Mike Catapano

Mike Catapano
No. 53 New York Jets
Position: Defensive end
Personal information
Date of birth: (1990-08-17) August 17, 1990
Place of birth: Long Island, New York
Height: 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight: 285 lb (129 kg)
Career information
High school: Chaminade (NY)
College: Princeton
NFL draft: 2013 / Round: 7 / Pick: 207
Career history
Roster status: Active
Career highlights and awards
  • Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year (2012)
  • First-team All-Ivy (2012)
  • East-West Shrine Game (2013)
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2015
Tackles: 7
Sacks: 2.0
Forced fumbles: 0
Player stats at NFL.com

Mike Catapano, Jr. (born August 17, 1990) is an American football defensive end who plays for the New York Jets of the National Football League(NFL). He played college football at Princeton where he majored in psychology.[1] He was selected in the seventh round 2013 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs.

Early years

Catapano was born the son of Mike, Sr. and Barbara.[2] He has a younger sister April.[3] He is from Bayville, New York.[2] Catapano began playing football at age 8, when his mother became worried he was being bullied.[4] He attended Chaminade High School in Mineola, New York, where he played more fullback than defensive end.[4] He had three shoulder surgeries in high school, which limited his recruiting potential.[2] According to a 2013 NFL.com report by Gil Brandt, he graduated weighing a 215 pounds (98 kg) and received offers from every Ivy League school.[5] However, according to the class of 2008 databases of the major recruiting websites (ESPN.com, Rivals.com and Scout.com) who also noted his offers from Army, Temple and Hofstra, he weighed between 234 and 240.[6][7][8] According to the final national class of 2008 rankings, Catapano was the 18th ranked fullback by Scout.com and the 46th ranked fullback according to ESPN.[6][8]

Name Home town High school / college Height Weight 40‡ Commit date
Mike Catapano
FB		 Bayville, New York Chaminade (NY) 6 ft 3.5 in (1.92 m) 237 lb (108 kg) 4.7 Jan 8, 2008 
Scout:2/5 stars   Rivals:2/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 65
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 18 (FB)   ESPN: 46 (FB)
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

College career

As a freshman, he received a medical redshirt.[2] As a redshirt sophomore, he earned honorable mention All-Ivy League honors.[3] After his junior season in which he earned second team All-Ivy honors, he attended a summer pass rush training camp conducted by Chuck Smith.[2] Over the course of the year, he had 12 quarterback sacks and 15.5 tackles for a loss and participated in the 2013 East–West Shrine Game.[9] His senior thesis was on visual cognition and memory.[2] He was the 2012 Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year.[4] At Princeton, he developed his own catchphrase to live by: "Attack the now".[4] He was an FCS second team All-American according to the Associated Press and third team All-American according to Beyond Sports Network.[10][11]

Professional career

Pre-draft

Pre-draft measurables
Ht Wt 40-yd dash 10-yd split 20-yd split 20-ss 3-cone Vert Broad BP
6 ft 37⁄8 in 271 lb 4.75 s 4.31 s 7.09 s 37.5 in 9 ft 8 in 33 reps
All values from Princeton Pro Day on March 20, 2013.[5]

Princeton held its Pro Day workouts on March 20, 2013 and Catapano had private workouts on March 26 with the Philadelphia Eagles and the Minnesota Vikings.[5] Following his East-West Shrine Game appearance, his private workouts and his pro day workouts, there was speculation that he might be the highest drafted Ivy League athlete.[5] He ended up as the third and final Ivy Leaguer of the 2013 draft, following J. C. Tretter and Kyle Juszczyk.[9]

Kansas City Chiefs

2013 season

He was selected by the Chiefs with the first pick of the seventh round and 207th overall selection of the 2013 NFL Draft.[9] He is the first Princeton athlete selected in the NFL draft since Dennis Norman in the 2001 NFL Draft.[5] Upon being drafted, Catapano was expected to transition to the linebacker position.[12] During the 2013 preseason, he moved back to defensive end.[13] In week 4, Catapano recorded a tackle against the New York Giants, his first in the NFL.[14][15] In a week 6 game against the Oakland Raiders, he recorded his first career sack.[16]

