Germaine Pratt (born May 21, 1996) 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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

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 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 ...

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The university ...

, and was drafted by the Bengals in the third round of the

2019 NFL Draft The 2019 NFL Draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee. The first round was held on April 2 ...

Early years

Pratt attended

High Point Central High School High Point Central High School is a public high school located in High Point, North Carolina. The school has a population of approximately 1,237 (2020–2021) students in 9th–12th grades. The school's offerings include Advanced Placement classe ...

High Point, North Carolina High Point is a city in the Piedmont Triad region of the United States, U.S. state of North Carolina. Most of the city is in Guilford County, North Carolina, Guilford County, with parts extending into Randolph County, North Carolina, Randolph, ...

. He committed to

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

to play

College career

Pratt played at NC State from 2014 to 2018. During his career, he had 235 tackles, six sacks, four

interceptions In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

and a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

Professional career

2019

The

selected Pratt in the third round (72nd overall) of the

. Pratt was the eighth linebacker drafted in 2019. On June 27, 2019, the Cincinnati Bengals signed Pratt to a four-year, $4.08 million

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

that includes a

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

of $1.05 million. Throughout training camp, Pratt competed for a role as a starting linebacker against Preston Brown,

Nick Vigil Nick Vigil (born August 20, 1993) is an American football linebacker who is a free agent. He played college football at Utah State, and was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He has also played for the Lo ...

, Jordan Evans,

Hardy Nickerson Hardy Otto Nickerson Sr. (born September 1, 1965) is an American former football coach and professional player. He played as linebacker for four teams over 16 seasons, from 1987 to 2002, in the National Football League (NFL). Nickerson spent ...

Malik Jefferson Malik Terrell Jefferson (born November 15, 1996) is an American football linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Texas. As a senior at Poteet High School in Mesquite, Texas, Jeffer ...

Deshaun Davis Deshaun Davis (born December 31, 1995) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the linebackers coach at the University of North Alabama. Davis played college football at Auburn as an inside linebacker. High school care ...

and

Noah Dawkins Noah Dawkins (born August 13, 1997) is an American football linebacker for the Michigan Panthers of the United States Football League (USFL). He played college football for The Citadel. High school/college career A native of Spartanburg, South ...

. Head coach

Zac Taylor Zachary William Taylor (born May 10, 1983) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). Beginning his NFL career as an offensive assistant, he was the quarterbacks coach f ...

named Pratt the primary backup linebacker, behind starters Preston Brown, Nick Vigil, and Jordan Evans, to begin the regular season. He made his professional regular season debut during the Cincinnati Bengals’ season-opener at the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

and assisted on one tackle in the 21–20 loss. On October 13, 2019, Pratt earned his first career start and recorded five combined tackles (four solo) during a 23 –17 loss at the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

in Week 6. In Week 10, Pratt started at middle linebacker, replacing Preston Brown, and made four combined tackles (three solo) in the Bengals’ 49–13 loss against the Baltimore Ravens. On November 12, 2019, the Cincinnati Bengals waived Preston Brown. Defensive coordinator

Lou Anarumo Lou Anarumo (born August 18, 1966) is an American football coach who is the defensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the defensive backs coach at Purdue under Joe Tiller and ...

subsequently named Pratt the starting middle linebacker for the remainder of the season. On December 22, 2019, Pratt collected a season-high 11 combined tackles (nine solo) during a 38–35 loss at the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

in Week 16. He finished his rookie campaign in 2019 with a total of 76 combined tackles (50 solo) in 16 games and nine starts.

2020

Head coach Zac Taylor elected to install a base 5-2 defense and named Pratt and

Josh Bynes Joshua Bynes (born August 24, 1989) is an American football inside linebacker who is a free agent. He was signed by the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2011 and has also played for the Detroit Lions, Arizona Cardinals, Cincinnati ...

as the starting linebackers with

Carlos Dunlap Carlos Dunlap (born February 28, 1989) is an American football defensive end for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida where he won a National Championship in 2009. He was drafted by ...

and

Sam Hubbard Sam Hubbard (born June 29, 1995) is an American football defensive end for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ohio State, and was drafted by the Bengals in the third round of the 2018 N ...

as edge rushers. He started in the Cincinnati Bengals’ season-opener against the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

and made 12 combined tackles (eight solo) during a 16–13 loss.

2021

Against 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 divis ...

in the Wild Card round, Pratt recorded six tackles, and recorded the game ending interception on

Derek Carr Derek Dallas Carr (born March 28, 1991) is an American football quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Fresno State, where he twice received first-team All- MWC honors, and wa ...

in the 26–19 win, securing the Bengals first playoff win since

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

References

External links

NC State Wolfpack bioCincinnati Bengals bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pratt, Germaine 1996 births Living people Sportspeople from High Point, North Carolina Players of American football from North Carolina American football linebackers NC State Wolfpack football players Cincinnati Bengals players