Matt Spaeth (born November 24, 1983) 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 ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

. He was drafted by the Steelers in the third round of the 2007 NFL Draft and later won

Super Bowl XLIII Super Bowl XLIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champions Arizona Cardinals to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

with them against the Arizona Cardinals. He has also played for the Chicago Bears. He played college football at

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. Spaeth won 2006's

John Mackey Award The John Mackey Award is presented annually to college football's most outstanding tight end. Established in 2000 by the Nassau County Sports Commission, the award is given annually to the tight end who best exemplifies the play, sportsmanship, a ...

as college football's best tight end.

Early years

Spaeth graduated from St. Michael-Albertville, in St. Michael, Minnesota in 2002, where he played both football and basketball. St Michael was in the Wright County Conference at the time. Spaeth holds multiple records at St. Michael–Albertville in both sports. As a three-year starter in basketball he set records for most rebounds in a game (23), most steals in a game (8), most points in a career (1359), and most career rebounds (804).

College career

Spaeth played college football at

. In 2003, Matt started the season as a reserve, but was inserted into the starting lineup when starter

Ben Utecht Benjamin Jeffrey Utecht (born June 30, 1981) is a former American football player and current singer.Sportingnews.com and

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 ...

Freshman All-American team. In 2004, Matt increased his production to 24 catches for 298 yards and 4 touchdowns. He started every game was an honorable mention pick to the All-Big Ten Team. In 2005, Spaeth again started every game, hauling in 26 catches for 333 yards and 4 touchdowns. He was named to the All-Big Ten First-team. 2006 was the most productive season of Spaeth's career. Despite playing the last month of the season with a

separated shoulder A separated shoulder, also known as acromioclavicular joint injury, is a common injury to the acromioclavicular joint. The AC joint is located at the outer end of the clavicle where it attaches to the acromion of the scapula. Symptoms include no ...

, Matt went on to get career highs in receptions (47) & receiving yards (564), and tied his career high in touchdowns (4). For the second consecutive year, he was named to the All-Big Ten First-team, and in December was named a First-team All American. He was also awarded the team's

Bronko Nagurski Bronislau "Bronko" Nagurski (November 3, 1908 – January 7, 1990) was a Canadian-born professional American football player in the National Football League (NFL), renowned for his strength and size. Nagurski was also a successful professional ...

Most Valuable Player Award. Spaeth did not play in the

Insight Bowl The Guaranteed Rate Bowl is an annual college football bowl game that has been played in the state of Arizona since 1989. Played as the Copper Bowl from inception through 1996, it was known as the Insight.com Bowl from 1997 through 2001, then ...

on December 29 because of an injured shoulder.

Professional career

NFL Draft

Spaeth was invited to the

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foo ...

. He ran a 4.83

40-yard dash The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed and acceleration of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL Draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time can have a h ...

time.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Spaeth was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round of the 2007 NFL Draft. Spaeth started the season primarily on the goal line package and special teams. Spaeth's first catch in the NFL was a touchdown – catching a 5-yard pass from

Ben Roethlisberger Benjamin Todd Roethlisberger Sr. (; born March 2, 1982), nicknamed "Big Ben", is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college football ...

in the Steelers' 34-7 win over 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 (A ...

on September 9, 2007. When second-string tight end

Jerame Tuman Jerame Dean Tuman (born March 24, 1976) is a former American football tight end. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fifth round of the 1999 NFL Draft. He won Super Bowl XL with the Steelers, defeating the Seattle Seahawks. He played ...

was placed on injured reserve, Spaeth was promoted to second-string. Spaeth caught 5 passes for 34 yards and 3 touchdowns in the 2007 NFL season. In the 2008 season, Spaeth added 17 more catches to his career and 136 yards during the regular season. Along with both an increase in catches and yards, Spaeth also played in

where he had one catch for six yards. The Steelers went on to win 27-23 over the Arizona Cardinals. In 2009, Spaeth had 5 catches for 25 yards and 1 touchdown. At the end of the 2010 season, Spaeth and the Steelers appeared in

Super Bowl XLV Super Bowl XLV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

against the Green Bay Packers. He had one reception for nine yards in the 31–25 loss.

Chicago Bears

As an unrestricted free agent following the 2010 season, Spaeth signed with the Chicago Bears, who then traded away tight end Greg Olsen. Spaeth scored his first touchdown catch with the Bears in Week 1 against the Atlanta Falcons on a one-yard pass from

Jay Cutler Jay Christopher Cutler (born April 29, 1983) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the Chicago Bears. He played college football for the Van ...

. On March 13, 2013, Spaeth was released by the Bears, being the last Bear to wear number 89, which was retired on December 8, 2013, in honor of tight end and Super Bowl XX winning head coach

Mike Ditka Michael Keller Ditka (born Michael Dyczko; October 18, 1939) is an American former football player, coach, and television commentator. A member of both the College (1986) and the Pro (1988) Football Halls of Fame, he was UPI NFL Rookie of Year i ...

Pittsburgh Steelers (second stint)

On March 15, 2013, Spaeth re-signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers. On November 2, 2014, he caught

's record-breaking 12th touchdown in two games. On March 9, 2015, it was announced that the Steelers had signed Spaeth to a two-year contract extension. On July 21, 2016, the Steelers released Spaeth due to a failed physical.

NFL career statistics

References

External links

CBS Sports pre-draft bioSteelers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spaeth, Matt 1983 births Living people American football tight ends Chicago Bears players Minnesota Golden Gophers football players People from St. Michael, Minnesota Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of American football from Minnesota Sportspeople from the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area