2014 season

Following the 2014 preseason, Catapano was placed on the Reserve/Non-football injury list. It was later reported that Catapano was fighting a mysterious illness that is still being researched.[17] On September 26, 2014, Catapano was placed on season-ending injured reserve.[18]

New York Jets

2015 season

Catapano was released by the Chiefs before the season opener.[19] Chiefs head coach Andy Reid felt Catapano was better suited to a team that ran a 4–3 defense rather than the Chief's 3–4 defense.[20] On September 8, he was signed to the practice squad by the New York Jets.[21] On November 21, 2015, he was promoted to the active roster when Sheldon Richardson was injured.[22]

Notes

  1. ↑ Covitz, Randy. "Mike Catapano trying to go from Princeton to Chiefs". Kansas.com. The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Battista, Judy (2013-04-13). "Unlikely Source Has Produced an N.F.L. Draft Prospect". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-05-04.
  3. 1 2 "#77 Mike Catapano". GoPrincetonTigers.com. Retrieved 2013-05-04.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Glauber, Bob and Will Sammon (2013-04-27). "Kansas City Chiefs draft former Chaminade star Mike Catapano". Newsday. Retrieved 2013-05-04.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Brandt, Gil (2013-03-27). "Mike Catapano of Princeton might be first Ivy Leaguer drafted". NFL.com. Retrieved 2013-05-04.
  6. 1 2 "#30 Mike Catapano". Scout.com. Retrieved 2013-05-06.
  7. ↑ "Mike Catapano". Rivals.com. Retrieved 2013-05-06.
  8. 1 2 "Mike Catapano". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2013-05-06.
  9. 1 2 3 "Chiefs head for Ivy League for defensive end Mike Catapano out of Princeton in seventh round". FOX Sports. 2013-04-27. Retrieved 2013-05-04.
  10. ↑ "Football Standouts Caraun Reid, Mike Catapano Earn All-America Honors". GoPrincetonTigers.com. 2012-12-15. Retrieved 2013-05-04.
  11. ↑ "2012 Ivy League Football: Final" (PDF). IvyLeagueSports.com. Retrieved 2013-05-08.
  12. ↑ Bator, Mark. "Princeton Football: Standout Mike Catapano Drafted by Kansas City Chiefs". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2013-05-06.
  13. ↑ Teicher, Adam (2013-09-03). "Chiefs rookie update: Defense". ESPN. Retrieved 2013-09-04.
  14. ↑ "Mike Catapano #77 DE". NFL.com. 2013-09-29. Retrieved 2013-10-12.
  15. ↑ "Giants 7 (0-4, 0-3 away); Chiefs 31 (4-0, 2-0 home)". ESPN. 2013-09-29. Retrieved 2013-10-13.
  16. ↑ "Raiders 7 (2-4, 0-3 away); Chiefs 24 (6-0, 3-0 home)". ESPN. 2013-10-13. Retrieved 2013-10-13.
  17. ↑ "Mysterious illness still keeping Chiefs’ Mike Catapano out of action". KansasCity.com.
  18. ↑ Teicher, Adam (2014-09-25). "Mike Catapano can't provide pass-rush boost". ESPN. Retrieved 2014-09-28.
  19. ↑ Teicher, Adam (2015-09-07). "Dontari Poe returns to practice and could play vs. Houston on Sunday". ESPN. Retrieved 2015-09-15.
  20. ↑ Paylor, Tarez A. (2015-09-07). "Chiefs coach Andy Reid says Mike Catapano a better fit in a 4-3 scheme". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved 2015-09-15.
  21. ↑ Martin, Kimberly A. (2015-09-09). "Star-struck LIer Mike Catapano thrilled to be a Jet". Newsday. Retrieved 2015-09-15.
  22. ↑ Martin, Kimberly A. (2015-11-21). "Jets activate LI's Mike Catapano". Newsday. Retrieved 2015-11-25.

External links

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