Ryan J. Purvis (born May 8, 1986) 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 ...

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 ...

. He was signed by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in 2009. 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 ...

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

Early life

Purvis played high school football at Lancaster Catholic High School in

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster ( ) is a city in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 58,039 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, eighth-most populous ci ...

. In 2003, he won All-State honors as a tight end and All-Conference honors as a tight end (first-team), defensive end (first-team), and punter (second-team). As a senior, he made 39 receptions for 755 yards and four touchdowns, averaged 38.8 yards on 41 punts, and threw two touchdown passes. He was selected to play in the fourth annual PSFCA East-West Football Classic. Purvis was also a standout on the Crusaders' basketball team. He recorded more than 1000 points and 700 rebounds in his career at center and power forward. Ryan was the starting center on the winningest boys basketball in Pennsylvania prep history. His junior year, the Crusaders went 35-0 and won the 2003 PIAA Class AAA Championship by toppling Perry Traditional Academy 75-59 at the Giant Center in Hershey. In that game, broadcast statewide by PCN, Ryan demonstrated outstanding athletic ability that transformed a little-known junior tight end into one of the most hotly recruited football players in the state. The Crusaders also swept the Lancaster Lebanon League Section 3 title, the L-L League Championship and the District 3 AAA title. Purvis was recruited by a host of Division 1 football programs, including the University of Pittsburgh and UCLA.

College career

After redshirting the 2004 season, Purvis made his college debut in the 2005 season opener at BYU, where he caught one pass. He finished the season with six receptions for 12 yards. Purvis played in all 13 of BC's games as a sophomore in 2006, starting in two of them (Clemson and Duke). He made 29 catches for 381 yards and two touchdowns. He made two catches for 40 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown reception, against

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. Purvis started all 14 games in 2007, finishing the season with 54 catches for 553 yards and four touchdowns. He had two catches for 14 yards in the ACC Championship Game against

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

and two catches for 18 yards in BC's win against

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...

in the

Champs Sports Bowl The Pop-Tarts Bowl is an annual college football bowl game that is played in Orlando, Florida, at Camping World Stadium. Originally commissioned as the Sunshine Classic, it has undergone many name changes due to sponsorship rights. The bowl is o ...

. He was named to the

Lombardi Award The Rotary Lombardi Award is an award for college football in the United States. Awarded by the Rotary Club of Houston, Texas annually to the college football player "who best embodies the values and spirit of NFL's legendary coach Vince Lombard ...

and

John Mackey Award The John Mackey Award is presented annually to college football's most outstanding tight end. Established in 2000 by the Nassau County Sports Commission, the award is given annually to the tight end who best exemplifies the play, sportsmanship, ac ...

watch lists and was named to the All-ACC first-team. Purvis started all 14 games of the 2008 Boston College season. Purvis had 24 catches for 176 yards, including 4 catches for 29 yards in the

2008 Music City Bowl The 2008 Music City Bowl was the eleventh edition of the college football bowl game played at LP Field in Nashville, Tennessee. The game started at 2:30 pm US CST (2030 UTC) on Wednesday, December 31, 2008. The game, telecast on ESPN, pitted th ...

. Purvis also got some snaps at fullback in place of the injured James McCluskey.

Professional career

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Purvis was not selected in the

2009 NFL draft The 2009 NFL draft was the 74th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. The draft c ...

. On May 1, 2009, Purvis signed a free-agent contract with the

. He was waived during final cuts on September 5 and re-signed to the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

the following day. Purvis was promoted to the active roster on December 28 after

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

Earnest Graham Earnest Graham Jr. (born January 15, 1980) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida Gators, and was signed by ...

and

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 ...

Jimmy Wilkerson Jimmy Boyd Wilkerson, Jr. (January 4, 1981 – December 13, 2024) was an American professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Oklahoma Sooners. He was selected by ...

were 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 ...

. Purvis was again promoted to the active roster on October 25, 2010 when

Jerramy Stevens Jerramy Ryan Stevens (born November 13, 1979) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Washington Huskies and was selected by the Seattle ...

was released. He was cut on September 3, 2011.

References

External links

Boston College Eagles bioTampa Bay Buccaneers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Purvis, Ryan 1986 births Living people Players of American football from Allentown, Pennsylvania American football tight ends Boston College Eagles football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Players of American football from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania