John Robert Ridgeway III (born May 7, 1999) 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 ...

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

for 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 ...

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 ...

Illinois State Illinois State University (ISU) is a Public university, public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is reco ...

and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

. Ridgeway was drafted by the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

in the fifth round of the

2022 NFL Draft The 2022 NFL Draft was the 87th edition of the National Football League's annual draft and was held from April 28–30, 2022, at the Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The first round was held on Thursday, April 28, and w ...

, but was released prior to his first game and signed with the Commanders.

Early years

Ridgeway grew up in

Bloomington, Illinois Bloomington is a city and the county seat of McLean County, Illinois, United States. It is adjacent to the town of Normal, and is the more populous of the two principal municipalities of the Bloomington–Normal metropolitan area. Bloomington ...

, and attended Bloomington High School. At Bloomington, he played offensive tackle and defensive tackle on the football team, competed in the shot put and discus on the track and field team, and was a four-year letter winner on the wrestling team. Ridgeway was named first-team All-

Big Twelve Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its fo ...

on offense and first-team All-State on defense as a senior. He also won the state heavyweight wrestling championship.

College career

Ridgeway began his collegiate career at

, where he redshirted as a true freshman. During his redshirt season he focused on the defensive tackle position after initially being recruited to play on the offensive line. Ridgeway was named to the

Missouri Valley Football Conference The Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC), formerly the Gateway Football Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivis ...

(MVFC) All-Newcomer team as a redshirt freshman after recording 30 tackles with one sack. He had 22 tackles with three tackles for loss and was named first-team All-MVFC in his redshirt junior season, which was shortened and played in the spring of 2021 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United States The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States is a part of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the Uni ...

. After the season, he transferred to Arkansas. Ridgeway was named the Razorback's starting

nose guard A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

going into the 2021 season, but missed the season opener due to an appendectomy. He finished the season with 39 tackles, two sacks and four tackles for loss, helping Arkansas finish 9-4 and ranked #21 in the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

for the season after winning the

2022 Outback Bowl The 2022 Outback Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 2022, with kickoff at 12:00 p.m. EST and televised on ESPN2. It was the 36th edition of the Outback Bowl, and was one of the 2021–22 bowl games concluding the 20 ...

over Penn St. Ridgeway declared for the

after the end of the season.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Ridgeway was drafted by the

in the fifth round (178th overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft. He was waived on September 17, 2022.

Washington Commanders

Ridgeway was claimed off waivers by the

on September 19, 2022. In the Week 9 loss to 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 ...

, Ridgeway made a critical mistake for illegal contact with

Andrew DePaola Andrew DePaola Jr. (born July 28, 1987) is an American football long snapper for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He made his professional debut with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on September 7, 2014. He played football a ...

on the Vikings' field goal attempt on fourth down with less than two minutes remaining in the game. The Commanders were flagged with an unnecessary roughness penalty giving the Vikings another first down, which allowed them to run out the clock before scoring a field goal and ending the game at a final score of 20-17. The following week, he forced a fumble out of tight end

Dallas Goedert Dallas Clayton Goedert ( ; born January 3, 1995) is an American football tight end for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at South Dakota State, and was drafted by the Eagles in the second r ...

which was recovered by linebacker

Jamin Davis Jamin Davis ( ; born December 12, 1998) is an American football linebacker for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Kentucky and was drafted by Washington in the first round of the 2021 NF ...

ultimately helping to beat the then undefeated

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

References

External links

*
Washington Commanders bio

Arkansas Razorbacks bio

Illinois State Redbirds bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ridgeway, John 1999 births Living people Players of American football from Illinois American football defensive tackles Arkansas Razorbacks football players Illinois State Redbirds football players Sportspeople from Bloomington, Illinois Dallas Cowboys players Washington Commanders players