Justin Trattou (born August 28, 1988) 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 wi ...

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 formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

. He played college football for the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

. He was signed by the New York Giants as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2011. He later played with the Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, retiring from the NFL in 2018. He was part of championship teams at all three levels of his career in football.

Early years

Trattou was born in Maywood, New Jersey.National Football League, Current Players
Justin Trattou
Retrieved January 9, 2012. He lived in Maywood, Hawthorne and

Franklin Lakes, New Jersey Franklin Lakes is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 11,079, an increase of 489 (+4.6%) from the 2010 census count of 10,590, which in turn reflected a ...

and attended

Don Bosco Preparatory High School , motto_translation = To Increase in Knowledge and Grace , accreditation = Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools , rival = Bergen Catholic High SchoolSaint Joseph Regional High School , mascot = , ma ...

Ramsey Ramsey may refer to: Geography British Isles * Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, a small market town in England * Ramsey, Essex, a village near Harwich, England ** Ramsey and Parkeston, a civil parish formerly called just "Ramsey" * Ramsey, Isle of Man, t ...

, where he was named all-state during both his junior and senior years.GatorZone.com, Football History, 2010 Roster
Justin Trattou
. Retrieved September 20, 2011. He collected 65 tackles, eight sacks and an interception as a sophomore. He helped lead Don Bosco to the state final his junior year by recording 96 tackles and totaling 11 sacks. As a senior playing for the Don Bosco Ironmen

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

team, he tallied 82 tackles and 17 sacks, and helped lead Don Bosco to a perfect 12–0 record and its first state title since 2003. He was chosen as a U.S. Army All-American and was also honored at the High School Heisman ceremony. Regarded as a four-star recruit by

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

, Trattou was rated No. 4 among

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

’s Top 30 prospects. He was rated fourth among

defensive ends 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 formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is p ...

Scout.com Scout Media is an integrated sports publishing company that produces Internet content covering hundreds of professional and college teams across America. The company was founded in 2001 and was acquired by Fox Sports in 2005. In 2013, Fox Sports ...

. He was also selected to be on the

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

150 list. He chose Florida over Notre Dame and committed on January 25, 2007. He also had scholarship offers from

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

, Boston College and Penn State, among others.

College career

Trattou accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the

, where he played for coach

Urban Meyer Urban Frank Meyer III (born July 10, 1964) is a college football TV commentator and former American football coach. He spent most of his coaching career at the collegiate level, having served as the head coach of the Bowling Green Falcons fro ...

Florida Gators football The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division o ...

team from 2007 to 2010.
2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 154, 185 (2011). Retrieved January 9, 2012. He played in 52 games at Florida, including 31 starts. For his career, he amassed 121

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...

(75 solo, 47 assisted), 26.0 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks, three interceptions, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, one pass breakup and three pass deflections. During his sophomore season, the Gators won a

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 o ...

(SEC) championship and the

2009 BCS National Championship Game The 2009 FedEx BCS National Championship Game was an American football game played at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, on January 8, 2009. It was the national championship game for the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season, and fea ...

. As a senior team captain in 2010, he memorably returned an interception thirty-five yards for a touchdown, and was the recipient of the Gators'

Fergie Ferguson Award The Forest K. Ferguson Award, commonly known as the "Fergie Ferguson Award," is presented annually to a senior member of the Florida Gators football team in memory of one of the University of Florida's greatest athletes. Namesake The award tak ...

, recognizing "the senior football player who displays outstanding leadership, character and courage." In his four seasons as a Gator, he played in fifty-two games, and started thirty-one of them, including all thirteen games during his senior year.

Professional career

Pre-draft

New York Giants

The New York Giants signed Trattou as an

in , and he appeared in six regular season games during his rookie season. He was waived/injured on August 16, 2012, and subsequently reverted to injured reserve on August 18.

Minnesota Vikings

On October 9, 2013, Trattou was signed by 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 expansi ...

. On September 20, 2015, Trattou got his first career interception against the Detroit Lions during a Vikings 26-16 victory. On December 14, 2013, Trattou was re-signed by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On July 28, 2017, Trattou signed with the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...

. He was placed on injured reserve on August 28, 2017.

Personal life

Trattou majored in sports management at the

and was named twice to SEC’s academic honor roll.

References

External links

Justin Trattou
– Florida Gators player profile
Justin Trattou
– New York Giants player profile {{DEFAULTSORT:Trattou, Justin 1988 births Living people People from Franklin Lakes, New Jersey People from Maywood, New Jersey People from Ramsey, New Jersey Sportspeople from Bergen County, New Jersey Players of American football from New Jersey American football defensive ends Florida Gators football players New York Giants players Minnesota Vikings players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players