Rakeem Nuñez-Roches

Rakeem Nathan Nuñez-Roches (born July 3, 1993) is a Belizean professional American football defensive 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 Mississippi.

Rakeem Nuñez-Roches

Nuñez-Roches with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2017
No. 56 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Position:	Defensive tackle
Personal information
Born:	July 3, 1993 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 Mississippi
NFL Draft:	2015 / Round: 6 / Pick: 217
Career history
Kansas City Chiefs (2015–2017) Indianapolis Colts (2018)* Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2018–present)
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Roster status:	Active
Career highlights and awards
Super Bowl champion (LV)
Career NFL statistics as of 2020
Total tackles: 82 Sacks: 1.5 Forced fumbles: 0 Fumble recoveries: 0 Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

High school career

Nuñez-Roches attended Central High School in Phenix City, Alabama. 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.[1]

College career

Nuñez-Roches played at the University of Southern Mississippi from 2011 to 2014 where he majored in biological sciences.[2]

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.[1]

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.[1]

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.[3] Following the 2014 season, he decided to forego his final year of eligibility and entered the 2015 NFL Draft.[4][5]

College statistics

Southern Miss career statistics[3]
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

2015

Nuñez-Roches was drafted in the sixth round (217th overall) of the 2015 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs.[6] He was the first Belizean born player to ever be drafted in the NFL.[7] On May 11, he signed his rookie contract with the Chiefs.[8] In the 2015 season, he appeared in seven games and recorded four solo tackles.

2016

On September 17, 2016, Nuñez-Roches was released by the Chiefs.[9] He was signed to the practice squad on September 20, 2016.[10] He was signed to the active roster on October 18, 2016.[11] On December 8, he recorded his first career sack against the Oakland Raiders.[12] He appeared in eleven games and started five for the Chiefs in the 2016 season.

2017

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

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.[13] On April 29, 2018, Nuñez-Roches officially re-signed with the Chiefs after no other teams made an offer.[14] He was released by the Chiefs on May 8, 2018.[15]

Indianapolis Colts

On May 11, 2018, Nuñez-Roches was claimed off waivers by the Indianapolis Colts.[16] He was waived on September 1, 2018.[17]

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On October 2, 2018, Nuñez-Roches was signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.[18]

On March 15, 2019, Nuñez-Roches was re-signed by the Buccaneers.[19]

On March 20, 2020, Nuñez-Roches was re-signed by the Buccaneers.[20] He finished the 2020 season with 20 tackles in 16 games (11 starts). The Buccaneers finished with an 11-5 record for a wild card spot and eventually won Super Bowl LV 31-9 against the Kansas City Chiefs.[21]

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
Career		37	16	53	33	20	1.5	0	0	0

Personal life

Born in Dangriga, Belize, Nuñez-Roches is fluent in both English and Garifuna.[22]

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.[23] 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[24]

References

1. "Rakeem Nunez-Roches bio". SouthernMiss.com (via Archive.org). Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved September 17, 2016.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
2. Munz, Jason. "A need to help: USM standout embodies spirit of season". Hattiesburg American. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
3. "Rakeem Nunez-Roches Statistics at Sports-Reference.com". Sport-Reference.com. Retrieved September 17, 2016.
4. "USM's Nunez-Roches intends to enter NFL draft". The Clarion Ledger. December 26, 2014.
5. "Nunez-Roches takes NFL draft ratings in stride". Hattiesburg American. April 16, 2015.
6. "Chiefs". kansascity.
7. "1st Belizean born player drafted in the NFL". Amandala Newspaper.
8. Verderame, Matt (May 11, 2015). "Kansas City Chiefs sign four draft picks". ArrowheadAddict.com. Retrieved September 17, 2016.
9. Paylor, Terez A. (September 17, 2016). "Chiefs release Rakeem Nunez-Roches, add Jordan Devey from practice squad". KansasCity.com. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
10. "Transactions (2016)". Chiefs.com. September 20, 2016. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
11. "Chiefs Announce Roster Moves". Chiefs.com. October 18, 2016. Archived from the original on December 8, 2017.
12. "Rakeem Nunez-Roches". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
13. Crabtree, Curtis (March 15, 2018). "Chiefs place original round tender on Rakeem Nunez-Roches". ProFootballTalk.NBCSports.com.
14. Conner, Matt (April 28, 2018). "Rakeem Nunez-Roches re-signs with Kansas City Chiefs". Arrowhead Addict. Retrieved April 29, 2018.
15. Gantt, Darin (May 8, 2018). "Chiefs release Rakeem Nunez-Roches". ProFootballTalk.NBCSports.com.
16. "ROSTER MOVE: Colts Claim DE-Rakeem Nunez-Roches Off Waivers". Colts.com. May 11, 2018. Archived from the original on May 12, 2018.
17. Walker, Andrew (September 1, 2018). "Colts Announce Final 2018 Roster Cuts". Colts.com.
18. Smith, Scott (October 3, 2018). "Bucs Sign DT Rakeem Nunez-Roches". Buccaneers.com.
19. "Bucs Retain Interior Help on D-Line with Nunez-Roches". Buccaneers.com. March 15, 2019.
20. Alper, Josh (March 19, 2020). "Bucs re-sign Rakeem Nunez-Roches". Pro Football Talk. NBC Sports.
21. "Tampa Bay Buccaneers win Super Bowl XV". NFL. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
22. "Nunez-Roches helps others". Hattiesburg American. November 26, 2014.
23. "Bucs Player's Dog Found Abandoned, Rescue Group Wants Answers". December 30, 2019.
24. "TMZ: NFL Investigating Buccaneers' Rakeem Nunez-Roches After Animal Abandonment". December 31, 2019.

External links

• Kansas City Chiefs biography
• Southern Miss Golden Eagles biography