Rob Christopher Petitti (born May 21, 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 ...

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

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) for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

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 ...

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arri ...

and

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

. 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 ...

at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

Early life

Petitti attended

Rumson-Fair Haven High School The Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (often abbreviated RFH) is a regional, four-year comprehensive public high school and school district in the eastern United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from the suburba ...

, where he was a three-year starter as a two-way tackle. He was a two-time All-Division, All-Shore, All-County selection and was twice named to the All-New Jersey Group I team. He recorded 80 tackles during his final two seasons. He also practiced

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

College career

Petitti accepted a football scholarship from the

, where he became a four-year starter at left tackle. As a

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freshman, he started 12 games at left tackle. As a sophomore, he started 13 games. As a junior in

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, he earned first-team All-Big East and All- Eastern College Athletic Conference honors. He was named the coaching staff's Co-Lineman of the Game for the

Ball State Ball State University (Ball State, State or BSU) is a public research university in Muncie, Indiana. It has two satellite facilities in Fishers and Indianapolis. On July 25, 1917, the Ball brothers, industrialists and founders of the Ball C ...

contest and Co-Blocker of the Game against

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

. For the season he recorded 87 knockdowns with eight

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

-resulting blocks and allowed 7.5 of the team's 43 quarterback sacks. In

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, he missed the game against

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...

because of a concussion, ending a streak of 42 consecutive starts. He was a second-team All-American selection by ''

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'' and ''College Football News'', third-team from ''The NFL Draft Report'' and ''

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''. He was a unanimous first-team All-Big East selection by the coaches. Petitti was also a three-time All-Big East pick, becoming the first school offensive lineman to achieve this recognition since

Ruben Brown Ruben Parnell Brown (born February 13, 1972) is a former American football guard who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons. He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills 14th overall in the 1995 NFL Draft. He played college footba ...

was a three-time selection from

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

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. He finished his college career after playing and starting in 49 games, missing just a single contest due to injury.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Petitti was selected by the

in the sixth round (209 overall) 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 ...

, after dropping because of an injury-plagued senior season. He won the starting

right tackle Tackle is a playing position in gridiron football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and defense. In the modern system of specialized units, o ...

job over Jacob Rogers and

Torrin Tucker Torrin Tucker (born December 25, 1979) is a former American football offensive tackle in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys. He also was a member of the New York Dragons, Florida Tuskers and Sacramento Mountain Lions. He played ...

. He made his first

NFL 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 major ...

start at

in the season opener, making him the third rookie in franchise history to achieve that feat. By doing so, he became only the second rookie after

Dave Widell David Harold Widell, Jr. (born May 14, 1965) is a former American football guard and tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Atlanta Falcons. He played college football at Bo ...

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

, to start an opener at

in franchise history. That year, he and Larry Allen were the only two offensive players for the Cowboys to play every offensive snap, although he struggled in the last month of the season. Because of his significant playing time as a rookie, Pettiti earned $271,287 in performance pay, doubling his signing bonus and minimum base salary. In 2006, the signing of

Jason Fabini Jason Tamer Fabini (born August 25, 1974) is a former American football offensive tackle in the National Football League for the New York Jets, Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins. He was drafted by the New York Jets in the fourth round of the ...

, combined with the play of

Marc Colombo Marc Edward Colombo (born October 8, 1978) is a former American football offensive tackle and coach who was most recently the offensive line coach for the New York Giants. He played eleven seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the Ch ...

and rookie

Pat McQuistan Patrick Shawn McQuistan (born April 30, 1983) is a former American football offensive tackle in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, New Orleans Saints, Arizona Cardinals and Tennessee Titans. He played college foo ...

, made him expendable and led to his release on September 2, 2006.

New Orleans Saints

On September 4, 2006, Petitti — along with Cowboys teammate

Terrance Copper Terrance Terrel Copper (born March 12, 1982) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, New Orleans Saints, Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs. He played college football at Eas ...

— was claimed off waivers by the

, reuniting him with new head coach and former Cowboys offensive coordinator

Sean Payton Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as ''Shaun/ Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; anglici ...

. He was a backup behind

Jon Stinchcomb Jonathan Stinchcomb (born August 27, 1979) is a former American football offensive tackle who played eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Georgia. He was drafted in the second rou ...

and was declared inactive until the season finale against the

. He was declared inactive in both playoff contests. He was waived on August 31, 2007.

St. Louis Rams

On October 24, 2007, he was signed by the

to a two-year, $1.1 million contract, to fill the roster spot vacated the release of

Claude Terrell Claude Terrell (born April 20, 1982) is a former American football offensive guard. On October 23, 2007 the Rams released him. Terrell was released by the Rams after being arrested for assaulting his wife. Terrell was already on probation after a ...

, after he was released for allegedly assaulted his wife. He played in five games, with one start and also recovered one fumble. On July 23, 2008, he was waived/injured by the Rams, after tearing his

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus (h ...

during the offseason conditioning program.

Florida Tuskers

Petitti was selected by the Florida Tuskers in the UFL Premiere Season Draft. He signed with the team on August 25, 2009.

Carolina Panthers

On December 15, 2009, he was signed by the

to replace an injured

Jeff Otah Jeffrey C. Otah (born June 17, 1986) is a Nigerian American former American football offensive tackle. He was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft. Early years Otah moved to The Bronx at the age of seven, th ...

. He appeared in 5 games as a backup. He was re-signed on March 15, 2010, released on September 4 and signed once more on December 1. He wasn't re-signed after the season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petitti, Rob 1982 births Living people Sportspeople from Rumson, New Jersey Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School alumni Players of American football from Monmouth County, New Jersey American football offensive tackles Pittsburgh Panthers football players Dallas Cowboys players New Orleans Saints players St. Louis Rams players Florida Tuskers players Carolina Panthers players American people of Italian descent