George Jules "Jake" Bequette III (born February 21, 1989) 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 ...

and

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

infantry officer who served in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

in support of

Operation Inherent Resolve Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) is the U.S. military's operational name for the International military intervention against IS, including both a campaign in Iraq and a campaign in Syria, with a closely-related campaign in Libya. Throu ...

. He was selected in the third round with the 90th overall pick by the Patriots in the

2012 NFL Draft The 2012 NFL draft was the 77th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players for their rosters. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held ...

. He played high school football at Catholic High in Little Rock, Arkansas, and

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 ...

for the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

. Bequette was rated highly as a

prospect in that year's draft. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

nomination in the

2022 United States Senate election in Arkansas The 2022 United States Senate election in Arkansas was held on November 8, 2022, to elect a member to the United States Senate to represent the state of Arkansas. Incumbent Republican Senator John Boozman was first elected in 2010, defeating D ...

Amateur career

Jake Bequette was born George Jules Bequette III in

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

. Bequette attended

Catholic High School Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...

in Little Rock. After high school, Bequette attended the

, where he played

for the

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville. The University of Arkansas student body voted to change the name of the school mascot (ori ...

from 2007 to 2011. During his career, he started 42 of 48 games, recording 140 tackles and 23.5 sacks. As a senior, he was a first-team All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

selection. Bequette was named the Defensive MVP of the

2012 Cotton Bowl The 2012 AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic, the 76th edition of the game, was a post-season American college football bowl game, held on January 6, 2012 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas as part of the 2011–12 NCAA Bowl season. The game, which was ...

, helping the

2011 Arkansas Razorbacks football team The 2011 Arkansas Razorbacks football team represents the University of Arkansas in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Razorbacks were led by fourth year head coach Bobby Petrino and played five home games at Donald W. Reynolds R ...

defeat Kansas State, 29-16, as the Razorbacks finished the 2011 season with a record of 11-2, and a No. 5 final ranking in all polls. Bequette finished the game with five tackles and three quarterback sacks. Bequette is a third-generation Razorback: his grandfather George and father Jay both played for Arkansas, as did his uncle.

Professional career

Bequette was selected in the third round by the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

in the

. He played in three games in 2012, and five games in 2013. He was released by the Patriots on August 30, 2014, as part of final roster cuts. He did not see extensive playing time during his time with the Patriots, but re-signed with the team's practice squad shortly after the 2014 cuts. Bequette received a Super Bowl ring with the Patriots in 2014. Before the 2015 season, the Patriots switched Bequette from

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. Like ...

. Bequette was waived by the Patriots and subsequently placed on injured reserve after clearing waivers on August 28, 2015. He was released with an injury settlement on September 4, 2015, and became a free agent.

Post-NFL career

In August 2017, Bequette joined the

. After

basic training Military recruit training, commonly known as basic training or boot camp, refers to the initial instruction of new military personnel. It is a physically and psychologically intensive process, which resocializes its subjects for the unique deman ...

and

Officer Candidate School An officer candidate school (OCS) is a military school which trains civilians and Enlisted rank, enlisted personnel in order for them to gain a Commission (document), commission as Commissioned officer, officers in the armed forces of a country. ...

, he went on to become a Ranger-qualified infantry officer in the

101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operati ...

. Bequette later served a five-month

deployment Deployment may refer to: Engineering and software Concepts * Blue-green deployment, a method of installing changes to a web, app, or database server by swapping alternating production and staging servers * Continuous deployment, a software en ...

in 2019. In January 2021, he launched The Arkansas Fund, a nonprofit dedicated to helping small businesses in Arkansas that have struggled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In July 2021, he announced his candidacy for

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

against Arkansas Senator

John Boozman John Nichols Boozman ( ; born December 10, 1950) is an American politician and former optometrist serving as the senior United States senator from Arkansas, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U.S. repre ...

, challenging Boozman from the right in the

primary for the 2022 election. On May 24, 2022, Bequette lost the primary to Boozman, who garnered enough votes to avoid a runoff.

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bequette, Jake 1989 births American football defensive ends Arkansas Razorbacks football players Arkansas Republicans Living people New England Patriots players Players of American football from Arkansas Sportspeople from Little Rock, Arkansas United States Army officers United States Army personnel of the Iraq War Candidates in the 2022 United States Senate elections