Louis Trinca-Pasat ( ro, Trîncă-Păsat; born September 7, 1991) 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 ...

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 formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

. He played college football at

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

Early years

Trinca-Pasat attended

Lane Technical College Prep High School Lane Tech College Prep High School (often shortened to Lane Tech, full name Albert Grannis Lane Technical College Preparatory High School), is a public 4-year selective enrollment magnet high school located in the Roscoe Village neighborhood on ...

in Chicago, where he was a four-sport athlete, lettering in football, basketball, track, and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

. He was an All-conference and Academic All-state selection during his time there. He did not start playing tackle until his freshman year of college and previously played tight end, linebacker, and wide receiver. Pasat was also a team captain as a senior and earned team MVP honors. He helped Lane to the 2008 Chicago Public League football championship with former teammate

Laken Tomlinson Laken Tomlinson (born February 9, 1992) is an American football offensive guard for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Duke. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the first round of the 2015 NF ...

. He was named MVP in CPS football. Regarded as a three-star recruit by ''

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

'', Pasat was listed as the No. 45 defensive end prospect in the class of 2010. He had over 20 full-ride scholarship offers from across the country. He chose to play for the Iowa Hawkeyes over his other top choices from

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 ...

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

, and Stanford.

College career

He was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

as a true freshman at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...

in 2010. As a redshirt freshman in 2011, Trinca-Pasat didn't get much playing time due to the fact he was still developing and improving his technique. Trinca-Pasat notched 40 tackles as sophomore in 2012. He has started all 38 games over the past three seasons. He has recorded a career-best 69 tackles in 2014, including 11.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks as a redshirt senior. He was named honorable mention All-Big Ten in 2013 and earned 2nd Team All-Big Ten in 2014. He also earned Academic All-Big Ten honors in 2012, 2013, and 2014.

Professional career

On May 4, 2015, Trinca-Pasat signed with the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

as an

undrafted 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 a ...

following the 2015 NFL Draft. He was released by the Rams on September 5, 2015, and was signed to the practice squad the next day. On June 9, 2016, Trinca-Pasat was placed on injured reserve after tearing his ACL, causing him to miss the 2016 season. On September 3, 2017, Trinca-Pasat was waived by the Rams and signed to the practice squad the next day.

Personal life

Trinca-Pasat is a first-generation Romanian-American born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

. His parents, Vasile and Estera, escaped communist-ruled

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

in the late 1980s.

References

External links

Iowa Hawkeyes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trinca-Pasat, Louis 1991 births Living people American people of Romanian descent Players of American football from Chicago American football defensive tackles Iowa Hawkeyes football players St. Louis Rams players Los Angeles Rams players