Donte Rakeem Moncrief (born August 6, 1993) 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 ...

player who was a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

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 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

Ole Miss Rebels The Ole Miss Rebels are the 18 men's and women's College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that are funded by and represent the University of Mississippi, located in Oxford, Mississippi, Oxford. The first was the Ole ...

, and was selected by the

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 ...

in the third round of the

2014 NFL draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

Early life

A native of Raleigh, Mississippi, Moncrief attended

Raleigh High School Raleigh ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte), the largest city in the Research Triangle area, and the 39th-most populous city in the U.S. Known as th ...

. He registered 21 catches for 441 yards and 9

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s as a senior while also passing for 365 yards with 2 touchdowns and

rushing Rushing means a sudden forward motion, or a surge or onslaught. Rushing may refer to: Tactics * Rush (gridiron football), advancing the ball by running on offense. On defense, charging the quarterback or kicker is a pass rush. * Human wave atta ...

12 times for 144 yards. He also returned two punts for touchdowns. He collected 48

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 ...

, four for loss, and four

interceptions In ball-playing 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 a player of the same team bu ...

on defense. In addition to

, Moncrief also competed in

track & field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and ...

for the Lions, where he was one of the state's top performers in the long jump. He was a two-time 3A state champion in the

long 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 ...

event, with a personal-best mark of 7.76 meters (25-1.5). Considered a four-star recruit by ''

Rivals.com Rivals.com (stylized as ''rivals'') is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was found ...

'', he was rated as the 17th best

prospect in the nation.

College career

Moncrief attended the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...

from 2011 to 2013. During his collegiate career, he had 156 receptions for 2,371 yards and 20 touchdowns. Moncrief announced on January 3, 2014 that he would forgo his senior season and enter the

Professional career

Indianapolis Colts

Moncrief was selected in the third round, with the 90th overall pick, by the

on May 9, 2014. On May 30, the Colts officially signed him to his rookie contract. On October 26, 2014, in a game vs. the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

, Moncrief scored his first NFL touchdown on a pass from quarterback

Andrew Luck Andrew Austen Luck (born September 12, 1989) is an American football executive and former professional quarterback who is the general manager of the Stanford Cardinal. He previously played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons ...

. In Week 13, Moncrief had 3 receptions for a career-high 134 yards and 2 touchdowns to help the Colts beat the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

49–27. He finished his rookie season with 32 receptions for 444 yards and 3 touchdowns. In 2015, he had a career-high 64 receptions for 733 yards and six touchdowns. In 2016, Moncrief missed six games with a shoulder sprain and another with a hamstring issue but still managed to catch seven touchdowns. In 2017 he had a career-low 26 catches, due to injuries of his own as well as Luck missing the entire season.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On March 15, 2018, Moncrief signed a one-year, $9.6 million fully guaranteed contract with 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 ...

. In Week 4, in a victory over the New York Jets, Moncrief totaled five receptions for 109 yards and a touchdown. He finished the season with 48 receptions for 668 yards and three touchdowns.

Pittsburgh Steelers

On March 14, 2019, Moncrief signed a two-year deal with the

. Moncrief made his debut with the Steelers in Week 1 against the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

. In the game, Moncrief caught 3 passes for 7 yards in the 33–3 loss. He was released on November 2, 2019, after putting up just four catches for 18 yards through five games.

Carolina Panthers

On November 4, 2019, Moncrief was claimed off waivers by 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 ...

. He was released on December 6, 2019. Moncrief had a tryout with the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

on August 13, 2020, and with the

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

on August 19, 2020.

New York Jets

On August 31, 2020, Moncrief signed with the Jets. He was released on September 5, 2020, and signed to the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

the next day. He was placed on the practice squad/injured list on September 10, and activated back to the practice squad on October 7. He was released on October 14.

New England Patriots

On November 4, 2020, the

signed Moncrief to their practice squad. He was elevated to the active roster on November 21 and November 28 for the team's Weeks 11 and 12 games against the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

and

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

, and reverted to the practice squad after each game. Against the Cardinals, Moncrief had a 53-yard

kick return A kick is a physical strike using the leg, in unison usually with an area of the knee or lower using the foot, heel, tibia (shin), ball of the foot, blade of the foot, toes or knee (the latter is also known as a knee strike). This type of atta ...

. On December 5, 2020, he was signed to the active roster.

Houston Texans

Moncrief signed a one-year contract with the

on March 22, 2021. Moncrief was released by the Texans on July 27. On February 18, 2023, Moncrief announced his retirement.

NFL career statistics

References

External links

Ole Miss Rebels bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moncrief, Donte 1993 births Living people People from Raleigh, Mississippi Players of American football from Mississippi American football wide receivers Ole Miss Rebels football players Indianapolis Colts players Jacksonville Jaguars players Pittsburgh Steelers players Carolina Panthers players New York Jets players New England Patriots players Houston Texans players 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen