Thomas Michael Zbikowski (born May 22, 1985) is an American

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 ...

coach and former

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 ...

. He is the Head coach for Saint Patrick High School In

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, a position he has held since 2025. He played in 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), as well as being a

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

and a

firefighter A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical in ...

. He was selected by the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

in the third round (86th overall) of the

2008 NFL draft The 2008 NFL draft was the 73rd NFL draft, annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York (state), New York ...

. He earned

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors playing

for the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

from 2003 to 2007. Zbikowski was also a member of 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 ...

and

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

Early life

Thomas Michael Zbikowski was born on May 22, 1985, in Park Ridge, Illinois, the youngest of four children born to Edmund Richard Zbikowski and Susan Lois (née Schatz) Zbikowski. His siblings are Kristen and Edmund Joseph "E.J.". He is of Polish descent on his father's side of the family and of German descent on his mother's side of the family. He grew up in

Arlington Heights, Illinois Arlington Heights is a village in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County Illinois, United States. A northwestern Chicago metropolitan area, suburb of Chicago, it lies about northwest of the city's downtown. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

. He attended Greenbrier Elementary School and Thomas Middle School in

and then high school at

Buffalo Grove High School Buffalo Grove High School (BGHS) is a public high school located in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, a northwestern suburb of Chicago. It is one of six four-year comprehensive high schools in Township High School District 214, serving portions of the v ...

Buffalo Grove, Illinois Buffalo Grove is a Village (United States)#Illinois, village in Lake County, Illinois, Lake and Cook County, Illinois, Cook Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. A suburb of Chicago, it lies about northwest of Downtown Chicago and north of ...

. He graduated from Buffalo Grove in 2003. He played youth football with the Buffalo Grove Bills and the Bensenville Bandits during elementary and middle school. At Buffalo Grove, he played quarterback where he set the school records in scoring (202 total points), and rushing (2357 yards, 7.4 average, 32 tds) before becoming a defensive back as well.

College career

Zbikowski played college football at Notre Dame. He made his debut as a sophomore in 2004, appearing in all 12 games and finished fourth best on the team with 70 total tackles (37 solo, 33 assisted) and two forced fumbles. He was named Walter Camp Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 19 following his performance at

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 ...

as he had a team-high nine tackles, forced a fumble and returned it for a 75-yard TD and recorded his first career interception. Zbikowski broke out as one of college football's best utility players during his junior season, excelling as a safety and a return man. Zbikowski accounted for four touchdowns (two interception returns and two punt returns) in 12 games played. He finished fourth on the team with 71 total tackles and led the defense with five interceptions while leading the Irish to the

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area since 1971. From its beginning until 2006, the game was hosted at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has be ...

. Following the seasons, Zbikowski earned Third-Team

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honors. He served as 2006 team captain alongside

Brady Quinn Brayden Tyler "Brady" Quinn (born October 27, 1984) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, where ...

and Travis Thomas and was selected to the second-team

squad by the

Walter Camp Football Foundation The Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit ...

after helping the Irish earn a bid in the

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed only ...

. Zbikowski was also named a third-team All-American by the

and was a semi-finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, presented annually to the nation's best defensive back. He ended the year with 79 tackles, recovered a fumble for a touchdown against

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

, and recorded his third career punt return touchdown with 52-yard return against

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. Zbikowski returned to Notre Dame for his fifth year in 2007, recording a career-high 80 total tackles with a pair of interceptions and fumble recoveries. He continued to shine as a return man, racking up 234 return yards on punts. He graduated in May with degrees in sociology and computer applications.

Professional career

Baltimore Ravens

Zbikowski was selected with the 86th overall pick in the third round of the

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

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by the

. He made the team and played four seasons for Baltimore as a defensive back and kick returner. He appeared in 56 games for the Ravens, including 14 starts as a

. He made his professional debut on September 7 against the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

, posting his first career tackle on special teams during a 17–10 win. He had two interceptions in 2009, and helped as a returner. He declared free agency after the 2011 season. Tom Zbikowski Ravens

Indianapolis Colts

Zbikowski signed with the

on March 16, 2012. He was the Colts' regular starting

strong safety Safety (S), historically known as a safetyman, is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free sa ...

until he was injured during the 12th game of the season, missing the rest of the regular season. He did return for a Wild Card playoff game. The Colts lost that game 24–9 to Zbikowski's old team, the

. Indianapolis released him on March 15, 2013.

