Matthew Lengel (born December 27, 1990) 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 ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

. He was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted free agent in 2015. He played college football at

Eastern Kentucky Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways * Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 * Eastern Air ...

and Northeastern University. He also played for the New England Patriots, where he was a member of the

Super Bowl LI Super Bowl LI was an American football game played at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, on February 5, 2017, to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2016 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion New ...

-winning team, as well as the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

, Houston Texans, and Indianapolis Colts.

College career

Lengel

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 ...

his freshman year in 2009 at Northeastern University before transferring to Eastern Kentucky the following year, after Northeastern shut down its football program. He played in 37 games over five seasons (2010–2014), totaling 33 catches for 361 yards. He suffered a torn ACL in the 2012 season opener and missed the entire season. He re-injured the same knee the following year after starting the first two games in 2013.

Professional career

Cincinnati Bengals

Lengel signed with the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted free agent on May 8, 2015. He was released on September 5, 2015, and was signed to the practice squad the next day, where he spent his entire rookie season. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Bengals on January 11, 2016. Lengel was released by the Bengals on September 3, 2016, and was signed to the practice squad during the next day.

New England Patriots

On November 2, 2016, Lengel was signed by the New England Patriots off the Bengals' practice squad after the Patriots lost tight end

Rob Gronkowski Robert James Gronkowski (born May 14, 1989) is an American former football tight end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. Nicknamed "Gronk", Gronkowski played nine seasons for the New England Patriots, then played h ...

to injury. On December 24, 2016, Lengel caught his first career touchdown on his first career reception against the New York Jets, on an 18-yard pass from

Tom Brady Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He spent his first 20 seasons with the New England Patriots organization, with which ...

. On January 1, 2017, Lengel caught his second career catch from Tom Brady that went for four yards. He finished up the regular season in 2016 with two catches for 22 yards and a touchdown. The Patriots finished the season with a 14–2 record, which earned the team the top seed in the AFC playoffs. On February 5, 2017, Lengel was part of the Patriots team that won

. In the game, the Patriots defeated the Atlanta Falcons by a score of 34–28 in overtime. Lengel was tendered by the Patriots on March 7, 2017. He was waived/injured on August 27, 2017, and placed on injured reserve. He was released on September 30, 2017, with an injury settlement.

Cleveland Browns

On October 10, 2017, Lengel was signed to the

' practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on October 25, 2017. On April 12, 2018, Lengel was waived by the Browns.

Houston Texans

On April 13, 2018, Lengel was claimed off waivers by the Houston Texans. He was waived on September 1, 2018, and was signed to the practice squad the next day.

Cincinnati Bengals (second stint)

On October 10, 2018, Lengel was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals off the Texans practice squad.

Indianapolis Colts

On November 25, 2019, Lengel was signed by the Indianapolis Colts. He was waived on December 4, 2019. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Colts on December 30, 2019. He was released on July 28, 2020.

References

External links

Eastern Kentucky Colonels profileNew England Patriots profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lengel, Matt Living people 1990 births Sportspeople from Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Cumberland County, Pennsylvania American football tight ends Eastern Kentucky Colonels football players Cincinnati Bengals players New England Patriots players Cleveland Browns players Houston Texans players Indianapolis Colts players