Vincent Valentine (born February 23, 1994) is a former American football

defensive 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 la ...

. He was drafted by the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

in the third round of the

2016 NFL Draft The 2016 NFL Draft was the 81st annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at Nebraska.

Professional career

New England Patriots

Valentine was drafted by the Patriots in the third round, 96th overall, in the

. Valentine entered training camp competing to be a backup defensive tackle with Markus Kuhn,

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, and Anthony Johnson. He won the backup job and began the regular season as the Patriot's primary backup defensive tackle behind veteran starting defensive tackles

Malcom Brown Malcom D'Shawn Brown (born February 2, 1994) is an American football defensive tackle who is a free agent. He played college football at Texas Longhorns football, Texas. He was drafted by the New England Patriots with the 32nd overall pick in ...

and

Alan Branch Alan Keith Branch (born December 29, 1984) is a former American football defensive tackle. He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the second round of the 2007 NFL Draft and has also played for the Seattle Seahawks, Buffalo Bills, and N ...

. Valentine made his professional debut in the season opener against the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

, where he recorded his first career sack against quarterback Carson Palmer. On February 5, 2017, Valentine was part of the Patriots team that won Super Bowl LI. In the game, the Patriots defeated the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

by a score of 34–28 in overtime. On September 22, 2017, the Patriots placed Valentine on injured reserve after dealing with a knee injury. The Patriots made it to Super Bowl LII without Valentine, but lost 41-33 to the Philadelphia Eagles. On September 1, 2018, Valentine was waived by the Patriots and was signed to the practice squad the next day. He was released on October 8, 2018.

Arizona Cardinals

On October 31, 2018, Valentine was signed to the

practice squad. He was released on November 27, 2018.

Seattle Seahawks

On December 4, 2018, Valentine was signed to the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

practice squad after a tryout the previous day.

Arizona Cardinals (second stint)

On December 11, 2018, Valentine was signed by the

off the Seahawks practice squad. He was waived/injured on August 7, and reverted to

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

after clearing waivers on August 8. He was waived from injured reserve on August 30, 2019.

Personal life

In college, he was a journalism major, and earned a spot on the Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll in the spring of 2013. Valentine also volunteered his time with Uplifting Athletes and part of team hospital visits while with the Huskers.

References

External links

New England Patriots bioNebraska Cornhuskers bio
1994 births Living people American football defensive tackles Arizona Cardinals players Nebraska Cornhuskers football players New England Patriots players People from Edwardsville, Illinois Players of American football from Illinois Seattle Seahawks players Sportspeople from Greater St. Louis {{Defensiveback-1990s-stub