Ivan Pace Jr. (born December 16, 2000) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

linebacker for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). 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 ...

for the Miami RedHawks before transferring to the

Cincinnati Bearcats The Cincinnati Bearcats are the athletic teams that represent the University of Cincinnati. Though they will move to the Big 12 Conference (XII) the teams are currently a part of the American Athletic Conference (The American), which from 1979 ...

in 2022, where he was named a unanimous All-American and the AAC Defensive Player of the Year.

Early years

Pace Jr. attended Colerain High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. He played linebacker and

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

in high school. He committed to Miami University to play

College career

Miami (OH)

Pace Jr. played in 13 games his true freshman year at linebacker and edge at Miami in 2019, recording 19 tackles and seven sacks. Six of those sacks came against Akron, which tied the NCAA record for most sacks in a game. In 2020, he started all three games in the COVID-19 pandemic shortened season and had 26 tackles. In 2021, he had 125 tackles, four sacks and an interception.

Cincinnati

Pace Jr. transferred to the University of Cincinnati after the 2021 season. He joined his brother, Deshawn, who also plays linebacker for the team. He was a starter his first year at Cincinnati in 2022.

Professional career

Pace signed with the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent on April 29, 2023. On August 29, 2023, the Vikings announced that he had made the initial 53-man roster. In Week 14, Pace recorded 13 tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss, and an interception in a 3–0 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, earning

National Football Conference The National Football Conference (NFC) is one of the two conferences of the National Football League (NFL), the highest professional level of American football in the United States. The NFC and its counterpart, the American Football Conference ...

Defensive Player of the Week. As a rookie, Pace appeared in all 17 games and made 11 starts. He had 2.5 sacks, 102 total tackles (63 solo), one interception, two passes defended, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery. Pace was named to the PFWA NFL All Rookie Team.

Personal life

Pace's younger brother, Deshawn, plays linebacker for the UCF Knights

References

External links

Minnesota Vikings bioMiami RedHawks bioCincinnati Bearcats bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pace, Ivan, Jr. 2000 births Living people All-American college football players American football linebackers Cincinnati Bearcats football players Miami RedHawks football players Players of American football from Cincinnati Minnesota Vikings players