Matthew Victor Giordano (born October 16, 1982) 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 ...

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

. He was drafted by the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

in the fourth round of the

2005 NFL Draft The 2005 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The NFL draft, draft was held April 23–24, 2005 NFL seaso ...

. Giordano grew up in

Clovis, California Clovis is a city in Fresno County, California, United States. The 2020 population was 120,124. Clovis is located northeast of downtown Fresno, at an elevation of 361 feet (110 m). History The city of Clovis began as a freight stop along the S ...

and 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 ...

Fresno City College Fresno City College (FCC or "Fresno City") is a public community college in Fresno, California. It is part of the State Center Community College District within the California Community Colleges system. Fresno City College operates on a semester ...

and

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. Giordano was part of the Colts'

Super Bowl XLI Super Bowl XLI was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Chicago Bears to decide the National Football League (NFL) champio ...

championship team that defeated the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

. He was also a member of the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

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 ...

and

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

Early years

Attending Buchanan High School in

, Giordano played a key role as team co-captain in Buchanan's inaugural Valley championship in 2000. His football jersey number was 2 while playing for Buchanan. As a senior, he had five interceptions and 64 tackles while causing three fumbles, and averaged nine yards per carry and 12.6 yards per reception on offense. He broke Buchanan records for longest punt return for a touchdown, most blocked kicks and most interceptions in a game. He was a two-time all (TRAC) Tri-River-Athletic-Conference first-team choice and was also named the Defensive Player of the Year by the Clovis Exchange Club and Buchanan High's Most Outstanding Player in football and track in 2001. Giordano was also crowned individual league champion in the

400 meters The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is on ...

in 1999.

College career

Giordano attended

for two years. He won All-State honors as a freshman, was a two-time All-Conference pick, and was the Defensive MVP in the Northern California Championship game. He then played

with the

California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club te ...

, at the

. As a senior, Giordano won All-

Pacific-10 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division ...

first-team honors, and was an All-American honorable mention. During his career, he had two interceptions, six pass deflections, one sack, 111 tackles (four for losses), two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery. He graduated from Berkeley.

Professional career

Indianapolis Colts

The

selected Giordano in the fourth round (134th overall) of the

. Giordano played in 15 games as a rookie, starting in the September 11 game. He made 12 tackles and 1

pass deflected In American football, a pass deflected, also known as a pass deflection, a pass defended, a pass , a pass knockdown, or a pass breakup, is an incomplete pass that is caused by a defensive player. This is done by slapping or blocking the ball with ...

. In 2006, his second season, Giordano played 12 games and made 25 tackles. On December 10 against the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

, Giordano made his first career interception, of

David Garrard David Douglas Garrard (born February 14, 1978) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons, primarily with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He played college football at East Carolina and wa ...

. Giordano also deflected a pass and made a season-high 9 tackles in the game. On December 18, a Monday night game against 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 ...

, Giordano made his first professional start. The Colts won

29-17 over the

on February 4, 2007. On fourth down late in the fourth quarter, Giordano deflected a pass by

Rex Grossman Rex Daniel Grossman III (born August 23, 1980) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons, most notably with the Chicago Bears. He played college football at Florida, where he rece ...

Desmond Clark Desmond Darice Clark (born April 20, 1977) is a former American football tight end who played in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the sixth round of the 1999 NFL Draft. He played college football at Wake Fore ...

in a play described as icing the game for Indianapolis. Giordano started 4 games out of 12 played in 2007 and made 20 tackles, 4 passes deflected, and 2 interceptions. In the season-opening 41-10 victory over the

, Giordano intercepted

Drew Brees Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees is the NFL leader in ...

and returned the pick 83 yards in the Colts' final touchdown play of the game. In 2008, Giordano played all 16 regular season games and played on special teams in the Wild Card playoff game against the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

. Giordano made 23 tackles and 1 pass deflected. Giordano signed a one-year contract with the Colts on April 20, 2009. On September 6, the Colts released Giordano to make room for linebacker

Cody Glenn Cody Glenn (born October 6, 1986) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Washington Redskins in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University o ...

Green Bay Packers

On September 23, 2009, the

signed Giordano after releasing

Aaron Rouse Aaron Roosevelt Rouse (born January 8, 1984) is a former American football safety who last played for the Virginia Destroyers of the United Football League. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the third round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He p ...

. With the Packers in 2009, Giordano played 5 games and made 2 tackles. He was released on March 5, 2010.

New Orleans Saints

Giordano signed with the

on March 16, 2010 and participated in training camp with the team before being cut on August 31. Giordano signed with the

on October 12, 2010 and played 9 games with 3 tackles. In his debut with the Saints on October 17 against 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) NFC South, South divisio ...

, Giordano recovered an on-side kick attempt by Tampa kicker

Connor Barth Connor Thomas Barth (born April 11, 1986) is a former American football placekicker who played ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at North Carolina and was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs as an undraft ...

in the fourth quarter in New Orleans's 31-6 victory.

Oakland Raiders

The Raiders signed Giordano on August 15, 2011 after Hiram Eugene suffered a serious hip injury in the pre-season opener. He was released on September 3, but was re-signed on September 5. In the 2011-2012 season, Giordano led the team in interceptions along with his 70 tackles.

St. Louis Rams

The Rams signed Giordano on June 15, 2013 after the Rams released rookie free agent safety Don Unamba.Report: Rams sign former Raiders safety Matt Giordano

Personal life

Giordano was married March 4, 2005 to Laura Enns of Clovis, California. He was an

American Studies American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinary field of scholarship that examines American literature, history, society, and culture. It traditionally incorporates literary criticism, historiography and critical theory. Sch ...

major. His great-grandfather is Italian born Ralph Giordano, better known as

Young Corbett III Ralph Giordano (born Raffaele Giordano, May 27, 1905 – July 15, 1993), better known as Young Corbett III, was an Italian-born American boxer. He was the World Welterweight Champion in 1933 and the NYSAC Middleweight champion in 1938. A tough S ...

, a world

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

champion in 1933. Matt is the son of Victor and Janet Giordano. His notable combine marks include a bench press and 19 repetitions at , 4.02 20 yd shuttle, 4.48 40-yd dash, 33.5 vertical jump, and a squat. Giordano is now a physical education teacher at Buchanan High School. Giordano accepted the position of head coach for the Buchanan Bears football team for 2016 season.

References

External links

Oakland Raiders bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giordano, Matt 1982 births Living people American people of Italian descent Sportspeople from Clovis, California Sportspeople from Fresno, California Players of American football from California American football safeties Fresno City Rams football players California Golden Bears football players Indianapolis Colts players Green Bay Packers players Atlanta Falcons players New Orleans Saints players Oakland Raiders players St. Louis Rams players