Damon Sheehy-Guiseppi (born February 15, 1995) 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 with ...

wide receiver and

kick returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

who is currently a free agent. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Phoenix College Phoenix College (PC) is a public community college in Encanto, Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1920, it is one of the oldest community colleges in the country. History The college was originally a part of the Phoenix Union High School and Junio ...

Early life

After growing up in

Lake Havasu City, Arizona Lake Havasu City (, ) is a city in Mohave County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 57,144, up from 52,527 in 2010. It is served by Lake Havasu City Airport. History The community first started as an ...

and attending

Lake Havasu High School Lake Havasu High School is a high school in Lake Havasu City, Arizona under the jurisdiction of the Lake Havasu Unified School District. Its graduation rate is 86%. The district, and therefore the high school's attendance boundary, includes Lak ...

for two years, Sheehy-Guiseppi moved to

Traverse City, Michigan Traverse City ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Grand Traverse County, although a small portion extends into Leelanau County. It is the largest city in the 21-county Northern Michigan region. The population was ...

and attended St. Francis High School.

College career

Sheehy-Guiseppi first attended

Mesa Community College Mesa Community College (MCC) is a public community college in Mesa, Arizona. It is the largest of the 10 community colleges in the Maricopa County Community College District, the largest community college district in the United States in ter ...

, where he ran track, before transferring to

and joining the football team. There, Sheehy-Guiseppi was named a first-team

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

All-American in 2016, after leading the nation in kick return yardage and touchdowns.

Professional career

Cleveland Browns

After being out of football for two years and not having played since 2016, Sheehy-Guiseppi was jobless and homeless, sleeping outside of a gym in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. After receiving a tip about the location of the Cleveland Browns free agent workout, he decided to take his chances to try out for the team, despite not receiving an invitation. By Sheehy-Guiseppi's own admission, he was only allowed at the workout by claiming to know

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

Vice President of Player Personnel

Alonzo Highsmith Alonzo Walter Highsmith, Sr. (born February 26, 1965) is an American football executive, former fullback, and former boxer. He is a General Manager for the University of Miami. He served as the vice president of player personnel for the Clevel ...

, and he impressed Highsmith enough to be invited to another tryout for the Browns a week later. The Browns officially signed him on April 5, 2019. During the team's OTAs, he competed for the kick returner position with

Antonio Callaway Antonio Callaway (born January 9, 1997) is an American football wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida, and was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the fourth round of the ...

Dontrell Hilliard Dontrell Donmond Hilliard (born February 26, 1995) is an American football running back and return specialist for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Tulane and signed as an undrafted free a ...

and

D'Ernest Johnson D'Ernest Johnson Jr. (born February 27, 1996) is an American football running back for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at South Florida. Early years Johnson attended and played high s ...

. In Cleveland's first preseason game of the

2019 NFL season The 2019 NFL season was the 100th season of the National Football League (NFL) and the 54th of the Super Bowl era. The season began on September 5, 2019, with the NFL Kickoff Game, in which Green Bay defeated Chicago. The season concluded w ...

against the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

, Sheehy-Guiseppi returned a punt 86 yards for a touchdown. On August 31, he was waived by the Browns. Then in 2020, he was signed by the Buffalo Bills and after another preseason punt return, he was added to the practice squad, and later waived

New York Guardians

On November 22, 2019, Sheehy-Guiseppi was drafted by the

New York Guardians The Orlando Guardians are a professional American football team based in Orlando, Florida. The team was founded by Vince McMahon's Alpha Entertainment and is an owned-and-operated member of the XFL. The Guardians played their home games at MetLi ...

in the XFL Supplemental Draft. He was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

on January 8, 2020. He was waived from injured reserve on March 12, 2020.

The Spring League

Sheehy-Guiseppi was selected by the Alphas of

The Spring League The Spring League was an American football developmental league and scouting event (pro showcase) that played from 2017 to 2021 and was founded by Brian Woods. Aimed at professional athletes but not paying a salary or expenses, the league's go ...

during its player selection draft on October 10, 2020.

References

External links

Cleveland Browns bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheehy-Guiseppi, Damon 1995 births Living people American football return specialists American football wide receivers Canadian football return specialists Canadian football wide receivers Cleveland Browns players Fan Controlled Football players New York Guardians players Ottawa Redblacks players People from Lake Havasu City, Arizona Phoenix Bears football players Players of American football from Arizona Players of American football from Michigan Players of American football from Orlando, Florida Players of Canadian football from Orlando, Florida Sportspeople from Traverse City, Michigan The Spring League players