Michael Ralph DeVito (born June 10, 1984) 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 for the New York Jets 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) from 2007 to 2012, and then the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

from 2013 to 2015. He played college football at The University of Maine. DeVito attended high school at

Nauset Regional High School Nauset Regional High School is an NEASC accredited high school located in Eastham, Massachusetts, United States and a part of Nauset Public Schools. Nauset is inside the Cape Cod National Seashore, making it the only high school on the East Co ...

Eastham, Massachusetts Eastham () is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, Barnstable County being coextensive with Cape Cod. The population was 5,752 at the 2020 census. For geographic and demographic information about the village of North Eastha ...

Early career

DeVito attended

playing

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 ...

and defensive end from 1999 to 2002. DeVito also was a member of the

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

team. He played college football for the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a public land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the flagship university of the University of Maine System. It is classifie ...

College career

DeVito finished his career at Maine with 112 total tackles and 16 sacks and was team captain his senior season. He earned All-

Atlantic 10 The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...

honors at

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 ...

for the second time after finishing the 2006 with 28 tackles and 7 sacks. In 2005, he was named to the Second-team All-Atlantic 10 after starting all 11 games at one of the defensive tackle spots recorded 34 tackles (20 solo), a team-leading 12.0 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks, forced one fumble and recovered another. In 2004, he started all 11 games at nose tackle and made 35 tackles (16 solo) and 2.5 tackles for loss, and recorded a sack. In 2003 as a redshirt freshman he played in 10 games, with 15 total tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and one interception.

Professional career

Pre-draft

New York Jets (2007–2012)

2007 season

He signed as an undrafted free agent on May 12, 2007, and won a roster spot over veterans

Bobby Hamilton Charles Robert Hamilton Sr. (May 29, 1957 – January 7, 2007) was an American stock car racing driver. A driver and owner in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series circuit and the winner of the 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship, Hamilt ...

and

Kimo Von Oelhoffen Kimo K. von Oelhoffen (; born January 30, 1971) is a former American football defensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the sixth round of the 1994 NFL Draft. He played co ...

. He made his NFL debut in Week 12 against the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

and notched two solo tackles in a Week 17 victory over the

. DeVito finished the season with 5 total tackles 3 of which were solo tackles. DeVito appeared in a total of 7 games.

2008 season

DeVito saw substantially more playing time appearing in all 16 games and recording at least one tackle in 14 games. DeVito assisted on his first NFL sack in Week 14 vs the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

. The next week he registered a career-high 4 tackles in a victory over the Buffalo Bills. DeVito finished the season with a career-high 24 total tackles with 15 solo tackles.

2009 season

In early September DeVito signed a 3-year contract extension to remain with the Jets through 2012. DeVito lived up to his contract and had his best season registering a career-high 28 tackles. In Week 1 DeVito recorded his first career fumble recovery against the Houston Texans. DeVito had a career-high 6 total tackles (including 4 solo tackles) in Week 11 against the New England Patriots. In only his second career playoff game DeVito took down

Philip Rivers Philip Michael Rivers (born December 8, 1981) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons, primarily with the Chargers franchise. He played college football at NC State and was se ...

to record his first full sack in a victory over the San Diego Chargers.

2010 Season

Prior to the injury to nose tackle

Kris Jenkins Kristopher Rudy-Charles Jenkins (born August 3, 1979) is a former American football defensive tackle who played for the Carolina Panthers and New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of ...

, DeVito was named the starter on defense and has received constant praise from head coach

Rex Ryan Rex Ashley Ryan (born December 13, 1962) is an American former football coach and analyst. Ryan was formerly the head coach of the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL), and also held various coaching position ...

alongside teammate

Sione Pouha Sione Sonasi "Bo" Po'uha ( ; born February 3, 1979) is a former American football coach and former defensive tackle. On December 20 2022, Sione accepted the position to be the defensive tackles coach at Brigham Young University football. He prev ...

. DeVito was a fixture on the Jets defensive line for the entire 2010 season as well as the Jets three playoff games. DeVito received very high praise from ESPN.com's Jets insider Rich Cimini and was cited as "the most under-appreciated player on the team" as well as being regarded as a "keeper, for sure". In the AFC Championship Game against the Steelers DeVito was credited with a

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

when

Ben Roethlisberger Benjamin Todd Roethlisberger Sr. (; born March 2, 1982), nicknamed "Big Ben", is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college football ...

missed a snap which was ruled a fumble and then the Steelers recovered the ball in the endzone for a safety which made the score 24–12 in front of the Steelers but the Jets would lose the game 24–19.

2011 Season

DeVito started on the defensive line alongside Sione Pouha and Muhammad Wilkerson. DeVito racked up 34 tackles, 2 forced fumbles, and 1 sack over 12 games (11 starts). In Week 1, DeVito forced a

Tony Romo Antonio Ramiro Romo (born April 21, 1980) is an American sportscaster and former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at Eastern Illino ...

fumble in the fourth quarter, helping to secure an opening-week Jets victory. DeVito later stated that this play was the most memorable of his career.

2012 Season

As Pouha was strained by a back injury, Devito played

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 ...

for part of the 2012 season. The Jets struggled all season and finished with a 6–10 record.

Kansas City Chiefs (2013–2015)

On March 12, 2013 DeVito signed a three-year deal worth $12.6 million with the Kansas City Chiefs. Following a torn Achilles tendon suffered in a week 1 game against the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their hom ...

in 2014, DeVito was placed on injured reserve ending his season. On March 16, 2015, DeVito restructured his contract to save the Chiefs $2.5 million in cap room.

Retirement

DeVito announced his retirement on April 11, 2016.

Career Statistics

Personal life

DeVito married his college sweetheart, Jessie Martin, in 2010. He received a Masters in Philosophical Apologetics from

Houston Baptist University Houston Christian University (HCU), formerly Houston Baptist University, is a private Baptist university in Houston, Texas. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas (Southern Baptist Convention). Its Cultural Arts Center hou ...

. He is a PhD student in philosophy at the University of Birmingham, UK.

References

External links

New York Jets bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Devito, Mike 1984 births Living people American people of Italian descent Players of American football from Massachusetts People from Wellfleet, Massachusetts Sportspeople from Barnstable County, Massachusetts Players of American football from New York (state) American football defensive ends Maine Black Bears football players Kansas City Chiefs players New York Jets players