Benjamin Gedeon (born October 16, 1994) is an American former 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 ...

. 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 ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

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 fourth round of the

2017 NFL draft The 2017 NFL draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia f ...

. He played for the Vikings for four seasons, with his last season being in 2020.

College career

Gedeon appeared in 51 games and made 14 starting assignments at

, ultimately recording 176

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 ...

, 6.5 sacks, 21

tackles-for-loss The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see '' Glossary of Canadian football''. 0–9 ...

and two pass breakups. As a senior, he posted a career best 106 tackles, 15.5 tackles-for-loss, 4.5 sacks and two pass breakups. Following the

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

season, Gedeon was named to the All-Big Ten Conference defensive second-team by the media.

College statistics

Professional career

Pre-draft

Gedeon was ranked as the No. 9

inside 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 lin ...

in the

by CBSSports.com and was projected to go in the fourth or fifth round according to NFL.com. Gedeon was one of the top performers at the 2017 NFL Combine. Gedeon finished atop all linebackers in the

bench press The bench press or chest press is a weight training exercise where a person presses a weight upwards while lying horizontally on a weight training bench. The bench press is a Compound movements, compound movement, with the primary muscles involved ...

, lifting 225 pounds 27 times. He also tied for the best 20-yard shuttle (4.13 seconds), was third in the 60-yard shuttle (11.58 seconds), had the seventh-best

vertical jump A vertical jump or vertical leap is the act of jumping upwards into the air. It can be an exercise for building both endurance and strength, and is also a standard test for measuring athletic performance. It may also be referred to as a ''Sargent ...

(34.5 inches), was ninth in the 3-cone drill (6.98 seconds) and was twelfth with a 119-inch

broad jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

2017

The

selected Gedeon in fourth round (120th overall) of the

. He was the first of two linebackers drafted by the Vikings in 2017, along with Elijah Lee. On May 26, 2017, the Vikings signed a Gedeon to a four-year, $3.03 million contract that includes a

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

of $633,147. Throughout

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events ...

, Gedeon competed against Emmanuel Lamur, Edmond Robinson, Elijah Lee, and Kentrell Brothers for the job as the starting weakside linebacker after it was left vacant due to the retirement of Chad Greenway. Head coach Mike Zimmer named Gedeon the starting weakside linebacker, along with Anthony Barr and

middle 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 li ...

Eric Kendricks. He made his regular season debut and first career start in the Vikings' season-opener against 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 ...

and recorded a solo tackle during their 29–19 victory. On December 31, 2017, Gedeon collected a season-high six combined tackles in the Vikings' 23–10 win against the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

. Gedeon finished his rookie season with 37 combined tackles (23 solo) in 16 games and nine starts. The Minnesota Vikings finished first in the

NFC North The National Football Conference – Northern Division or NFC North is one of the four divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). Nicknamed the "Black and Blue Division" for the rough and toug ...

with a 13–3 record and received a first round bye. On January 14, 2018, Gedeon played in first career playoff game and assisted on one tackle in a 29–24 victory against the Saints in the NFC Divisional round. They lost to the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

who became the eventual Super Bowl LII Champions.

2018

Gedeon entered training camp slated as the starting weakside linebacker. Head coach Mike Zimmer named Gedeon and Anthony Barr the starting outside linebackers. They started alongside middle linebacker Kendricks. In Week 14, he collected a season-high nine combined tackles during a 21–7 loss at the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

. He finished the season with 53 combined tackles (29 solo) and two pass deflections in 15 games and eight starts.

2019

Gedeon opened the 2019 season as a starting linebacker for the Vikings. He played in eight games with five starts before suffering a concussion in Week 11. He 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 ...

on December 2, 2019.

2020

Gedeon was placed on the active/ physically unable to perform list (PUP) at the start of training camp on August 3, 2020. He was moved to the reserve/PUP list to start the regular season on September 5. He was waived with a failed physical designation on November 10, 2020.

Career statistics

References

External links

Michigan Wolverines bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gideon, Ben 1994 births Living people Sportspeople from Hudson, Ohio Players of American football from Summit County, Ohio American football linebackers Michigan Wolverines football players Minnesota Vikings players