Matthew H. Tennant (born March 19, 1987) is a former

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 ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

for the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL). He attended

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifi ...

. Tennant was considered one of the best centers available for the

2010 NFL Draft The 2010 NFL Draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, with the fir ...

. 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 league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

in the 5th round with the 158th overall selection, and played with the Saints for two years.

High school career

Tennant attended

Moeller High School Moeller High School ( ), known as Moeller, is a private, all-male, college-preparatory high school in the suburbs of Cincinnati, in Hamilton County, Ohio. It is currently one of four all-male Catholic high schools in the Cincinnati area. Histo ...

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state lin ...

, where he was a three-year starter on the offensive line and senior team captain. He gained Associated Press All-State second-team honors and was named a 2004 All-American by ''SuperPrep''. Considered a three-star recruit by ''

Rivals.com Rivals.com 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 founded in 1998 by Jim Heck ...

'', Tennant was listed as the No. 55 offensive guard prospect in the nation in 2005. He chose Boston College over offers from

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virgini ...

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High ...

, and

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

College career

After redshirting his initial year at Boston College, Tennant saw action in five games in the 2006 season. In his sophomore season, Tennant succeeded Kevin Sheridan as the Eagles' center. He started all 14 games for the Eagles in 2007 and helped the team to finish with 5,924 yards of total offense, while quarterback Matt Ryan passed for 4,507 yards. As a junior, Tennant remained BC's starting center and played in all 14 games. The Eagles' line allowed only 21

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

s with a pair of first-year starting quarterbacks behind them. Tennant's performance earned him an All-ACC honorable mention. Prior to his senior season, Tennant was voted a team captain. He started all games for the Eagles and anchored an offensive line that ranked 35th in the country in sacks allowed (1.42). He subsequently earned Second-team All-American honors by the Walter Camp Foundation.

Professional career

2010 NFL Draft

Projected as a second-round selection by ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twice ...

'', Tennant was ranked as the No. 2 available in the

, behind only

Maurkice Pouncey LaShawn Maurkice Pouncey (born July 24, 1989) is a former American football center who played 11 seasons for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida, where he was a member of a BCS N ...

. He was drafted by the Saints in the fifth round of the 2010 NFL Draft.

New Orleans Saints

Tennant signed a four-year contract with the Saints on July 22, 2010. He was cut in 2012.

New England Patriots

Tennant was claimed off waivers by the

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 ...

on September 1, 2012, but was cut on September 4 when the Patriots needed to make room on the roster for running back

Lex Hilliard Lex Douglas Hilliard (born July 30, 1984) is a former American football running back and fullback. He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the sixth round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at Montana. Hilliard was one of the large ...

. Tennant was again signed by New England as an emergency depth option because of the injuries to Guard

Logan Mankins Logan Lee Mankins (born March 10, 1982) is a former American football guard who played eleven seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the New England Patriots. After playing college football at Fresno State, he was drafte ...

and Tackle Nick McDonald. Tennant was released by the Patriots on October 20, 2012.

Philadelphia Eagles

Tennant was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles on October 23, 2012, after the Eagles released center Steve Vallos, who replaced injured starting center

Jason Kelce Jason Daniel Kelce (; born November 5, 1987) is an American football center for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Eagles in the sixth round of the 2011 NFL Draft. He played college football at ...

."Eagles Sign Center Tennant, Cut Vallos"
''CSN Philly'', October 23, 2012 He was released on August 30, 2013.

References

External links

New Orleans Saints bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tennant, Matt 1987 births Living people Players of American football from Cincinnati American football centers Boston College Eagles football players New Orleans Saints players New England Patriots players Philadelphia Eagles players