Antonio Garay Jr. (born November 30, 1979) 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 ...

nose tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the l ...

. He was drafted by the

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in the sixth round of the

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. He played college football and wrestled at Boston College. He was a Wrestling All American placing 4th at the NCAA Championships his sophomore year at Boston College. Garay was also a member of the Chicago Bears, San Diego Chargers, and New York Jets. He is notable for his outrageous hairstyles and for driving a Hello Kitty-themed

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Early years

Garay is Jewish. Garay's mother is Jewish and his father is a Catholic of Jamaican, Costa Rican, and Puerto Rican descent. He was exposed to both parents' faiths. He attended

Rahway High School Rahway High School is a four-year public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Rahway, in Union County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the Rahway Public Schools. The high s ...

Rahway, New Jersey Rahway () is a city in southern Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. A bedroom community of New York City, it is centrally located in the Rahway Valley region, in the New York metropolitan area. The city is southwest of Manhattan ...

, and was a standout offensive and defensive lineman. He was also the NJSIAA . state and national wrestling champion in 1998 and a high school All-American, winning the National High School Wrestling Tournament in Pittsburgh in 1998.

College career

He played college football and wrestled at Boston College. He was a Wrestling All American placing 4th at the NCAA Championships his sophomore year at Boston College in 2000, and that season was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the

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Tournament (ECWA) for the second year.

Professional career

Chicago Bears

Garay spent two seasons with the Chicago Bears and was a member of the 2006 NFC Championship team. In a December 2007 game against the

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, Garay was injured by an illegal block. He was placed on injured reserve for the remainder of the 2007 season. On March 8, 2008, the Chicago Bears announced that they would part ways with the defensive tackle, and he became an

unrestricted 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 ...

on February 29, 2008.

New York Jets

On October 20, 2009, the New York Jets announced that they had signed Garay to their practice squad.

San Diego Chargers

Garay was signed off of the New York Jets' practice squad on December 9, 2009, by the San Diego Chargers. He was re-signed to a two-year deal on March 6, 2010. Garay was able to earn the starting job at nose tackle for the bulk of the 2010 season, and he finished 2010 with 48 tackles and 5.5 sacks, leading all San Diego defensive linemen in both categories.

Second stint with the Jets

Garay was signed by the New York Jets on March 15, 2013. He was released on August 31, 2013.

References

External links

New York Jets bioSan Diego Chargers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garay, Antonio 1979 births Living people Sportspeople from Rahway, New Jersey Players of American football from New Jersey American football defensive tackles Rahway High School alumni Jewish American sportspeople American people of Jamaican descent American people of Puerto Rican descent Hispanic and Latino American sportspeople Boston College Eagles football players Cleveland Browns players Chicago Bears players New York Jets players San Diego Chargers players 21st-century American Jews