Rodrick Almar Rutledge (born August 12, 1975) is a former professional

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 ...

player who played

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 ...

for five seasons for the New England Patriots and Houston Texans 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). Rutledge was the first player to ever catch a pass from

Tom Brady Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He spent his first 20 seasons with the New England Patriots organization, with which ...

, a 6-yard reception on

Thanksgiving Day Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...

2000 against the Detroit Lions. Known more for his blocking than his pass catching, Rutledge was a key member of the 2001 Super Bowl champion Patriots.

References

1975 births Living people Alabama Crimson Tide football players American football tight ends Houston Texans players New England Patriots players Players of American football from Birmingham, Alabama Tom Brady {{tightend-1970s-stub