Jayson Dimanche (born September 22, 1990) is a Haitian 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 ...

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 ...

. He was originally signed by 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 ...

as an undrafted free agent in 2013. 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 ...

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois, also known as Little Egypt, is the southern third of Illinois, principally along and south of Interstate 64. Although part of a Midwestern United States, Midwestern state, this region is aligned in culture more with that of th ...

Early years

He attended

Hamilton High School West Hamilton High School West is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grade located in Hamilton Township, in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States, operating as one of the three secondary scho ...

Hamilton Township, Mercer County, New Jersey Hamilton Township is a township in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is the largest suburb of Trenton, the state's capital, which is located to the township's west. The township is within the New York metropolitan area as defined ...

. He was selected to the first-team ''

Trentonian ''The Trentonian'' is a daily newspaper serving Trenton, New Jersey, USA, and the surrounding Mercer County community. The paper in 2020 has a daily circulation of under 8,000 and a Sunday circulation under 7,000. As of August 2020, it was ranke ...

'' all-area and ''

Trenton Times ''The Times'' is a daily newspaper owned by Advance Publications that serves Trenton and the Mercer County, New Jersey area, with a strong focus on the government of New Jersey. The paper had a daily circulation of 77,405, with Sunday circulati ...

'' all-county, and second-team ''

Asbury Park Press The ''Asbury Park Press'' is a daily newspaper in Monmouth and Ocean counties of New Jersey and has the third largest circulation in the state. It has been owned by Gannett since 1997. Its reporting staff has been awarded numerous national hon ...

'' all-state during his senior season in high school. He was selected as the Hamilton West High School defensive MVP and Hardest Hitter Award. In 2006, he was selected to the Second-team all-area and all-county teams while at high school. He had a total of 253 tackles and 30 sacks in three prep seasons while at high school.

College career

In his freshman season, Dimanche was selected to the MVFC Academic Honor Roll. In his sophomore season, he was selected as a Honorable Mention All-MVFC. He was selected as the MVFC Defensive Player of the Week after his outstanding regular season performance when he recorded a career-high three sacks in a regular season win over No. 21 Western Illinois during his sophomore season. During his junior season, Dimanche was among the student-athletes that were named to the MVFC Academic Honor Roll. In his last season at Southern Illinois, he was selected as team captain on August 25, 2012. He was selected to the CFPA linebacker award watch list during preseason. He was named to the second-team All-MVFC following the conclusion of his senior season. He recorded 49 Tackles, 8 Sacks, 2 pass deflections, and a fumble recovery in his senior season. He finished college with a total of 145 tackles, 19 sacks, three forced fumbles, six pass deflections, and one interception.

Professional career

Cincinnati Bengals

On April 27, 2013, he signed with the

as an undrafted free agent following the

2013 NFL Draft The 2013 NFL Draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in ...

. Dimanche recorded his first NFL career forced fumble against the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

on November 16, 2014. He was waived-injured by the Bengals on September 5, 2015. He cleared waivers and was reverted to the Bengals' injured reserve list. On September 11, 2015, Dimanche was released by the Bengals with an injury settlement.

Kansas City Chiefs

The

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

signed Dimanche to their practice squad on October 13, 2015.

Cleveland Browns

On October 20, 2015, the

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 ( ...

signed Dimanche off the Chiefs' practice squad. On December 23, 2015, the

promoted Dimanche to the 53-man roster and placed wide receiver

Andrew Hawkins Andrew Austin Hawkins (born March 10, 1986) is a former American football wide receiver. He played six seasons in the National Football League with the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns and two seasons for the Montreal Alouettes of the Ca ...

to the injured reserve. On December 31, 2015, the

waived Dimanche.

Second stint with the Bengals

On January 5, 2016, the Bengals signed Dimanche to their practice squad. On August 29, 2016, Dimanche was waived by the Bengals.

Detroit Lions

On August 30, 2016, Dimanche was claimed off waivers by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

. On September 3, 2016, he was waived by the Lions.

San Francisco 49ers

On April 7, 2017, Dimanche signed with 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 ...

. On May 2, 2017, Dimanche was waived by the 49ers. He was re-signed on August 5, 2017. He was waived/injured on August 16, 2017, and placed on injured reserve. On August 21, 2017, the 49ers waived Dimanche from IR with an injury settlement.

Personal life

He is the son of

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

an immigrants, Jude and Martine Dimanche. His father is a truck driver while his mother is a manager.

References

External links

Southern Illinois Salukis bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dimanche, Jayson 1990 births Living people American sportspeople of Haitian descent American football linebackers Hamilton High School West alumni People from Hamilton Township, Mercer County, New Jersey Southern Illinois Salukis football players Cincinnati Bengals players Kansas City Chiefs players Cleveland Browns players Detroit Lions players San Francisco 49ers players Players of American football from New Jersey Sportspeople from Mercer County, New Jersey