Greg Romeus (born April 29, 1988) 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

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 was selected by 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 ...

in the seventh round of the

2011 NFL draft The 2011 NFL draft was the 76th installment of the annual National Football League draft, NFL draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Rad ...

. 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 ...

as a

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 formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

for the

Pittsburgh Panthers The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facul ...

. Romeus played football for just one year before entering college. During high school, he was considered a top college prospect in basketball.

Early life

Romeus was born on April 29, 1988, in

Coral Springs, Florida Coral Springs is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 134,394. Approximately northwest of Fort Lauderdale, it is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area in South ...

, to parents Sadrac and Fanie Romeus. He attended Coral Glades High School. He played basketball there and was considered a top college prospect. He played his only season of

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

during his senior year as a

and

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 ...

He recorded five receptions for 54 yards and one touchdown. Romeus was named the team's most valuable player and selected for the

Broward County Broward County ( ) is a County (United States), county in Florida, United States, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's second-most populous county after Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and the List of the most ...

All-Star Game.Player Bio: Greg Romeus
, University of Pittsburgh, retrieved June 4, 2009.

College career

Romeus enrolled at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

where he is studying

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

. He sat out the 2006 season as on

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) 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 ...

status. In

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, he saw action in all 12 games and recorded 41 tackles. He ranked second on the team in tackles for loss with 11.5 and tied for second with four

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackle (football move), tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the l ...

s. In an upset win in the

Backyard Brawl The Backyard Brawl is an American college sports rivalry between the University of Pittsburgh Panthers and the West Virginia University Mountaineers. While historically a rivalry between the two schools' football programs, the term "Backyar ...

rivalry game against

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

, he compiled four tackles and recovered one

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 ...

. Romeus also recorded a sack against Pat White for a seven-yard loss on third down, which prevented a West Virginia comeback bid. That season, he was named a ''

College Football News ''College Football News'' (''CFN'') is a magazine and website published by College Football News, Inc., headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. News coverage includes scores, statistics, rankings, and reports on college football games. Analysis incl ...

'',

Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

(FWAA), ''

The Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

'', Rivals.com, and Scout.com freshman All-American. In

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, he recorded 51 tackles, including 26 solo, 15.5 tackles for loss, and 7.5 sacks. Romeus was named to the Second-team All-

Big East Conference The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

. He was also named a Rivals.com Second-team All-Big East, Phil Steele's Second-team All-Big East, and ''College Football News'' First-team All-Big East.

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

named him the eighth-best player in the

.The Big East's best: Greg Romeus, No. 8
, ESPN, May 19, 2009. He was selected as the Big East Co-Defensive Player of the Year along with teammate Mick Williams in 2009. He finished the regular season playing 12 games making 40 tackles (10.5 for losses) and 8 sacks. He also intercepted a pass, forced 2 fumbles, recovered one, broke up four passes, had 11 hurries and blocked a kick. In April 2010, Romeus was placed on the watch list for the upcoming season's

Lott Trophy The Lott IMPACT Trophy is presented annually to a defensive college football player of the year for their personal character and athletic abilities. IMPACT is an acronym for: Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community, and Tenacity. T ...

awarded to country's top defensive player. Heading into the 2010 season, Romeus was also listed by the ''Sporting News'' as a second-team preseason All-American.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Outside of getting his basic measurements – height (6'5"), weight (264 lbs), arms (35"), and hands (10 7/8") – Romeus didn't participate in any of the other activities due to back and knee injuries.

New Orleans Saints

In the

, Romeus was selected with the 226th overall pick by the

. Having been injured in college, he spent his rookie season on the injured reserve list. Romeus was again injured before the start of the 2012 NFL season, and after he cleared waivers, the Saints placed him on the injured reserve list on June 25, 2012. The

released him on May 23, 2013.

Toronto Argonauts

Romeus was signed by the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

on May 21, 2014. He was released by the Argonauts on July 24, 2014.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Romeus, Greg 1988 births Living people Players of American football from Florida Pittsburgh Panthers football players Players of American football from Coral Springs, Florida American football defensive ends New Orleans Saints players Boston Brawlers players Toronto Argonauts players Players of Canadian football from Florida Canadian football defensive linemen