Rakeem Nuñez-Roches

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Rakeem Nuñez-Roches
refer to caption
Nuñez-Roches with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2017
No. 56 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Position:Nose tackle
Personal information
Born: (1993-07-03) July 3, 1993 (age 28)
Dangriga, Belize
Height:6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:307 lb (139 kg)
Career information
High school:Central (Phenix City, Alabama)
College:Southern Miss
NFL Draft:2015 / Round: 6 / Pick: 217
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of 2021
Total tackles:95
Sacks:1.5
Forced fumbles:0
Fumble recoveries:1
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Rakeem Nathan Nuñez-Roches (born July 3, 1993) is a Belizean professional American football nose tackle for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the sixth round (217th overall) of the 2015 NFL Draft. He played college football at Southern Miss.

High school career[]

Nuñez-Roches migrated with his family from Belize to Alabama when he was eight years old [1] He attended Central High School in Phenix City, Alabama where he started to play football. For his high school football career, he recorded 132 career tackles, 17 sacks, and four forced fumbles. In football, he was rated as a three-star defensive lineman by ESPN, as well as two stars from Rivals.com and Scout.com. He was selected Second-team All-Area by the Opelika-Auburn News and was an Alabama Top 50 player.[2]

College career[]

Nuñez-Roches played at the University of Southern Mississippi from 2011 to 2014 where he majored in biological sciences.[3]

As a freshman in 2011, he appeared in six games and was named to the Conference USA All-Freshman team. For the 2011 season, he recorded two tackles and 1.5 tackles-for-loss.

As a sophomore in 2011, he started 11 of 12 games, his only non-start being Southern Miss' senior night game against UTEP. For the 2012 season, he recorded 37 tackles, of which 22 were solo, six tackles-for-loss, one sack, and one forced fumble.[2]

As a junior in 2013, he started the first two games of the season, before suffering a season-ending injury, which earned him a medical redshirt. For the season, he recorded eight tackles, of which two were solo, and 0.5 tackles-for-loss.[2]

As a redshirt junior in 2014, he appeared in 11 games. He recorded 63 tackles (35 solo), 15 tackles-for-loss, four sacks, and one forced fumble.[4] Following the 2014 season, he decided to forego his final year of eligibility and entered the 2015 NFL Draft.[5][6]

College statistics[]

Southern Miss career statistics[4]
Year Team GP/GS Tackles Sacks Pass defense Fumbles Safeties TDs
Solo Ast Total TFL No Int PD FF FR
2011 Southern Miss 6 / 0 2 0 2 1.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2012 Southern Miss 12 / 11 22 15 37 6 1 0 0 1 0 0 0
2013 Southern Miss 2 / 2 2 6 8 0.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2014 Southern Miss 11 / 11 35 28 63 15 4 0 0 1 0 0 0
Career 31 / 24 61 49 110 23 5 0 0 2 0 0 0

Professional career[]

Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
6 ft 2+1⁄4 in
(1.89 m) 		307 lb
(139 kg) 		32+5⁄8 in
(0.83 m) 		10+1⁄8 in
(0.26 m)		 5.02 s 1.71 s 2.90 s 4.69 s 7.67 s 34.0 in
(0.86 m)		 9 ft 6 in
(2.90 m)		 26 reps
All values from NFL Combine[7][8]

Kansas City Chiefs[]

2015[]

Nuñez-Roches was drafted in the sixth round with the 217th overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs.[9] He was the first Belizean born player to ever be drafted in the NFL.[10] On May 11, he signed his rookie contract with the Chiefs.[11] In the 2015 season, he appeared in seven games and recorded four solo tackles.[12]

2016[]

On September 17, 2016, Nuñez-Roches was released by the Chiefs.[13] He was signed to the practice squad on September 20, 2016.[14] He was signed to the active roster on October 18, 2016.[15] On December 8, he recorded his first career sack against the Oakland Raiders.[16] He appeared in eleven games and started five for the Chiefs in the 2016 season.[17]

2017[]

In 2017, Nuñez-Roches played in all 16 games with 11 starts, recording 24 total tackles.[18]

2018[]

On March 14, 2018, the Chiefs placed an original-round restricted free agent tender on Nuñez-Roches allowing him to negotiate with another team, however the Chiefs have an option the match the contract. If they chose not to, they will receive a 6th round draft pick as compensation.[19] On April 29, 2018, Nuñez-Roches officially re-signed with the Chiefs after no other teams made an offer.[20] He was released by the Chiefs on May 8, 2018.[21]

Indianapolis Colts[]

On May 11, 2018, Nuñez-Roches was claimed off waivers by the Indianapolis Colts.[22] He was waived on September 1, 2018.[23]

Tampa Bay Buccaneers[]

Nuñez-Roches (#56) playing against the Washington Football Team in Wild Card Playoff game.

