Michael Ralph DeVito (born June 10, 1984) is a former

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

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 ...

. He played for the

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

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) from 2007 to 2012, and then the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

from 2013 to 2015. 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 ...

at The University of Maine. DeVito attended high school at

Nauset Regional High School Nauset Regional High School is an NEASC accredited secondary education in the United States, high school located in Eastham, Massachusetts, United States and a part of Nauset Public Schools. Nauset is inside the Cape Cod National Seashore, makin ...

Eastham, Massachusetts Eastham () is a New England town, town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, Barnstable County being coextensive with Cape Cod. The population was 5,752 at the 2020 census. For geographic and demog ...

Early life

DeVito attended

playing

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

and defensive end from 1999 to 2002. DeVito also was a member of the

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

team.

College career

DeVito played college football for the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine, United States. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universitie ...

. He finished his career at Maine with 112 total tackles and 16 sacks and was team captain his senior season. He earned All- Atlantic 10 honors at

nose tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

for the second time after finishing the 2006 with 28 tackles and 7 sacks. In 2005, he was named to the Second-team All-Atlantic 10 after starting all 11 games at one of the defensive tackle spots recorded 34 tackles (20 solo), a team-leading 12.0 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks, forced one fumble and recovered another. In 2004, he started all 11 games at nose tackle and made 35 tackles (16 solo) and 2.5 tackles for loss, and recorded a sack. In 2003 as a redshirt freshman he played in 10 games, with 15 total tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and one interception.

Professional career

New York Jets

2007 season

He signed as an undrafted free agent on May 12, 2007, and won a roster spot over veterans Bobby Hamilton and Kimo Von Oelhoffen. He made his NFL debut in Week 12 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 ...

and notched two solo tackles in a Week 17 victory over the

. DeVito finished the season with 5 total tackles 3 of which were solo tackles. DeVito appeared in a total of seven games.

2008 season

DeVito saw substantially more playing time appearing in all 16 games and recording at least one tackle in 14 games. DeVito assisted on his first NFL sack in Week 14 vs 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 ...

. The next week he registered a career-high 4 tackles in a victory over the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

. DeVito finished the season with a career-high 24 total tackles with 15 solo tackles.

2009 season

In early September DeVito signed a 3-year contract extension to remain with the Jets through 2012. DeVito lived up to his contract and had his best season registering a career-high 28 tackles. In Week 1 DeVito recorded his first career fumble recovery against the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

. DeVito had a career-high 6 total tackles (including 4 solo tackles) in Week 11 against the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

. In only his second career playoff game DeVito took down

Philip Rivers Philip Michael Rivers (born December 8, 1981) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons, primarily with the Chargers franchise. He played college football for the ...

to record his first full sack in a victory over the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

2010 season

Prior to the injury to nose tackle Kris Jenkins, DeVito was named the starter on defense and has received constant praise from head coach

Rex Ryan Rex Ashley Ryan (born December 13, 1962) is an American former football coach and analyst. Ryan was formerly the head coach of the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL), and also held various coaching positions w ...

alongside teammate Sione Pouha. DeVito was a fixture on the Jets defensive line for the entire 2010 season as well as the Jets three playoff games. DeVito received very high praise from ESPN.com's Jets insider Rich Cimini and was cited as "the most under-appreciated player on the team" as well as being regarded as a "keeper, for sure". In the

AFC Championship Game The AFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the American Football Conference (AFC) and one of the two semifinal NFL playoffs, playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football lea ...

against the Steelers DeVito was credited with a

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

when

Ben Roethlisberger Benjamin Todd Roethlisberger Sr. ( ; born March 2, 1982), nicknamed "Big Ben", is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons with the Pittsburgh Ste ...

missed a snap which was ruled a fumble and then the Steelers recovered the ball in the endzone for a safety which made the score 24–12 in front of the Steelers but the Jets would lose the game 24–19.

2011 season

DeVito started on the defensive line alongside Sione Pouha and Muhammad Wilkerson. DeVito racked up 34 tackles, 2 forced fumbles, and 1 sack over 12 games (11 starts). In Week 1, DeVito forced a

Tony Romo Antonio Ramiro Romo (born April 21, 1980) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football for the Eastern Illinois Pan ...

fumble in the fourth quarter, helping to secure an opening-week Jets victory. DeVito later stated that this play was the most memorable of his career.

2012 season

As Pouha was strained by a back injury, Devito played

for part of the 2012 season. The Jets struggled all season and finished with a 6–10 record.

Kansas City Chiefs

On March 12, 2013 DeVito signed a three-year deal worth $12.6 million with the Kansas City Chiefs. Following a torn Achilles tendon suffered in a week 1 game against the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

in 2014, DeVito was placed on injured reserve ending his season. On March 16, 2015, DeVito restructured his contract to save the Chiefs $2.5 million in cap room.

Retirement

DeVito announced his retirement on April 11, 2016.

Career statistics

Personal life

DeVito married his college sweetheart, Jessie Martin, in 2010. He received a Masters in Philosophical Apologetics from

Houston Baptist University Houston Christian University (HCU), formerly Houston Baptist University (HBU), is a private Baptist university in Houston, Texas. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Its Cultural Arts Center houses three museums: the ...

. He is a PhD student in philosophy at the University of Birmingham, UK.

References

External links

New York Jets bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Devito, Mike 1984 births Living people American people of Italian descent Players of American football from Barnstable County, Massachusetts People from Wellfleet, Massachusetts Players of American football from New York City American football defensive ends Maine Black Bears football players Kansas City Chiefs players New York Jets players