Adam Gotsis (born 23 September 1992) is an Australian professional

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

for the

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of the

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(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is the name used for all of the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The teams have also been nicknamed the ...

and was selected by the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

in the second round of the

2016 NFL draft The 2016 NFL draft was the 81st annual draft of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

. He also played for the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

and

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

Early life

Gotsis was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia, to parents of

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

heritage, he was raised in the suburb of Abbotsford. He grew up playing

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

and supported the

North Melbourne Football Club The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Kangaroos or colloquially the Roos, is a professional Australian rules football club. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AF ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

. At the age of 13, while attending

Kew High School Kew High School is a co-educational school in suburban Melbourne for students in years 7–12. The school has an enrolment of approximately 1146 students from the suburbs of Kew, Balwyn North, Hawthorn, Ivanhoe, Kew East and Richmond. School ...

, his interest in Australian rules football had waned and his mother discovered a local junior

club via a

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search, the Monash Warriors, that Gotsis and his older brother would later join. He recorded a team-high 12.5 sacks and earned league MVP honors in 2010. He progressed through the local ranks and eventually represented the Australian national American football team at the

IFAF World Championship The IFAF World Championship of American Football (also known as the IFAF World Cup) is an international gridiron competition held every four years and contested by teams representing member nations. The competition is run by the International F ...

in December 2011. A month later, Gotsis signed to play

for

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

and arrived in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

in July 2012.

College career

Gotsis spent four years playing college football for the

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football program represents the Georgia Institute of Technology in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision in the sport of American football. The Yellow Jackets college football team competes in the Football Bowl Subd ...

team. Gotsis appeared in 48 games (37 starts) at Georgia Tech, totaling 110

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

(69 solo), 12.5 sacks, two

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...

s, two

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recoveries and four blocked kicks. He started the first nine games of his senior season, finishing the year with 31 tackles (20 solo), five tackles for loss, a team-best three sacks and two fumble recoveries before a season-ending knee injury. Gotsis started all 14 games along the defensive line his junior season, posting 36 tackles (23 solo), three sacks, one interception, three passes defensed and two blocked kicks. He was named to the All-

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

Second-team by both the media and coaches. Gotsis started all 13 games of his sophomore season at

nose tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

, recording 38 tackles (23 solo), 5.5 sacks, one interception and one pass defensed in addition to blocking two kicks. He ranked second on team in tackles for loss (14.5) and sacks (5.5). He graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in

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in December 2015.

Professional career

Denver Broncos

Gotsis was selected by the

in the second round (63rd overall) in the

. He became the highest-drafted Australian-born player in

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a 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 Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

history. On 26 May 2016, the Broncos announced that they had signed Gotsis to a four-year, $5.40 million contract with a signing bonus of $1.06 million. Gotsis played all 16 games and finished with 14 tackles (5 solo), one pass defensed and one fumble recovery. Gotsis made his NFL debut vs. the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

on 8 September 2016. In 2017, Gotsis started 13-of-16 games played, totaling 41 tackles (28 solo), two sacks, four passes defensed and one fumble recovery. He earned his first NFL start and made four tackles (2 solo) vs. the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

on 17 September 2017. Gotsis recorded his first career sack and blocked a field goal vs. the

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

on 15 October 2017. On 23 December 2019, Gotsis was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

after undergoing knee surgery.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On 2 August 2020, Gotsis signed with the

. Gotsis re-signed with the Jaguars on 25 March 2021. He played in 16 games with four starts, recording three sacks and 27 tackles. On 4 May 2022, Gotsis re-signed with the Jaguars. On 20 March 2023, Gotsis again re–signed with Jacksonville. He appeared in all 17 games for Jacksonville in 2023, logging 26 combined tackles, 4 pass deflections, and 1 sack. Gotsis was waived by the Jaguars on August 6, 2024.

Indianapolis Colts

On September 17, 2024, Gotsis signed with the

practice squad. Later in the 2024 season, Gotsis was elevated for a Week 4 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was released on November 16.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On January 8, 2025, Gotsis was signed to the

practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 21.

Controversy

In March 2018, Gotsis was arrested for alleged rape of a woman in 2013, while he was a

student-athlete Student athlete (or student–athlete) is a term used principally in universities in the United States and Canada to describe students enrolled at postsecondary educational institutions, principally colleges and universities, but also at sec ...

at Georgia Tech. He surrendered himself to Atlanta Police on 7 March 2018, and was released after posting $US 50,000. On 15 August 2018, the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office announced that it would not pursue charges against Gotsis.

References

External links

Tampa Bay Buccaneers bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gotsis, Adam 1992 births Living people American football defensive ends American football defensive tackles Australian people of Greek descent Sportspeople of Greek descent Australian players of American football Denver Broncos players Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football players Indianapolis Colts players Jacksonville Jaguars players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Players of American football from Melbourne People from Abbotsford, Victoria