Jason Randolph Rader (born April 12, 1981) 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 ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense (sports), offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide ...

who used to be a member of the Atlanta Falcons. He was signed by the Atlanta Falcons as an

undrafted 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 ...

in 2004. He played college football at

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an ...

. Rader has also been a member of the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pl ...

and

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

Early years

Rader attended high school at St. Albans High School in St. Albans, West Virginia. He signed with coach

Jim Donnan James Mason Donnan III (born January 29, 1945) is a former American football player and coach and now a television analyst for college football and a motivational speaker. He served as the head football coach at Marshall University (1990–199 ...

in 1999 at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

, and caught two passes for 31 yards in the 2000 season. Rader transferred to Marshall University, sitting out in 2001. In 2002-03, he caught 30 passes each year, piling up 553 yards and 5 touchdowns, helping the Herd to an upset of No. 6 Kansas State as a senior in 2003 and finished with an 8-4 season. In 2002, he caught 30 passes from

Byron Leftwich Byron Antron Leftwich (born January 14, 1980) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is the offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He previously played in the NFL for ten se ...

and Stan Hill in leading the Herd to the Mid-American Conference title and a

GMAC Bowl The LendingTree Bowl is a postseason NCAA-sanctioned Division I FBS college football bowl game that has been played annually in Mobile, Alabama since 1999. In 2021, the game was moved from Ladd-Peebles Stadium to Hancock Whitney Stadium, on th ...

win over Louisville, 38-15, in Mobile, Ala. as Marshall finished 11-2 that season.

Professional career

First stint with Falcons

Rader was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Atlanta Falcons, but was released at the conclusion of training camp. He had a workout for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-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 of the league's National ...

in October but spent the year out of football.

Miami Dolphins

In the spring, Rader played with the Rhein Fire of

NFL Europa NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

, catching 21 passes for 189 yards. In June, he signed a two-year deal with the Miami Dolphins. Though he was released at the end of training camp, he spent the final eight games of the season on the team's practice squad. Rader was re-signed by the team in January 2006. He was waived the following September, but re-signed to the practice squad. A few weeks later on September 16, Rader was signed to the Dolphins' active roster. He played five games (including one start) and accumulated no statistics before being released on November 8. The Dolphins signed Rader to a future contract in January. He was released on August 27.

New England Patriots

Rader was signed to the Patriots' practice squad on September 3 after a tryout with the team on August 31.Pats tryouts
Boston.com Reiss' Pieces. Accessed September 3, 2007. He was released in late September.

Second stint with Atlanta

On March 14, 2008, Rader re-signed with the Atlanta Falcons after last playing with the team in the 2004 preseason. He was released by the team during final cuts on August 30, but re-signed on September 17 after the team waived

Martrez Milner. Rader remained with the Falcons until October 29, when he was released to make room for re-signed offensive tackle

Wayne Gandy Wayne Lamar Gandy (born February 10, 1971) is a former American college and professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for fifteen seasons. He played college football for Auburn University, an ...

. Rader had appeared in six games for the Falcons, catching one pass. Rader re-signed with the Falcons on December 8. On April 24, 2010, Jason Rader announced that he was retiring.

References

External links

New England Patriots biotsn.ca
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rader, Jason 1981 births Living people American football tight ends Atlanta Falcons players Georgia Bulldogs football players Marshall Thundering Herd football players Miami Dolphins players New England Patriots players People from St. Albans, West Virginia Players of American football from West Virginia Rhein Fire players Sportspeople from Kanawha County, West Virginia