on September 21, 2020, on ''

Monday Night Football ''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, A ...

'' in a 34–24 loss to the

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West div ...

. In Week 9, against the

, he had three receptions for 39 yards and his first professional touchdown reception in the 38–3 victory. In a humorous incident, the Buccaneers were unable to find a picture of Trautman to use on their scoring display, and instead used a picture of then-Rams quarterback

Jared Goff Jared Thomas Goff (born October 14, 1994) is an American football quarterback for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at California, where he set the Pac-12 Conference season records for passi ...

. He finished his rookie season with 15 receptions on 16 targets for 171 yards and one touchdown and was rated the best rookie tight end by

Pro Football Focus Pro Football Focus (also written as ProFootballFocus, and often referred to by its initials, PFF) is a sports analytics company that focuses on thorough analysis of the National Football League (NFL) and NCAA Division-I football in the United Sta ...

, who also rated him the best run-blocking tight end in the NFL. Trautman entered the 2021 season as the starting tight end for the Saints after the team released

Jared Cook Jared Alan Cook (born April 7, 1987) is an American football tight end who is a free agent. He played college football at the University of South Carolina and was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the third round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He has ...

in the offseason. He was placed on injured reserve on November 23, 2021. He was activated on December 18.

Denver Broncos

On April 29, 2023, Trautman was traded from the

, along with the 257th pick of the

2023 NFL Draft The 2023 NFL Draft will be the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft is scheduled to be held in the plaza outside of Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 27–29, ...

, to the

in exchange for the 195th pick of the draft.

References

External links

New Orleans Saints bioDayton Flyers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trautman, Adam 1997 births Living people People from Antrim County, Michigan Players of American football from Michigan American football tight ends Dayton Flyers football players New Orleans Saints players Denver Broncos players