Jonathan Casillas (born June 3, 1987) 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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

. He played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

New Brunswick High School New Brunswick High School (NBHS) is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades in New Brunswick, in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the main secondary school of the N ...

and college football at

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. He is of Puerto Rican and

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

ancestry.

College career

He played college football at

Professional career

New Orleans Saints

He went undrafted in the

2009 NFL Draft The 2009 NFL Draft was the seventy-fourth annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. ...

, but was later signed as a free agent. Casillas was coming off surgery from a knee injury and was only a participant in the bench press at the

NFL Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foo ...

. In

Super Bowl XLIV Super Bowl XLIV was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champions New Orleans Saints and the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Indianapolis Colts to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

, he was officially credited with recovering the Saints's third-quarter onside kick to start the second half en route to their 31–17 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. Casillas was expected to take over as the Saints' starting weakside linebacker for the 2010 season. However, he suffered a foot injury during the last game of the preseason, and he was placed on the injured reserve list, ending his 2010 season.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Casillas signed with 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 ...

on March 13, 2013. He played in 12 games before being placed on injured reserve after suffering a knee injury. On March 7, 2014, Casillas re-signed with the

on a one-year deal.

New England Patriots

Casillas, along with a 2015 sixth-round draft pick, was traded to the New England Patriots on October 28, 2014, for the Patriots' 2015 fifth-round draft pick. On February 1, 2015, he won his second

Super Bowl ring The Super Bowl ring is an award in the National Football League given to the team members of the winning team of the league's annual championship game, the Super Bowl. Since only one Vince Lombardi Trophy is awarded to the team (ownership) itsel ...

when the Patriots defeated the Seattle Seahawks, 28–24, in

Super Bowl XLIX Super Bowl XLIX was an American football game played to determine the champions of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2014 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots defeated the National Football Conf ...

New York Giants

On March 10, 2015, Casillas signed a three-year, $10.5 million contract with the New York Giants. Signed as a special teamer, Casillas emerged as a starter for the Giants midway through the 2015 season. In 2016, Casillas played in all 16 games with 15 starts, recording a career-high 96 tackles. In 2017, Casillas started eight games before being placed on injured reserve on December 6, 2017 after battling wrist and neck injuries.

References

External links

New Orleans Saints bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Casillas, Jonathan 1987 births Living people New Brunswick High School alumni Players of American football from Jersey City, New Jersey American football linebackers Wisconsin Badgers football players New Orleans Saints players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players New England Patriots players New York Giants players