Demetrin Leandro Veal (born August 11, 1981) 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 ...

defensive 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 ...

who played four seasons in 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 was selected by the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

in the seventh round of the

2003 NFL draft The 2003 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League (NFL) teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936 NF ...

. 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 ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. In addition, Veal was a member of the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

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 ...

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

Florida Tuskers Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

and

Omaha Nighthawks The Omaha Nighthawks were a professional American football team based in Omaha, Nebraska, which played in the United Football League (2009–2012), United Football League, joining the league as an expansion team in 2010 UFL season, 2010. During ...

Early life and college

Sources conflict on whether Veal was born in Brazil or California. He attended

Paramount High School Paramount High School is a comprehensive public high school in Paramount, California, USA. It is part of the Paramount Unified School District. The school serves students in grades 9–12 on two campuses, West Campus for 9th grade students and ...

Paramount, California Paramount is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. According to the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 53,733, down from 54,098 at the 2010 census. Part of the Greater Los Angeles Area, Paramount is bordered by ...

. He played

Cerritos College Cerritos College is a public community college in Norwalk, California. It offers degrees and certificates in 87 areas of study in nine divisions. History The college was founded in 1955. It was named after Rancho Los Cerritos, a local r ...

from 1999 to 2000 and at

from 2001 to 2002.

Professional career

Veal was selected by the

in the seventh round, with the 238th overall pick, of the

. He officially signed with the team on June 18, 2003. He played in three games for the Falcons in 2003, recording one solo tackle and two assisted tackles. Veal was waived by the Falcons on September 5, 2004. He was signed to the practice squad of the

on September 21, 2004. The

signed Veal off of the Raven's practice squad on December 18, 2004. He played in 15 games for the Broncos during the 2005 season, totaling 19 solo tackles, six assisted tackles, one sack, one fumble recovery and one safety. He re-signed with The Broncos on April 3, 2006. He appeared in 16 games, starting one, in 2006, recording 20 solo tackles, 12 assisted tackles, 1.5 sacks, one forced fumble and two pass breakups. Veal was released by the Broncos on August 28, 2007. Veal signed with the

on November 6, 2007. He played in three games for the Falcons, accumulating three solo tackles and three assisted tackles, before being waived on November 27, 2007. He spent time on the practice squad of the

of the United Football League (UFL) in 2009. Veal played in seven games for the

of the UFL in 2010, recording five solo tackles, four assisted tackles and 1.5 sacks.

Coaching career

Veal has spent time coaching the Tyresö Royal Crowns, Team Sweden, and Team Netherlands.

MMA career

Veal made his

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

debut on June 2, 2012, at Ring of Fire 43: Bad Blood, defeating former

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

wrestler

Chad Wicks Charles Wicks (born March 6, 1978) is an American retired professional wrestler best known for his time with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he wrestled as Chad Toland in its Ohio Valley Wrestling affiliate and later as Chad Dick on it ...

References

External links

Tennessee Volunteers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Veal, Demetrin 1981 births Living people Sportspeople from Salvador, Bahia American football defensive ends American football defensive tackles Cerritos Falcons football players Tennessee Volunteers football players Atlanta Falcons players Baltimore Ravens players Brazilian players of American football Denver Broncos players Tennessee Titans players Florida Tuskers players Omaha Nighthawks players Players of American football from California Coaches of American football from California American male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists from California