- For his father, the politician, see Martin T. Rucker.
| File:Martin Rucker (football).JPG Martin Rucker hugs a fan following the 2008 Cotton Bowl Classic. | |
| No. 86, 83, 85 | |
| Tight end | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Date of birth: May 4, 1985 | |
| Place of birth: St. Joseph, Missouri | |
| Career information | |
| College: Missouri | |
| NFL Draft: 2008 / Round: 4 / Pick: 111 | |
| No regular season or postseason appearances | |
| Career history | |
| * Cleveland Browns ( 2008– 2009) | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
* First-team SN Freshman All-Big 12 (2004)
| |
| Receptions | 2 |
| Receiving yards | 17 |
| Receiving touchdowns | 0 |
| Stats at NFL.com | |
.JPG){kind=link}
Martin T. Rucker II (born May 4, 1985) is an American former college and professional football player. He played college football for the University of Missouri, and was recognized as a consensus All-American. He was chosen by the Cleveland Browns in the fourth round of the 2008 NFL Draft, and has also played tight end for the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys and Jacksonville Jaguars of the NFL.
Early years[]
Rucker was born in St. Joseph, Missouri. He is the younger brother of former NFL defensive end Mike Rucker and the son of politician Martin T. Rucker. He attended Benton High School in St. Joseph, and was a standout player for the Benton Cardinals high school football team.
College career[]
Rucker attended the University of Missouri, where he played for coach Gary Pinkel's Missouri Tigers football team from 2004 to 2007. He was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American tight end, having been named to the first teams of the American Football Coaches Association and the Associated Press.[1][2] Rucker finished his collegiate career with over 200 receptions, 2,175 yards, and 18 touchdowns.
Professional career[]
Cleveland Browns[]
Rucker was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the fourth round (111th overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft. He signed a contract with the team on July 22, 2008. Rucker caught two passes for 17 yards during the 2008 season, with both receptions resulting in first downs.
He was waived by the team on September 22, 2009.
Philadelphia Eagles[]
Rucker was signed to the Philadelphia Eagles practice squad on September 24, 2009. He was promoted to the active roster on December 15. He was waived by the team on August 9, 2010.[3]
Dallas Cowboys[]
Rucker signed with the Dallas Cowboys as a free agent on August 20, 2010. He was cut on September 4, 2010, and signed to the practice squad a day later. He was promoted to the active roster on December 1, while Scott Chandler was cut to make room for him.[4] He returned one kickoff for 16 yards in a game against the Philadelphia Eagles. On September 13, 2011, he was waived and re-signed to the practice squad.
Jacksonville Jaguars[]
On October 18, 2011, Rucker was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars off the Dallas Cowboys practice squad.
Kansas City Chiefs[]
Rucker signed with the Kansas City Chiefs on May 16, 2012, and was placed on the injured reserve list on June 13, 2012 with a torn ACL.[5]
Retirement[]
On August 6, 2014, Rucker announced his retirement from the NFL and professional football.[6]
Career statistics[]
| Career Offensive Statistics | ||||||||||||
| Year | G | GS | Rec | Yds | Y/R | TD | Lg | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 8.5 | 0 | 9 | |||||
| 2009 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| TOTAL | 5 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 8.5 | 0 | 9 | |||||
Politics[]
In February 2016, Rucker announced his candidacy as a Democrat for the Missouri House of Representatives in the state's 14th house district.[7] Despite exceeding the number of votes estimated needed to win, with many unexpected voters turning out for the election resulted in a loss for Rucker by 904 votes.
Personal[]
Rucker resides in Kansas City, Missouri with his wife, Geony Rucker, and their daughter
References[]
- ↑ "Martin Rucker Named 1st-Team All-American". November 29, 2007. http://mutigers.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/112907aab.html. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
- ↑ "Five Tigers Named to AP All-America Teams". December 11, 2007. http://mutigers.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/121107aab.html. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
- ↑ "Eagles drop Martin Rucker". Profootballtalk.com. August 9, 2010. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/08/09/eagles-drop-martin-rucker/. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
- ↑ MacMahon, Tim (December 1, 2010). "Scott Chandler cut; Rucker promoted". http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/cowboys/post/_/id/4675076/scott-chandler-cut-martin-rucker-promoted. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
- ↑ Looney, Josh (May 16, 2012). "Chiefs ink two more draft picks, sign three players off minicamp tryout and add another free agent". KCChiefs.com. http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/article-2/Chiefs-ink-two-more-draft-picks-sign-three-players-off-minicamp-tryout-and-add-another-free-agent/6e0e3145-dbec-4330-9532-eee314760f54. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
- ↑ "Rucker Steps Away from Football" (in en-US). August 7, 2014. http://www.stjoechannel.com/sports/rucker-steps-away-from-football. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
- ↑ Frederickson, Ben (February 26, 2016). "BenFred: Ex-Tiger Rucker hoping to catch on in politics". St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Lee Enterprises). http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/ben-frederickson/benfred-ex-tiger-rucker-hoping-to-catch-on-in-politics/article_1cd9c77c-5cd6-54a5-9c48-7b60c4340281.html. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
External links[]
- Martin Rucker (American football) on Twitter
- Philadelphia Eagles bio
- Cleveland Browns bio
- Missouri Tigers bio
| |||||||||||
| |||||