Yetur Akkub Gross-Matos (born February 26, 1998) is an

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 ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

for the

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 ...

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). 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 ...

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

and was drafted by the Panthers in the second round of the

2020 NFL Draft The 2020 NFL Draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The d ...

Early life and high school career

Gross-Matos was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey but grew in Fredericksburg, Virginia. When Gross-Matos was two years old, his biological father died after a boating accident while trying to rescue Yetur from drowning. When he was 10 his brother died from a

lightning strike A lightning strike or lightning bolt is an electric discharge between the atmosphere and the ground. Most originate in a cumulonimbus cloud and terminate on the ground, called cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning. A less common type of strike, ground- ...

while they were playing baseball. Gross-Matos attended

Chancellor High School Chancellor High School is a public high school accredited by the Southern Association of Secondary Schools. It is located in Salem District in the northwestern portion of Spotsylvania County, VA, United States. History Chancellor High Scho ...

Spotsylvania County, Virginia Spotsylvania County is a county in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the July 2021 estimate, the population was 143,676. Its county seat is Spotsylvania Courthouse. History At the time of European encounter, the inhabitants of the area that bec ...

. During his high school career, he had 37 sacks. He committed to

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

to play college football.

College career

As a true freshman in 2017, Gross-Matos played in all 13 games and had 17 tackles and 1.5 sacks. As a sophomore in 2018, he started all 13 games and had 54 tackles and eight sacks. After a junior year with 14 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks, Gross-Matos decided to forgo his senior year and declared for the

Statistics

Professional career

Gross-Matos was selected by the

with the 38th overall pick in the second round of the

. He was the second defensive end taken behind

Chase Young Chase Young (born April 14, 1999) is an American football defensive end for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). A native of Maryland, he played college football at Ohio State University for the Buckeyes. During hi ...

. In Week 4 against the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

, Gross-Matos recorded his first career sack, a strip sack on

Kyler Murray Kyler Cole Murray (born August 7, 1997) is an American football quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). Following a stint at Texas A&M University, Texas A&M, Murray played college football at University of Okl ...

which was recovered by the Panthers, during the 31–21 win. He suffered an ankle injury in Week 5 and was placed on injured reserve on October 16, 2020. He was activated on November 7, 2020, prior to Week 9. He was placed on the reserve/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

list by the team on November 30, 2020, and activated on December 10.

NFL career statistics

References

External links

*
Carolina Panthers bioPenn State Nittany Lions bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gross-Matos, Yetur 1998 births Living people People from Spotsylvania County, Virginia Players of American football from Virginia Sportspeople from the Washington metropolitan area American football defensive ends Penn State Nittany Lions football players Carolina Panthers players