On October 2, 2018, Nuñez-Roches was signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.[24] He appeared in only three games for the remainder of the 2018 season.[25]

On March 15, 2019, Nuñez-Roches was re-signed by the Buccaneers.[26] He played in all 16 games but was used as a rotational player defensively for the 2019 season.[27]

On March 20, 2020, Nuñez-Roches was re-signed by the Buccaneers.[28] He finished the 2020 season with 20 tackles in 16 games, of which he started 11.[29] The Buccaneers finished with an 11–5 record for a wild card spot and eventually won Super Bowl LV by a score of 31–9 over the Kansas City Chiefs.[30][31]

On March 20, 2021, Nuñez-Roches was re-signed by the Buccaneers.[32]

NFL career statistics[]

Year Team GP GS Comb Solo Ast Sck PD FF FR
2015 KC 7 0 4 4 0 0.0 0 0 0
2016 KC 11 5 23 14 9 1.0 0 0 0
2017 KC 16 11 24 13 11 0.5 0 0 0
2018 TB 3 0 2 2 0 0.0 0 0 0
2019 TB 16 0 9 5 4 0.0 0 0 0
2020 TB 16 11 20 7 13 0.0 0 0 0
Career 69 27 82 45 37 1.5 0 0 0

Personal life[]

Born in Dangriga, Belize, Nuñez-Roches is fluent in both English and Garifuna.[33]

In December 2019, Nuñez-Roches' dog, a Cane Corso, was found abandoned in a field in Hillsborough County. It was rescued after approximately 36 hours and traced back to him, where it was later learned that he raises Cane Corso dogs.[34] The dog was missing some teeth, and Nuñez-Roches refused to take possession of it. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers stated on December 31, 2019 that they were investigating Nuñez-Roches.[35]

References[]

  1. ^ "Rakeem Nathan Nunez-Roches as Belizean as punta, hudut, and rice & beans". Belize News and Opinion. February 12, 2021. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "Rakeem Nunez-Roches bio". Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved September 17, 2016.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. ^ Munz, Jason (November 26, 2014). "A need to help: USM standout embodies spirit of season". Hattiesburg American. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  4. ^ a b "Rakeem Nunez-Roches College Stats". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  5. ^ Munz, Jason (December 26, 2014). "USM's Nunez-Roches intends to enter NFL draft". The Clarion Ledger. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  6. ^ Munz, Jason (April 16, 2015). "Nunez-Roches takes NFL draft ratings in stride". Hattiesburg American. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  7. ^ "Rakeem Nunez-Roches Draft and Combine Prospect Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
  8. ^ "Rakeem Nunez-Roches, Nebraska, DT, 2015 NFL Draft Scout, NCAA College Football". draftscout.com. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
  9. ^ "Chiefs". kansascity.
  10. ^ "1st Belizean born player drafted in the NFL". Amandala Newspaper.
  11. ^ Verderame, Matt (May 11, 2015). "Kansas City Chiefs sign four draft picks". ArrowheadAddict.com. Retrieved September 17, 2016.
  12. ^ "Rakeem Nunez-Roches 2015 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  13. ^ Paylor, Terez A. (September 17, 2016). "Chiefs release Rakeem Nunez-Roches, add Jordan Devey from practice squad". KansasCity.com. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
  14. ^ "Transactions (2016)". Chiefs.com. September 20, 2016. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  15. ^ "Chiefs Announce Roster Moves". Chiefs.com. October 18, 2016. Archived from the original on December 8, 2017.
  16. ^ "Rakeem Nunez-Roches". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  17. ^ "Rakeem Nunez-Roches 2016 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  18. ^ "Rakeem Nunez-Roches 2017 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  19. ^ Crabtree, Curtis (March 15, 2018). "Chiefs place original round tender on Rakeem Nunez-Roches". ProFootballTalk. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  20. ^ Conner, Matt (April 28, 2018). "Rakeem Nunez-Roches re-signs with Kansas City Chiefs". Arrowhead Addict. Retrieved April 29, 2018.
  21. ^ Gantt, Darin (May 8, 2018). "Chiefs release Rakeem Nunez-Roches". ProFootballTalk. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  22. ^ "ROSTER MOVE: Colts Claim DE-Rakeem Nunez-Roches Off Waivers". Colts.com. May 11, 2018. Archived from the original on May 12, 2018.
  23. ^ Walker, Andrew (September 1, 2018). "Colts Announce Final 2018 Roster Cuts". Colts.com. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  24. ^ Smith, Scott (October 3, 2018). "Bucs Sign DT Rakeem Nunez-Roches". Buccaneers.com. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  25. ^ "Rakeem Nunez-Roches 2018 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  26. ^ Vitali, Carmen (March 15, 2019). "Bucs Retain Interior Help on D-Line with Nunez-Roches". Buccaneers.com. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  27. ^ "Rakeem Nunez-Roches 2019 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  28. ^ Alper, Josh (March 19, 2020). "Bucs re-sign Rakeem Nunez-Roches". ProFootballTalk. NBC Sports. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  29. ^ "Rakeem Nunez-Roches 2020 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  30. ^ Patra, Kevin (February 7, 2017). "What we learned from Buccaneers win over Chiefs in Super Bowl LV". NFL.com. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  31. ^ "Super Bowl LV – Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Kansas City Chiefs – February 7th, 2021". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  32. ^ Smith, Scott (March 20, 2021). "Solid Line: Rakeem Nunez-Roches Stays with Bucs". Buccaneers.com.
  33. ^ Munz, Jason (November 26, 2014). "Nunez-Roches helps others". Hattiesburg American. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  34. ^ Weathers, Saundra (December 30, 2019). "Bucs Player's Dog Found Abandoned, Rescue Group Wants Answers". www.baynews9.com. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  35. ^ Chiari, Mike (December 31, 2019). "TMZ: NFL Investigating Buccaneers' Rakeem Nunez-Roches After Animal Abandonment". Bleacher Report. Retrieved March 15, 2021.

External links[]

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