Rigoberto Jovany Sanchez (born September 8, 1994) 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 ...

punter for 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 ...

of 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 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 ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

and was signed by the Colts 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 2017.

Early years

Sanchez attended and played

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 ...

at Hamilton Union High School in Hamilton City, California .

College career

Sanchez initially played football for

Butte Community College Butte College is a public community college in the Butte-Glenn Community College District in Chico and Orland, California. History After the passage of the 1960 Donahoe Act, the voters of Butte County created a local community college d ...

in Oroville, California, located roughly 30 miles southeast of Hamilton City before transferring to the University of Hawaii. While at Hawaii, Sanchez played on the

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wāhine are the athletic teams that represent the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UH), in Honolulu, Hawaii. The UH athletics program is a member of the Big West Conference in most sports and competes a ...

for the 2015 and 2016 seasons. During the 2015 season, he punted 74 times for 3,335 net yards for a 45.1 average. He handled placekicking duties and converted 23 of 24 extra point attempts and 8 of 11 field goal attempts. In 2016, he punted 70 times for 3,122 net yards for a 44.6 average. He converted 49 of 50 extra point attempts and all 13 field goal attempts.

Collegiate statistics

Professional career

Sanchez was signed by the

as an undrafted free agent on May 4, 2017. He won the Colts' starting punter job as a rookie after beating out veteran Jeff Locke. On September 10, 2017, Sanchez made his NFL debut in the season opener against 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 ...

at the

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Conceived as a hallmark of civic pride, the Coliseum was commissioned in 1921 as a mem ...

. In the 46–9 loss, he punted six times for 302 total yards for a 50.30 average. Overall, in his rookie season, he totaled 84 punts for 3,764 net yards for a 44.81 average. In the 2018 season, he had 57 punts for 2,629 net yards for a 46.12 average. In the 2019 season, he had 59 punts for 2,619 net yards for a 44.39 average. On June 4, 2019, Sanchez signed a four-year, $11.6 million contract extension with the Colts through the 2023 season. In Week 4 of the 2021 season, Sanchez averaged 50 yards per punt on four punts, including two inside the 20, in a 27–17 win over the Dolphins, earning AFC Special Teams Player of the Week. In Week 7 of the 2021 season, Sanchez kicked the longest punt of his career, and in Colts history, 79 yards, in a 30–18 win over the 49ers. He earned AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance. On August 31, 2022, Sanchez was placed on season-ending injured reserve after suffering a torn Achilles.

Personal life

Sanchez grew up playing soccer before joining his high school's football team. He is of Mexican descent. Rigoberto met his wife, Cynthia, when they attended junior college together. Cynthia grew up in the nearby community of Corning, CA. After receiving blessings from her family, he proposed to her at the Circle of Lights at

Monument Circle The Indiana State Soldiers and Sailors Monument is a tall Neoclassicism, neoclassical monument built on Monument Circle, a circular, brick-paved street that intersects Meridian and Market streets in the center of downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. ...

in downtown

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

on December 26, 2017. They were married the following spring. On November 30, 2020, it was announced he would under go surgery the next day to have a cancerous tumor removed. The surgery was reported as successful and he returned to practice two weeks later.

References

External links

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors bioIndianapolis Colts bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez, Rigoberto 1994 births Living people American football punters American sportspeople of Mexican descent Butte Roadrunners football players Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football players Indianapolis Colts players People from Glenn County, California Players of American football from California Ed Block Courage Award recipients