Ryan Arthur Benjamin (born November 17, 1977) 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 ...

long snapper In American football, the long snapper (or deep snapper) is a center on special teams whose duty is to snap the football over a longer distance, typically around 15 yards during punts, and 7–8 yards during field goals and extra point att ...

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 ...

. He was signed by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...

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 2001. He played college football at South Florida. He won a Super Bowl ring as a member of the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Early years

Benjamin attended River Ridge High School in

New Port Richey, Florida New Port Richey is a city in Pasco County, Florida, United States. It is a suburban city included in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was counted at 16,728 in the 2020 census. History B ...

, where he lettered in both football and baseball. He earned all-conference and All-North Suncoast honors his senior year as a defensive tackle. He then played college football at the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF i ...

.http://www.patriots.com/alumni/index.cfm?ac=alumnibiosdetail&bio=13269

NFL career

Benjamin signed with the

as an undrafted free agent following the 2001 NFL Draft. He was also a member of the New England Patriots that offseason and played one game for the Chicago Bears in place of an injured Patrick Mannelly. The next season, he would temporarily be back with the New England Patriots before being re-signed by the Buccaneers and winning in Super Bowl XXXVII.

Personal life

Benjamin is married to high school sweetheart Theresa. While at USF, he majored in political science and was the head coach at River Ridge High School through the 2021 fall season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benjamin, Ryan 1977 births Living people American football long snappers South Florida Bulls football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players New England Patriots players Chicago Bears players People from New Port Richey, Florida Sportspeople from Pasco County, Florida People from Greenfield, Massachusetts Sportspeople from Franklin County, Massachusetts