Dante Garrison Pettis (born October 23, 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 who is 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 ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

Early years

Pettis attended

JSerra Catholic High School JSerra Catholic High School is a private coeducational Catholic high school located in San Juan Capistrano, California. Named after Saint Junípero Serra, the school was founded by parents in 2003 and is an independent school sanctioned by the ...

San Juan Capistrano, California San Juan Capistrano (Spanish for "St. John of Capistrano") is a city in Orange County, California, located along the Orange Coast. The population was 34,593 at the 2010 census. San Juan Capistrano was founded by the Spanish in 1776, when St. ...

. He played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, basketball and ran track. As a senior, he recorded 50 receptions for 889 yards and 11 touchdown receptions. He committed to the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

to play college football.

College career

Freshman season

As a true freshman for

in 2014, Pettis had 17 receptions for 259 yards and a touchdown. He also added 288 punt return yards and a punt return touchdown.

Sophomore season

As a sophomore, he recorded 30 receptions for 414 yards and a touchdown reception with 271 punt return yards and two punt return touchdowns.

Junior season

As a junior, he finished with 53 receptions, 822 yards, 15 touchdown receptions, 287 punt return yards and two touchdowns.

Senior season

As a senior in 2017 against the

Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon, located in Eugene. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac-12 Conferenc ...

, he broke the record for most career punt return touchdowns in NCAA history. Pettis garnered consensus All-America honors as a result of being named a first-team All-American by the AFCA,

FWAA The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media ou ...

Walter Camp Football Foundation The Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The organization also presents various awards. It is named in honor of foo ...

, and ''

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

''. He finished the season with 63 receptions, 761 yards, and seven touchdown receptions, as well as 428 punt return yards and four touchdowns.

Professional career

Dante Pettis and Marquise Goodwin (cropped)

San Francisco 49ers

The

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

selected Pettis in the second round (44th overall) of the

2018 NFL Draft The 2018 NFL Draft was the 83rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2018 NFL season. The draft was held on April 26–28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; it was the first draft ...

. He was the fourth wide receiver to be selected that year. In the season-opener against the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

, Pettis made his NFL debut and caught two passes for 61 receiving yards and a touchdown. In addition, he returned two punts for 14 yards in the 24–16 loss. On December 29, 2018, Pettis was placed on injured reserve after suffering a knee injury. Pettis finished his rookie season with 27 receptions for 467 yards and five touchdowns. In Pettis' second season, he caught 11 receptions for 109 yards and two touchdowns. On November 3, 2020, Pettis was waived by the San Francisco 49ers.

New York Giants

On November 4, 2020, Pettis was claimed off waivers by the New York Giants. He was placed on the reserve/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

list by the team on November 20, 2020, and activated on December 1. In his first game played as a New York Giant, on December 27, 2020, against the Baltimore Ravens, Pettis finished with two receptions for 33 yards. He caught his first touchdown as a Giant the next week, against the Dallas Cowboys, for 33 yards. Pettis finished his 2020 campaign with four receptions, for 76 yards, averaging 19 yards a reception, and one touchdown. On September 1, 2021, Pettis was waived by the Giants and re-signed to the practice squad. On October 19, 2021, Pettis was signed to active roster. In week 7 against the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

Dante Pettis had five catches for 39 yards and a touchdown while adding the 16-yard pass to Daniel Jones. On November 5. 2021, Pettis was placed on injured reserve with a shoulder injury.

Chicago Bears

On May 11, 2022, the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

signed Pettis. On October 14, Pettis caught four passes for 84 yards and the Bears’ only touchdown, during a 7-12 loss to the

Washington Commanders 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) E ...

. Pettis re-signed with the Bears on April 17, 2023. He was placed on injured reserve on August 26. He was released on September 6, 2023, with an injury settlement.

NFL statistics

Personal life

His father,

Gary Pettis Gary George Pettis (born April 3, 1958) is an American former professional baseball center fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) and current third base coach for the Houston Astros. During his playing career, Pettis won five Gold Glove Awards a ...

, played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) and is a coach for the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

. His brother, Kyler Pettis, is an actor and his cousin,

Austin Pettis Austin Pettis (born February 8, 1989) is a former American football wide receiver. He was drafted in the third round, 78th overall, in the 2011 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Rams. Early years Pettis attended Orange Lutheran High School in Oran ...

, played in the NFL.

References

External links

Washington Huskies bioSan Francisco 49ers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pettis, Dante 1995 births Living people All-American college football players American football return specialists American football wide receivers New York Giants players Sportspeople from San Clemente, California San Francisco 49ers players Players of American football from Orange County, California Washington Huskies football players Chicago Bears players