Ryan Arthur Benjamin (born November 17, 1977) is a former American football long snapper of the National Football League. He was signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent in 2001. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

South Florida South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...

. He won a Super Bowl ring as a member of the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Early years

Benjamin attended River Ridge High School in New Port Richey, Florida, where he lettered in both football and baseball. He earned all-conference and All-North Suncoast honors his senior year as a

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

. He then played college football at the University of South Florida.http://www.patriots.com/alumni/index.cfm?ac=alumnibiosdetail&bio=13269

NFL career

Benjamin signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent following the

2001 NFL Draft The 2001 NFL Draft was the 66th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting," was held at the ...

. He was also a member of 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 ...

that offseason and played one game for the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

in place of an injured

Patrick Mannelly Patrick Mannelly (born April 18, 1975) is an American former professional football player who was a long snapper for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Duke University and was selected by Chicag ...

. The next season, he would temporarily be back with the New England Patriots before being re-signed by the Buccaneers and winning in

Super Bowl XXXVII Super Bowl XXXVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Oakland Raiders and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers to decide the National Football League (NFL) cham ...

Personal life

Benjamin is married to high school sweetheart Theresa. While at USF, he majored in political science and was the head coach at River Ridge High School through the 2021 fall season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benjamin, Ryan 1977 births Living people American football long snappers South Florida Bulls football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players New England Patriots players Chicago Bears players People from New Port Richey, Florida Sportspeople from Pasco County, Florida People from Greenfield, Massachusetts Sportspeople from Franklin County, Massachusetts