William Yeatman (born April 10, 1988) is a retired

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 ...

who played five seasons during his career. He played

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and

college lacrosse College lacrosse is played by student-athletes at colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. In both countries, men's field lacrosse and women's lacrosse are played at both the varsity and club levels. College lacrosse in Canada is ...

at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

and the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

. Yeatman was signed by the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

as an

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on July 27, 2011. Yeatman ended his career in 2015 after reaching an injury settlement with the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

. He credited five seasons 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).

Early years

Yeatman was born in

Naples, Italy Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, to parents Dennis and Bonnie Yeatman. His father played

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

for the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

and retired as a Commander after twenty years of naval service. His mother, Bonnie, is a former teacher and graduate of The University of Maryland. Yeatman has four siblings: Grant, who was a member of Navy ROTC and played Club lacrosse at University of Southern California, he now works for Jones Lang & LaSalle in Oakand; Caroline, a former member of San Diego State's Crew team and Club lacrosse team. She is a graduate of San Diego State and taught English and coached lacrosse in Kiel, Germany for three years. She now lives in San Diego; Anne Morgan, who played lacrosse and graduated from

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

; she won a national championship. Jack, a senior, played lacrosse at

Providence College Providence College is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, local diocese, it offers 47 undergradua ...

. Yeatman was raised in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

, and attended

Rancho Bernardo High School Rancho Bernardo High School, or RBHS, is a public high school in the Poway Unified School District of San Diego County, California, United States. Rancho Bernardo High School was opened in 1991 as the district's third high school. Enrollment Fo ...

, where he played football (as a

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. Like ...

) and lacrosse. Yeatman earned all-league his sophomore year as the teams left tackle. As a

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

, he switched to tight end and recorded 26 receptions for 340 yards and four

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 ...

s. As a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

, he recorded 36 receptions for 527 yards and seven touchdowns. He was a three-time all-conference and all-city selection in football, and an all-state selection in his senior year. Yeatman was recruited by over 70 schools in football and received scholarship offers from 43 schools in football most notably Michigan, Nebraska, Maryland, California, Washington, Arizona, Arizona State, UCLA, USC, Boston College, Florida, North Carolina, Dartmouth and Columbia. His senior year, he was a finalist in the San Diego Prep Pigskin report player of the year voting. In lacrosse he was team captain in his senior year, a four-time all-conference and all-city selection and San Diego county player of the year. He was named to the

US Lacrosse USA Lacrosse is the national governing body of men and women's lacrosse in the United States. It provides a leadership role in virtually every aspect of the game and has more than 450,000 members throughout the United States, and offers programs a ...

All-American team as a junior and senior and to the

Under Armour Under Armour, Inc. is an American sports equipment company that manufactures footwear, sports and casual apparel. Under Armour's global headquarters are located in Baltimore, Maryland, with additional offices located in Amsterdam (European hea ...

All-American team as a senior. He was an attendee at Jake Reed's Elite 102 Blue Chip lacrosse camp and was recruited by Maryland, Johns Hopkins, Yale, Navy, Georgetown, North Carolina, Duke, Cornell and Brown before signing a letter of intent to go to Notre Dame in December 2005. Yeatman is Rancho Bernardo's leading career and season points leader. His high school career ended as the 2005-2006 Rancho Bernardo High School Male Athlete of the Year.

College career

Following high school, Yeatman attended the

, where he played both

(named All American) and football. Yeatman played in every game of his career at Notre Dame in football used predominantly as a blocking tight end. The Fighting Irish fell to LSU in the Sugar Bowl that year. His Freshman year, Yeatman was the leading scorer on the Notre Dame lacrosse team with 46 points on 21 goals and 25 assists. He was the LaxPower Rookie of the Year as well as Great Western Lacrosse League Rookie of the Year and 1st Team member. As a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

, he recorded no receptions. As a

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

, he recorded six receptions for 37 yards. and as a junior he recorded three receptions for thirty yards through three games. In January 2009, Yeatman transferred from Notre Dame to the

. He played

at Maryland for his final two seasons in college, and also played football in his senior season. In football, he played on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

(making three

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking up ...

) and at tight end. Yeatman played in the last eleven games of the season, having fractured a finger during the

pre-season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

. He recorded 13 receptions for 134 yards. In lacrosse, Yeatman was fourth on the team in scoring both his Junior and Senior seasons, as the Terrapins reached the NCAA lacrosse quarterfinal both years. Yeatman graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in History from Maryland.

College lacrosse statistics

Professional career

New England Patriots

Yeatman was signed by the

as a

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

free agent on July 27, 2011. In a Patriots

conference call A conference call is a telephone call in which someone talks to several people at the same time. The conference call may be designed to allow the called party to participate during the call or set up so that the called party merely listens into ...

on August 23, 2011, Yeatman said he did not plan to play much lacrosse in the future. In four games of the 2011 pre-season, Yeatman recorded six receptions for 36 yards. He was waived on September 3 and asked to be on the Patriots practice squad

Miami Dolphins

On September 4, 2011, Yeatman was claimed off waivers by the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

. Yeatman was utilized as a blocking tight end and reserve tight end his rookie season. In 2012, Yeatman was switched from a tight end to an offensive tackle, where he was utilized as a reserve lineman all season and his uniform number was switched from 89 to 60 and then 72 after final cuts. Yeatman gained 35 pounds in the position switch. He was then shifted over to guard before the 2013 season. In 2013 Yeatman played in every game on special teams, as a reserve offensive lineman and tight end before he was placed on injured reserve after tearing his ACL on November 13.

Houston Texans

Yeatman signed with the

on June 17, 2014. He signed an injury settlement and was waived on July 31, 2015.

References

External links

Miami Dolphins profile

New England Patriots profile

Maryland Terrapins football bio

Maryland Terrapins lacrosse bio

NFL profile

ESPN bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yeatman, Will 1988 births Living people American football offensive tackles American football tight ends Houston Texans players Maryland Terrapins football players Maryland Terrapins men's lacrosse players Miami Dolphins players New England Patriots players Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's lacrosse players Players of American football from San Diego Sportspeople from Naples Rancho Bernardo High School alumni