Adam Trautman (born February 5, 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 ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

for 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 ...

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

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

Dayton Flyers The Dayton Flyers are the intercollegiate athletic teams of the University of Dayton of Dayton, Ohio. All Flyers intercollegiate sports teams participate at the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA Division I level. The football team ...

and was selected by the Saints in the third round of the

2020 NFL draft The 2020 NFL draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The ...

Early life

Trautman grew up in Williamsburg, Michigan and attended Elk Rapids High School, where he played basketball and

and was an All-County selection in both sports. Trautman set every major school passing record and was named the Lake Michigan Conference Player of the Year as a senior.

College career

Trautman

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

in his true freshman season at the

University of Dayton The University of Dayton (UD) is a Private university, private, Catholic research university in Dayton, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary (Marianists), Society of Mary, it is one of three Marianist universities in the U ...

, as he changed positions from quarterback to tight end. As a redshirt freshman, he caught 24 passes for 238 yards and three touchdowns. He had 43 receptions for 537 yards and five touchdowns and was named second-team All-

Pioneer Football League The Pioneer Football League (PFL) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference which operates in the United States. The conference participates in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I Fo ...

in his sophomore season. As a junior, Trautman led the team with 41 receptions, 604 yards and nine touchdowns and was again named second-team All-PFL. As a Senior, he was named the PFL Offensive Player of the Year and first-team All-PFL after catching 70 passes for 916 yards and 14 touchdowns. He finished his collegiate career with 171 receptions for 2,295 yards and 31 touchdowns. Trautman played in the 2020 Senior Bowl, catching two passes.

Professional career

New Orleans Saints

Trautman was drafted by the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

in the third round with the 105th overall pick of the

. He was the first Dayton football player to be drafted since Bill Westbeld in

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

. Trautman made his NFL debut on September 13, 2020, in the season opener against the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

, becoming the first Dayton player to appear in an NFL game in 45 years. He caught a 17-yard pass from

Drew Brees Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees is sec ...

for his first career reception on September 21, 2020, on ''

Monday Night Football ''Monday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''MNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that air on Monday nights. It originally ran on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from 1970 NFL season, 1970 t ...

'' in a 34–24 loss to the

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West ...

. In Week 9, against the Buccaneers, he had three receptions for 39 yards and his first professional touchdown reception in the 38–3 victory. In a humorous incident, the Buccaneers were unable to find a picture of Trautman to use on their scoring display, and instead used a picture of then-Rams quarterback

Jared Goff Jared Thomas Goff (born October 14, 1994) is an American professional football quarterback for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the California Golden Bears, setting Pac-12 Conference single- ...

. He finished his rookie season with 15 receptions on 16 targets for 171 yards and one touchdown and was rated the best rookie tight end by Pro Football Focus, who also rated him the best run-blocking tight end in the NFL. Trautman entered the 2021 season as the starting tight end for the Saints after the team released

Jared Cook Jared Alan Cook (born April 7, 1987) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the South Carolina Gamecocks and was selected by the Tennessee Tit ...

in the offseason. He was placed on injured reserve on November 23, 2021. He was activated on December 18. In the 2021 season, he finished with 27 receptions for 263 yards and two touchdowns. In the 2022 season, he finished with 18 receptions for 207 yards and one touchdown.

Denver Broncos

On April 29, 2023, Trautman was traded from the Saints, along with the 257th pick of the

2023 NFL draft The 2023 NFL draft was the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2023 NFL season, 2023 season. The NFL draft, draft was held outside of Kansas City Union Station, Union Station i ...

, to the

in exchange for the 195th pick of the draft. He was the Broncos starting tight end throughout the season, playing all 17 games with 12 starts while recording 22 catches for 204 yards and three touchdowns. On March 13, 2024, Trautman signed a two-year contract extension with the Broncos.

References

External links

Denver Broncos bioDayton Flyers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trautman, Adam 1997 births Living people People from Antrim County, Michigan Players of American football from Michigan American football tight ends Dayton Flyers football players New Orleans Saints players Denver Broncos players American people of German descent