Michael Caputo (born October 26, 1992) 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 ...

coach and former player. He played college football at

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

and played in the NFL for the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

. He was most recently working as the

safeties Safety is the condition of being protected against harmful conditions or events, or the control of hazards to reduce risk. Safety may also refer to: Places * Safety Island, Antarctica Government * The Internet Stopping Adults Facilitating the ...

coach for

Utah State Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

High school career

College recruiting

College career

2011–2014

Caputo attended the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

where he played

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 ...

for the

Wisconsin Badgers football The Wisconsin Badgers football program represents the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the sport of American football. Wisconsin competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the W ...

team from 2011 through 2015. He was a starter for three seasons, 2013–2015. Caputo's freshman year he was a member of the scout team and received a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

. In 2012, he played in 13 games, and only recorded ten tackles. For the 2013 season Caputo earned a starting spot at safety despite missing all of spring training after undergoing neck surgery. Caputo started 12 of 13 games. By the end of the season Caputo tallied 63 tackles which ranked 2nd on the entire team. In the 2014 season Caputo led the team in tackles with 106 tackles and was a consensus 2nd team All-Big Ten pick as well being named 2nd team All-American by the

Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

2015

In the off season Caputo was named team captain for the 2015 season. Prior to the season starting Caputo was named to numerous preseason award watchlists, including the

Lott IMPACT Trophy The Lott IMPACT Trophy is presented annually to the college football defensive IMPACT player of the year. IMPACT is an acronym for: Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community, and Tenacity. The award purports to equally recognize the ...

Bednarik Award The Chuck Bednarik Award is presented annually to the defensive player in college football as judged by the Maxwell Football Club to be the best in the United States. The award is named for Chuck Bednarik, a former college and professional Americ ...

Bronko Nagurski Trophy The Bronko Nagurski Trophy has been awarded annually since 1993 to the collegiate American football defensive player adjudged by the membership of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) to be the best in the National Collegiate Athle ...

and

Jim Thorpe Award The Jim Thorpe Award, named in memory of multi-sport athlete Jim Thorpe, has been awarded to the top defensive back in college football since 1986. It is voted on by the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. In 2017, the award became sponsored by Paycom ...

. In the season opener against

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

, on the third play of the game, Caputo went down hard while tackling runningback

Derrick Henry Derrick Lamar Henry Jr. (born January 4, 1994) is an American football running back for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). His imposing rushing game and larger stature than the average running back earned him the nickna ...

. After the play Caputo tried to join the Alabama huddle, shortly thereafter the referees called timeout and Caputo was later diagnosed with a concussion. Caputo played in the 2016 East–West Shrine Game which was played at

Tropicana Field Tropicana Field (commonly known as the Trop) is a Multi-purpose stadium, multi-purpose domed stadium located in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. The stadium has been the home of the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB) since the ...

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...

. He recorded three tackles, two passes defensed and two interceptions. One of the interceptions was on former teammate

Joel Stave Joel Stave (born May 16, 1992) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at Wisconsin. High school career Joel Stave attended Whitnall High School in Greenfield, Wisconsin, where he was a three-year letter winner in ...

which Caputo returned for 66 yards and was eventually tackled by Stave on the 11-yard line, preventing a pick six. After the game, Caputo was named the defensive MVP.

College statistics

:''source'

Professional career

Caputo is trained at Fischer Sports Institute in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

for the

NFL 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 Footba ...

in February and Wisconsin's Pro Day in March, ultimately in preparation for the

2016 NFL draft The 2016 NFL Draft was the 81st annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

. Caputo did not receive an invite to the NFL Combine and worked out at Wisconsin's Pro Day on March 9, 2016. He was signed by the

on August 15, 2016. On August 30, 2016, Caputo was released by the Rams.

References

External links

Wisconsin Badgers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caputo, Michael Living people People from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania American football safeties Wisconsin Badgers football players Los Angeles Rams players 1992 births Sportspeople from the Pittsburgh metropolitan area