Bayron Matos (born December 8, 2000) is a Dominican 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 ...

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

for the

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

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). After growing up in the Dominican Republic, he moved to the U.S. in high school and played basketball. He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

New Mexico Lobos The New Mexico Lobos are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of New Mexico, located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque. The university participates in the NCAA Division I in the Mountain West Conference (MW) since 1999 ...

and

South Florida Bulls The South Florida Bulls (also known as the USF Bulls) are the athletic teams that represent the University of South Florida. USF competes in NCAA Division I and is a member of the American Athletic Conference for all sports besides sailing, a n ...

from 2019–20 to 2021–22, before switching to football in 2022. He is a participant in the NFL's

International Player Pathway Program International Player Pathway (IPP) is a program run by the National Football League (NFL) to increase the number of players from outside the United States or Canada in the NFL. The program was formed as part of the NFL's strategy to grow globally ...

(IPPP).

Early life

Matos was born in

Los Mina Los Mina (in full: San Lorenzo de Los Mina) is a sector in the city of Santo Domingo Este in the Santo Domingo Province, province of Santo Domingo of the Dominican Republic. Los Mina was part of Santo Domingo, Distrito Nacional. Santo Domingo Este ...

, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He grew up playing

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

, the country's most popular sport, and was considered a talented

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

and

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

, being able to throw at speeds in the low 90s. He liked

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, however, and so he gave up baseball and moved to the United States at age 16 to pursue a professional basketball career. Matos moved to

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

, and began attending Hamilton Heights Christian Academy, but initially spoke no English, learning some phrases through

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. He noted that for a time, the only English he knew was "I'm hungry": he said, "If somebody asked how I was doing, I said, 'I'm hungry.'" He was a top player at the academy, being the state leader in

double-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the ter ...

s and

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

while helping them win a state championship. He had 16

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private school, private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on their ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the U ...

offers coming out of high school and was ranked a three-star recruit, the third-best player in the state and the 16th-best nationally. He initially committed to play

for the

Mississippi State Bulldogs Mississippi State Bulldogs is the name given to the college athletics, athletic teams of Mississippi State University, in Mississippi State, Mississippi. The university is a founding member of the Southeastern Conference and competes in NCAA D ...

but later flipped to the

College career

Matos

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 ...

at New Mexico in the 2019–20 season and debuted in the 2020–21 season, in which he played 20 games and started 15, totaling an average of 6.0 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. He entered the

NCAA transfer portal The NCAA transfer portal is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) application, database, and compliance tool created to manage and facilitate the process for student athletes seeking to transfer between member institutions. It is i ...

after the season. He ultimately transferred to the

. Matos appeared in 28 games, four as a starter, for the Bulls in the 2021–22 season, averaging 10.6 minutes per game while posting 1.5 points and 2.7 rebounds per game. Matos joined the

South Florida Bulls football The South Florida Bulls football team represents the University of South Florida (USF). The Bulls began playing in 1997 and compete in the American Athletic Conference (The American) of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) within the National C ...

team as a walk-on in 2022. Initially a

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line (D ...

and

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

player, he was later moved to

. He briefly played on special teams and defensive end during the 2022 season.

Professional career

In January 2024, Matos was announced as one of 16 players selected for the

(IPPP), designed to give opportunities in the league to foreign players. He trained at

IMG Academy IMG Academy is a University-preparatory school, preparatory boarding school and sports training destination in Bradenton, Florida, United States. The organization is set across over 600 acres (243 ha) and features programs consisting of sport ca ...

and has been praised by NFL analyst

Scott Pioli Scott Pioli (born March 31, 1965) is an American professional football executive who currently serves as a consultant for the Iowa Hawkeyes. He was an NFL analyst for NBC Sports' ''Football Night in America'', NBC Sports Network's Pro Football T ...

for his skills and size. Despite being and , he ran a 4.88

40-yard dash The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed and acceleration of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time can have a he ...

at his

pro day The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

, which would have been the best among all linemen at the

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

. He was eligible to be selected at the

2024 NFL draft The 2024 NFL draft was the 89th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft was held at Campus Martius Park and Hart Plaza in Detroit on April 25–27, 2024. The draft had an attendanc ...

and was considered a potential late-round pick. He ultimately was not selected in the draft, but afterwards was signed by the

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. He was waived on August 27, and re-signed to the practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 7, 2025.

Personal life

Matos is the son of Jose and Kirsten Matos. He has one sibling, Ismael.

References

External links

Miami Dolphins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matos, Bayron 2000 births Living people American football offensive tackles Dominican Republic players of American football Sportspeople from Santo Domingo New Mexico Lobos men's basketball players South Florida Bulls men's basketball players South Florida Bulls football players Miami Dolphins players Dominican Republic emigrants to the United States American people of Dominican Republic descent Hispanic and Latino American players of American football