Matthew Peart ( ; born June 11, 1997) is a Jamaican-American 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 ...

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

for the

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 ...

of 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

UConn Huskies The UConn Huskies (or Connecticut Huskies) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Connecticut, with its main campus located in Storrs, Connecticut. The school is a member of ...

and has previously played in the NFL for the

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

Early life

Peart was born in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long spit (landform), sand spit which connects the town of Por ...

and his family immigrated to the United States when he was four years old, settling in

The Bronx, New York The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County to its north; to its south and west, the New York City bo ...

. Peart played basketball and participated in the Oliver Scholars Program, which prepares students from underserved communities for top independent schools. Peart earned a scholarship to attend

The Governor's Academy The Governor's Academy (informally known as Governor's or Govs) is a co-educational, college-preparatory day and boarding school in Byfield, Massachusetts. Established in 1763 in memory of Massachusetts governor William Dummer, Governor's is ...

Byfield, Massachusetts Byfield is a village (also referred to as a "parish") in the town of Newbury, Massachusetts, Newbury, in Essex County, Massachusetts, Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It borders West Newbury, Massachusetts, West Newbury, Georgetown, ...

. Despite never having played the sport before, Peart became an offensive and defensive lineman for the school's

team and helped the Governors to four straight

Independent School League Independent School League or ISL may refer to: * Independent School League (Illinois), a group of nine Chicago-area preparatory schools * Independent School League (New England), a group of 16 New England preparatory schools * Independent School ...

championships. Rated a two-star recruit, Peart committed to play

at the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

College career

Peart

redshirted 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, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

his true freshman season at

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

. He was named the Huskies' starting left tackle during spring practice after redshirting started all 12 of the team's games at that position during his redshirt freshman and sophomore seasons before moving to right tackle before his redshirt junior season. Peart again started all 12 of UConn's games as during his redshirt junior season. In his final season, Peart was named first-team All-

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and 6 affiliate member universities that compete in t ...

. Peart started all 48 games during his four seasons of eligibility.

Professional career

New York Giants

2020

Peart was selected by the

in the third round with the 99th overall pick in the

2020 NFL draft The 2020 NFL draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The ...

. Peart made his NFL debut on September 27, 2020, in a 9–36 loss to 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 ...

. Peart made his first career start during Week 6, taking the place of Andrew Thomas after Thomas arrived late for a team meeting and was subsequently benched. Peart was placed on the reserve/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

list by the team on November 20, 2020, and activated on December 1.

2021

Peart got his first start of the season at right tackle against the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

with Andrew Thomas hurt and

Nate Solder Nathaniel Perry Solder (born April 12, 1988) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Colorado Buffaloes, and was recognized as a ...

moving to left tackle. In Week 16 against the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

Peart suffered a torn ACL and was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

on December 27. He finished the season playing in 15 games with five starts at right tackle.

2022

On August 23, 2022, Peart was placed on the reserve/ PUP list to start the season. On November 12, 2022, Peart was activated from the reserve list.

2023

On October 25, 2023, Peart was placed on injured reserve with a shoulder injury. On December 24, 2023, Peart was activated from reserve.

Denver Broncos

On March 20, 2024, Peart signed a one-year contract with the

. On March 12, 2025, Peart signed a two-year, $7 million extension with the Broncos.

References

External links

Denver Broncos bioUConn Huskies bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peart, Matt 1997 births Living people Jamaican emigrants to the United States Players of American football from Kingston, Jamaica Players of American football from the Bronx The Governor's Academy alumni American football offensive tackles UConn Huskies football players New York Giants players Denver Broncos players