Ethan Hemer (born March 30, 1991) is a former

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 ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

. 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 ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. Hemer was undrafted in the

2014 NFL draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

and signed as a free agent on May 10, 2014.

Early life

Hemer attended

Medford Area Senior High School Medford Area Senior High School (known as MASH) is a public secondary school located in Medford, Wisconsin. MASH is the only high school in the Medford Area Public School District. History The current high school building was built in 1968. The h ...

Medford, Wisconsin Medford is a city in Taylor County, in north-central Wisconsin, United States. The population was 4,349 at the 2020 census. The city is located mostly within the boundaries of the Town of Medford. It is the county seat of Taylor County. Histor ...

, where he was First-team All-State (WFCA, Wisconsin Preps) as a Senior, Second-team All-State selection by the Associated Press, First-team All-Region, All-Area, All-Conference, Conference Defensive Player of the Year and Team Captain. He was a letterman in football, hockey, and track. As a senior, he qualified for state in the Discus throw. His high school career totals of 146 tackles, 47 TFLs and 11 QB sacks. Coached by Ted Wilson.

College career

2009

Hemer walked onto the Badgers in 2009 and redshirted his Freshman season. Hemer was named the defensive scout team player of the week for the game against Purdue. Hemer was named the Badgers defensive scout team player of the year.

2010

Hemer played in all 13 games his redshirt Freshman year, which included him starting the last 6 games of the year. Hemer played in his first career game against UNLV September 4 and recorded his first tackle against Arizona State on September 18. Hemer posted 2 tackles in the Rose Bowl game against TCU. He was named co-defensive player of the week against Iowa after his first career start where he recorded 6 tackles. He earned Academic-All Big 10.

2011

Hemer started all 14 games for the Badgers his redshirt Sophomore year. He was named defensive player of the week against UNLV September 4 after recording 4 tackles. On October 22 Hemer recorded his first career sack against Michigan State. Hemer had a season high 5 tackles in the Big 10 Championship game against Michigan State on December 3.

2012

Hemer started all 13 games for the Badgers his redshirt Junior year. Hemer record 5 tackles and a tackle for loss in a game against UTEP on September 22. On October 6 in a game against Illinois Hemer had 1 sack and a tackle for a loss. For his efforts in the 2012 campaign, Hemer was selected as Honorable Mention All-Big 10 (Coaches).

2013

Prior to the 2013 season Hemer was Preseason 3rd Team All-Big 10 (Athlon) and 4th Team All-Big 10 (Phil Steele). Hemer was moved from Defensive Tackle to Defensive End in the new 3–4 defense. Hemer played in all 13 games and started 8 of them. He recorded a season high 3 tackles in games against Iowa, Minnesota, and Penn State. At the Badger pro day Hemer bench pressed 225 pounds 32 times, which would have tied for 2nd best at the NFL scouting combine among D-linemen had he been invited. He clocked in at 4.95 in the 40. In the vertical he got as high as 29.5 inches. And in the broad jump, 109 inches.

College statistics

Professional career

Pittsburgh Steelers

Hemer went undrafted in the

. He later signed with the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

on May 10, 2014. Throughout training camp and preseason Hemer competed for a roster spot with

Josh Mauro Joshua Daniel Mauro (born February 17, 1991) is an English-born former American football defensive end. He played college football at Stanford. Mauro has also played for the New York Giants and Jacksonville Jaguars. Early years Mauro moved fr ...

and Nick Williams. Hemer spent the 2014 season on the

practice squad. After the 2014 preseason Hemer made the practice squad, but on November 5 he was cut by the Steelers. A week later the Steelers brought back Hemer after

was claimed by the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

. On January 5, 2015 Hemer signed a Future/Reserve contract with the Steelers. He was released by the Steelers and was signed to the practice squad on September 6, 2015 but was released the following day.

Professional statistics

Personal life

Hemer has 1 brother and 1 sister. His brother Ben also played for the

team, as Tackle. He got married in 2017 to his college sweetheart, former UW volleyball alum (2009-2012) Mary Ording. His parents are Jeff and Kathy Hemer.

References

External links

Wisconsin profile

Steelers profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hemer, Ethan 1991 births Living people Pittsburgh Steelers players Wisconsin Badgers football players People from Medford, Wisconsin