Chazz Surratt (born February 16, 1997) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

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for the

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels (also Carolina Tar Heels) are the college sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to ...

, where he began his career as a

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

before transitioning to linebacker, and was selected by the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

in the third round of the

2021 NFL draft The 2021 NFL draft was the 86th National Football League draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland, Ohio from April 29 to May ...

Early life

Surratt attended East Lincoln High School in

Denver, North Carolina Denver, formerly known as Dry Pond, is a census-designated place and Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Lincoln County, North Carolina, Lincoln County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census ...

. He helped lead the East Lincoln football team to victories in the 2012 2A and 2014 2AA NCHSAA state championship games. A highly regarded high school quarterback, Surratt was a two-time first-team

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(AP) All-State selection. During his senior year, Surratt was named

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

AP Offensive Player of the Year, as well being a ''

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and ''Parade'' National Player of the Year. Surratt also set the high school state record for most career touchdowns with 229.

College career

Recruited by Tar Heel coach

Larry Fedora Herbert Lawrence Fedora (born September 10, 1962) is an American football coach and former player who is the former coach and General manager (American football), general manager for the New Orleans Breakers (2022), New Orleans Breakers of the Un ...

to the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

to play quarterback, Surratt redshirted during his first season with the program in 2016. He was named the starting quarterback during his redshirt freshman season in 2017, replacing graduate transfer

Brandon Harris Brandon Harris (born January 24, 1990) is an American football coach and former player who currently serves as the defensive backs coach for UCF. He played as a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Houston T ...

who had struggled to begin the season. Surratt himself struggled with inconsistency and injury throughout 2017, only appearing in nine games, starting seven. After a suspension to start the 2018 season, Surratt became the backup to Nathan Elliott. He appeared in one game during his redshirt sophomore season, sustaining a season-ending injury against

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. When Head Coach

Mack Brown William Mack Brown (born August 27, 1951) is an American former college football coach. Brown most recently coached at the University of North Carolina, where he had two stints, first from 1988 until 1997, and again from 2019 until his firing ...

returned before the 2019 season, Surratt elected to make the switch to linebacker prior to his redshirt junior season rather than transfer to another school for an opportunity to continue to play quarterback. Carolina had just signed the highly touted

Sam Howell Samuel Duke Howell (born September 16, 2000) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the North Carolina Tar Heels footba ...

and also had quarterbacks Cade Fortin and Jace Ruder on the roster, giving Surratt slim chances to crack the quarterback depth chart. The move to linebacker proved to be a revelation, and Surratt had a successful season highlighted by a game-winning interception against rival

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. In the 2019 season, Surratt started and played in all 13 games and had 115 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks, 1 interception, 1 forced fumble, and 1 fumble recovery. After the completion of the season, Surratt was named first-team All-ACC at the linebacker position. In his redshirt senior season in 2020, Surratt played in 11 games and finished with 91 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, 6 sacks, 1 interception, 1 forced fumble, and 1 fumble recovered. Surratt opted out of participating in the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. Played annually since 1935 Orange Bowl, January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in ...

against Texas A&M, in order to prepare for the

Professional career

Minnesota Vikings

2021 season

Surratt was drafted in the third round (78th overall) of the 2021 NFL Draft by the

. Entering his inaugural training camp in the NFL, Surratt competed for a starting inside linebacker job against

Nick Vigil Nick Vigil (born August 20, 1993) is an American professional football linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Utah State Aggies, and was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in th ...

and Blake Lynch. At the conclusion of the preseason, head coach Mike Zimmer named Surratt a backup inside linebacker behind Anthony Barr, Eric Kendricks, and

. Surratt finished his rookie season playing in 9 games and played exclusively on special teams with zero defensive snaps.

2022 season

Surratt competed for a backup inside linebacker job in training camp against rookie Brian Asamoah. However, he struggled in the Vikings' preseason games and was seen as an improper fit in the team's new defensive scheme. Surratt was waived on August 30, 2022.

New York Jets

On September 1, 2022, Surratt was signed to the

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of the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 9, 2023.

San Francisco 49ers

On May 28, 2025, Surratt signed with the

Personal life

Surratt's younger brother, Sage Surratt, was an All-Conference wide-receiver at

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The R ...

References

External links

San Francisco 49ers bioNorth Carolina Tar Heels bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Surratt, Chazz 1997 births Living people Players of American football from North Carolina North Carolina Tar Heels football players People from Denver, North Carolina People from Lincolnton, North Carolina American football quarterbacks American football linebackers All-American college football players Minnesota Vikings players New York Jets players San Francisco 49ers players