Drew Ferris (born March 7, 1992) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

long snapper In American football, the long snapper (or deep snapper) is a center on special teams whose duty is to snap the football over a longer distance, typically around 15 yards during punts, and 7–8 yards during field goals and extra point at ...

who is currently a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player 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 contract at present but who is a ...

. He played college football at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

Early years

Ferris was born in

Carlsbad, California Carlsbad is a coastal city in the North County region of San Diego County, California, United States. The city is south of downtown Los Angeles and north of downtown San Diego. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 114,746. ...

, and is Jewish.Raphael Gellar (May 2, 2013)
"Meet America's Jewish Football Star: Drew Ferris"
''The Times of Israel''. His parents, Walt (a psychotherapist) and Pam Ferris (the chief executive officer of the non-profit Seacrest Village Retirement Community), did not allow him to play football until sixth grade.Mike Capshaw (February 2, 2013)
"Going Deep With Florida’s Deep Snapper,"
Gator Country. Ferris started high school attending

La Costa Canyon High School La Costa Canyon High School (LCC) is a public high school located in Carlsbad, California. Established in 1996, it is a member of the San Dieguito Union High School District and serves the communities of Encinitas, south Carlsbad, Leucadia, O ...

. He finished his last two years at

San Diego Jewish Academy San Diego Jewish Academy (SDJA) is an independent Jewish day school currently located in the Carmel Valley community of San Diego, California. The school is composed of three schools: SDJA Early Childhood Center, Golda Meir Lower School for grades ...

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

, graduating in 2010. While at San Diego Jewish Academy, Ferris was a two-way starter who played

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is p ...

, offensive tackle, and

middle linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

in addition to first class water boy, he also played long snapping.John Maffei (October 8, 2013)
"Long snapper at home in The Swamp,"
''The San Diego Union-Tribune''. On defense he had 77

tackle Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking ...

s with 9.5 sacks and a

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful h ...

recovery, and on offense he ran six times for 21 yards and caught two balls for 13 yards.Brett Kaplan (July 15, 2014)
"100 Days of Florida Football: No. 46 Drew Ferris"
/ref> He was rated a 5-star long snapper and ranked 14th in the nation by Chris Rubio Long Snapping."Drew Ferris - 2013 - Florida Gators,"
floridagators.com. He won the Coaches’ Award for hardest worker in Fall 2008, and was named to second-team All-Conference on offense and defense in Fall 2009. Ferris also earned varsity letters in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

(his junior and senior years; he averaged 5.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.5 steals in 42 games) and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

(his senior year). He was named to the ''San Diego Union Tribune'' All-Academic Team four times in high school. Ferris completed a master's degree in the University of Florida's Master of Business Management program in December 2015.

College career

Ferris initially enrolled at

San José State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

to play football as a

walk-on Walk On may refer to: Music * ''Walk On'', a 1994 album by Boston, and its title song Albums * ''Walk On'' (Boston album), 1994 * ''Walk On'' (John Hiatt album), 1995 * ''Walk On'' (Randy Johnston album), 1992 *''Walk On'', a 2007 album by ...

. However, he then enrolled in September 2010 at the

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, and the largest city in North Central Florida, with a population of 141,085 in 2020. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, which had a population of 339,247 in ...

, as a preferred walk-on where he was a member of coach

Urban Meyer Urban Frank Meyer III (born July 10, 1964) is a college football TV commentator and former American football coach. He spent most of his coaching career at the collegiate level, having served as the head coach of the Bowling Green Falcons fr ...

and coach

Will Muschamp William Lawrence Muschamp (born August 3, 1971) is an American football coach and former player. He is the co- defensive coordinator and safeties coach at the University of Georgia. He served as head football coach at the University of Florida f ...

Florida Gators football The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division ...

teams from

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, except that he missed all but one game in 2012 due to injury.Greg Auman (February 1, 2018)
">"Bucs sign ex-Gators long-snapper Drew Ferris,"
''Tampa Bay Times''. He became the first Division-I male athlete from his high school. He was a long snapper in 38 games for the Gators. In 2010, he red-shirted as a freshman. In 2011 he was the long snapper for both the

field-goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ball ...

and punt teams, playing in all 13 games, and was named to the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC) Academic Honor Roll. In September 2012 he suffered a season-ending injury to his left collar-bone in the first game of the season. In 2013 he was the team's primary snapper for punts and field goals, playing in all 12 games, and was again named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll. In 2014 he played in all 12 games as the Gators' longsnapper, recorded one tackle on special teams, and was again named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll.

Professional career

Ferris went to rookie minicamp with the New York Jets in 2015.

Seattle Seahawks

On March 23, 2016, 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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 a ...

signed Ferris to their roster. The following day the Seahawks waived their former long snapper Andrew East. In May, the Seahawks signed Ferris to a three-year, $1.62 million contract. Ferris was on the Seahawks' roster in the summer of 2016, and was released on August 4, 2016.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On February 1, 2018, Ferris signed a reserve/futures contract with the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

. He was waived on September 1, 2018.

Orlando Apollos

On October 15, 2018, Ferris joined the

Orlando Apollos The Orlando Apollos were a professional American football franchise based in Orlando, Florida, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football ...

of the

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan are ...

. He was waived on March 4, 2019.

Vavi Kickball

Drew signed with Vavi

Kickball Kickball (also known as soccer baseball in most of Canada and football rounders in the United Kingdom) is a team sport and league game, similar to baseball. As in baseball, one team tries to score by having its players return a ball from hom ...

in May 2021.

References

External links

Seattle Seahawks bioFlorida Gators bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferris, Drew 1992 births Living people American football long snappers Jewish American sportspeople Florida Gators football players New York Jets players Seattle Seahawks players Sportspeople from Carlsbad, California Players of American football from San Diego County, California Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Orlando Apollos players 21st-century American Jews