Will Svitek (born January 8, 1982 as Vilém Svítek) 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 ...

and

offensive guard 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 ...

that played for 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 was drafted by the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

in the sixth round 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 ...

. 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 ...

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

. Svitek has also played for the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

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 ...

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

and

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

College career

Svitek played in 88 games (18 starts) at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, where he played defensive end and tight end. He recorded 60

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 u ...

, 4.5 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks, one forced

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful ...

, and an

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

. He graduated in 2004 with a degree in political science and a minor in communications.

Professional career

Kansas City Chiefs

Svitek joined the Chiefs as the first of the club's two sixth-round selections (187th overall) in the

. 2005—Sixth-round Kansas City draft choice played in one game, November 6 vs. Oakland, and was on roster as game day inactive for the other 15 contests ... Was converted to OL after playing DE in college. 2006—Played in spring for Frankfurt Galaxy of NFL Europe, helping team to World Bowl championship and league rushing title ... Played in two games for Kansas City before being played on Reserve/Injured list with knee injury on October 28. 2007—His four starts came in the season's last four games... First career start was December 9 at Denver

Atlanta Falcons

Svitek was signed by the

on February 12, 2009. Signed a two-year extension in 2011 with a $1.26 million signing bonus, making $2 million in 2011 and $1.75 million in 2012. 2009—Signed with Atlanta as free agent and played in 13 games with two starts for 9-7 team. 2010—Played in all 16 games for Atlanta's 13-3 NFC South championship team, and credited with a start in Divisional playoff vs. Green Bay when he took opening snap as an extra blocking TE. 2011—Played in every game, with 10 starts at LOT, for Falcons team that earned Wild Card playoff spot with 10-6 record ... Started at LOT in playoff at N.Y. Giants ... Took over as starting LOT as an injury replacement on October 23 at Detroit and did not relinquish the spot, credited in coaches' statistics with allowing only 1.5 sacks on 376 pass plays as a starter ... Aided QB Matt Ryan's performance of 29 TD passes with just 12 INTs. 2012—Spent entire season on Atlanta's reserve/injured list, due to arm injury.

New England Patriots

On March 17, 2013, Svitek signed with the

. He signed a one-year contract for $1 million 2013: Signed with New England as unrestricted free agent (from Atlanta) and helped Patriots to a 12-4 season and berth in AFC Championship game (lost to Denver) ... Inactive for Games 1-3 due to injury and played in last 13 regular-season games, plus both postseason contests ... Patriots were winners in his two starts at ROT as an injury replacement, averaging 30.5 points in wins December 1 at Houston and December 8 vs. Cleveland ... Also saw significant action at ROT in 34-31 win November 24 vs. Denver.

Cincinnati Bengals

On June 11, 2014, Svitek signed with the

. Ninth-year pro joins Bengals as a free agent in 2014 ... Played in 13 games with two starts for New England last season, and also played in both of the Patriots' postseason games ... Has played in 74 NFL games with 18 starts in regular season and four games with two starts in postseason ... Prior to 2013, played with Kansas City (2005-07) and Atlanta (2009-12).

Tennessee Titans

On October 14, 2014, he was signed by the Tennessee Titans to replace the roster spot of Michael Roos who was put on IR.

Retirement

He retired after the 2014 season with the Titans.

Personal life

Svitek was born in Prague and moved to the United States with his family at age 2. He has participated in NFL Business Management and Entrepreneurial Programs at

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

, the

Wharton School of Business The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in ...

(at the University of Pennsylvania), the

Kellogg School of Management The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University (also known as Kellogg) is the business school of Northwestern University, a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1908, Kellogg is one of the oldest and most p ...

( Northwestern), Notre Dame Business School,

Stanford Business School The Stanford Graduate School of Business (also known as Stanford GSB) is the graduate business school of Stanford University, a private research university in Stanford, California. For several years it has been the most selective business schoo ...

, and most recently attended classes at Wharton's San Francisco campus this past off-season. Svitek has been an active supporter of military appreciation, working on several projects with the

USO The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

and the

Wounded Warrior Project Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) is an American charity and veterans service organization that offers a variety of programs, services and events for wounded veterans of the military actions following September 11, 2001. It operates as a nonprofit ...

, as well as visiting military stationed overseas.

References

External links

Atlanta Falcons bio

Stanford Cardinal bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Svitek, Will 1982 births Living people Sportspeople from Prague People from Newbury Park, California Players of American football from Ventura County, California Czech players of American football American football offensive tackles Stanford Cardinal football players Kansas City Chiefs players Frankfurt Galaxy players Atlanta Falcons players New England Patriots players Cincinnati Bengals players Tennessee Titans players