Matthew M. Roth (born October 14, 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 ...

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 ...

in 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 was drafted by the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

in the second 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 ...

. 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 ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

. He also played for 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 ( ...

and

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 ...

Early years

Roth attended

Willowbrook High School Willowbrook High School (WBHS) is a public four-year high school in Villa Park, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois. The school is located approximately half a mile north of Illinois Route 38 on Ardmore Ave. It is a part of the DuPage ...

in Villa Park, Illinois. He was a consensus

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

pick as a senior when he played

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 ...

and fullback. Roth lettered three times in

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

(took his junior off to focus on football), where he won a state title as a senior with a record of 31-0.

College career

Roth was a two-time First-team All-

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

selection and an All-America selection as a senior at the University of Iowa. Roth began his Iowa career as a middle linebacker. He shifted to the defensive line in 2002.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Miami Dolphins

Roth was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the second round (46th overall) of the

, using the pick acquired in the

Patrick Surtain Patrick Frank Surtain Sr. ( ; born June 19, 1976) is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. ...

trade. Roth played in a reserve role in all 32 games in his first two seasons. With the departure of

Kevin Carter Kevin Carter (13 September 1960 – 27 July 1994) was a South African photojournalist and member of the Bang-Bang Club. He was the recipient in 1994 of a Pulitzer Prize for his photograph depicting the 1993 famine in Sudan. He died by sui ...

to 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 ...

and

David Bowens David Walter Bowens (born July 3, 1977) is a former American football linebacker who played twelve seasons in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the fifth round of the 1999 NFL Draft. He played college footbal ...

free agency 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 ...

, Roth was named starting defensive end in 2007. In 2008, Roth moved to outside linebacker after the Dolphins shifted to the 3-4 defense. He started 14 of 16 games. Roth was the subject of controversy at the beginning of training camp in 2009. According to head coach

Tony Sparano Anthony Joseph Sparano III (October 7, 1961 – July 22, 2018) was an American football coach. He served as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins and Oakland Raiders of the National Football League (NFL) and is the only NFL head coach to have l ...

, Roth failed the team's initial conditioning test due to an unknown illness. Roth's agent,

Drew Rosenhaus Drew Jordan Rosenhaus (born October 29, 1966) is an American sports agent who represents professional football players. He owns the Miami-based sports agency Rosenhaus Sports, and has negotiated over $7 billion of NFL contracts. Early life an ...

, stated in a television appearance the failed test was due to a groin injury. On September 5, Roth was placed on the Reserve/Non-Football-Injury list. He was later waived on November 24 of that year.

Cleveland Browns

Roth was claimed off waivers by the

on November 25, 2009.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On August 11, 2011, Roth signed with the

NFL statistics

Key * GP: games played * COMB: combined tackles * TOTAL: total tackles * AST: assisted tackles * SACK: sacks * FF: forced fumbles * FR: fumble recoveries * FR YDS: fumble return yards * INT: interceptions * IR YDS: interception return yards * AVG IR: average interception return * LNG: longest interception return * TD: interceptions returned for touchdown * PD: passes defensed

References

External links

*
Iowa Hawkeyes bioMiami Dolphins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roth, Matt 1982 births Living people Players of American football from Illinois American football defensive ends American football linebackers Iowa Hawkeyes football players Miami Dolphins players Cleveland Browns players Jacksonville Jaguars players People from Villa Park, Illinois