Ross Matiscik (born September 13, 1996) is an 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 ...

long snapper In gridiron football, the long snapper (or deep snapper) is a Center (gridiron football), center on American football positions#Special teams, special teams whose duty is to Snap (gridiron football), snap the football over a longer distance, ty ...

for the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

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

Baylor Bears The Baylor Bears are the athletic teams that represent Baylor University. The teams participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as one of only three private school members of the Big 12 Conference. Prior t ...

Early life

Matiscik was born in

Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in Mahoning County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, 11th-most populous city in Ohio with a population of 60,068 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Mahoning ...

. He grew up in

McKinney, Texas McKinney is a city in and the county seat of Collin County, Texas, United States. It is Collin County's third-largest city, after Plano, Texas, Plano and Frisco, Texas, Frisco. A suburb of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, McKinney is about ...

, and attended

McKinney Boyd High School McKinney Boyd High School (commonly Boyd, Boyd High School, McKinney Boyd, or MBHS) is a public secondary school located on North Lake Forest Drive in McKinney, Texas, United States, that serves ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grade student ...

, where he played baseball and football. As a three-year

letter Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech or none in the case of a silent letter; any of the symbols of an alphabet * Letterform, the g ...

winner, Matiscik played

offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

and

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 ...

, especially excelling as a middle linebacker. As a senior, Matiscik was named an all-state linebacker and District 6-6A's Defensive MVP, completing his career with 233 tackles, 12 sacks, 4

interceptions In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team bu ...

, and a blocked field goal. Despite this, he was not recruited by any division one teams coming out of high school.

College career

Matiscik was a member of the

for five seasons, redshirting as a true freshman and joining the team as a walk-on. During his redshirt year, he was moved to the

position. While he was Baylor's primary long snapper for four seasons, Matiscik also served as a reserve linebacker for the Bears.

Professional career

Matiscik was signed by the

as an undrafted free agent on April 26, 2020. He made the 53-man roster out of training camp, beating out incumbent long snapper Matthew Orzech. Matiscik made his NFL debut on September 13, 2020, in the season opener against the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

. On April 29, 2022, Matiscik signed a five-year, $5.965 million contract extension with the Jaguars through the 2026 season. On January 3, 2024, Matiscik was selected to his first

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

. For his efforts in 2023, he was also selected as a member of the

All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list t ...

First Team by the NFL Players Association and the ''Associated Press''. Matiscik led the league in total tackles (8) among long snappers for the 2023 season, recorded a forced

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 ...

and fumble recovery, and has never had a bad snap since his NFL debut. He was named to his second consecutive Pro Bowl and NFLPA All-Pro First-Team following the 2024 season.

References

External links

Baylor Bears bio

Jacksonville Jaguars bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matiscik, Ross 1996 births Living people American football long snappers Baylor Bears football players Jacksonville Jaguars players Players of American football from McKinney, Texas American Conference Pro Bowl players