Chicago Bears

On March 23, 2013, Zbikowski was signed by the

to a one-year deal worth $715,000, but was released on August 25 during training camp.

Free agency and retirement

On September 10, 2013, Zbikowski was suspended by the National Football League for four games for violating the league's performance-enhancing drug policy. He later stated that the banned substance was a

diuretic A diuretic () is any substance that promotes diuresis, the increased production of urine. This includes forced diuresis. A diuretic tablet is sometimes colloquially called a water tablet. There are several categories of diuretics. All diuretics ...

he took to lose weight. In November 2013, he told David Haugh of the ''

Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news. Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publish ...

'': "I don't want that label of a guy who took a

PED In soil science, peds are aggregates of soil particles formed naturally as a result of pedogenic processes; this natural organization of particles forms discrete units separated by pores or voids. The term is generally used for macroscopic (v ...

because as much as I'm a hustler, I don't like cheating, I never even thought about that. I don't take protein shakes. I drink coffee, green tea and eat food. That's what I've done my whole life.'' The suspension proved to be a moot point because Zbikowski retired from the NFL. He explained, "Football got old to me…I enjoyed my first two years in the NFL because it was a challenge. I was playing with the best. But after a while you don't care whether you win or lose because you're still getting a paycheck. I enjoyed high school and college much more." In 2015, Zbikowski completed fire academy training and joined the

Chicago Fire Department The Chicago Fire Department (CFD) provides firefighting services along with emergency medical response services, hazardous materials mitigation services, and technical rescue response services in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, un ...

. He is no longer a member of the Fire Department as of 2019.

Coaching career

In 2022, was hired as a defensive quality control coach for

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for a region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Generally, it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Peninsula's Lake ...

. On August 3, 2023, Zbikowski was announced as the safeties coach at

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

. Zbikowski was appointed as the head coach for the Saint Patrick High School football team, effective February 1, 2025.

Boxing career

Zbikowski has sporadically pursued a career as a professional boxer since 2006, mostly in the cruiserweight division. He has won all 8 of his official bouts, 5 by knockout, all against little-known opponents. On June 10, 2006, while still in college, Zbikowski made his professional boxing debut at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, beating his opponent, Robert Bell of

Akron, Ohio Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Akron metr ...

, by

TKO A technical knockout (TKO) is a professional fighting term. TKO may also refer to: Sports * TKO, the name of a professional wrestling move referring to either the cutter or stunner variant * TKO Group Holdings, a combat sports company Music Ar ...

within 49.0 seconds of the first round. The fight was compliant with

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

guidelines. Bell, who is an

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

fan, wore an

Ohio State football The Ohio State Buckeyes football team competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, representing Ohio State University in the Big Ten Conference. Ohio State has played its home games at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, since 1 ...

jersey into the ring. Zbikowski boxed a three-round exhibition fight against Ryan St. Germain on March 2, 2007, at the Century Center in

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. It is the List of cities in ...

. After the

2008 NFL season The 2008 NFL season was the 89th regular season of the National Football League (NFL), themed with the slogan "Believe in Now." Super Bowl XLIII, the league's championship game, was at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, on February 1, ...

he decided to put his boxing career on hold to focus on football. On March 12, 2011, Zbikowski returned to the ring for the first time since 2007, taking on 1–2 35-year-old Richard Bryant in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, amidst ongoing NFL labor contract discord. Zbikowski won by TKO after 1 minute 45 seconds in the first round of the scheduled four-round fight. After that, he trained under the instruction of his new trainer

Emanuel Steward Emanuel "Manny" Steward (July 7, 1944 – October 25, 2012) was an American boxer, trainer, and commentator for HBO Boxing. Known as "the godfather of Detroit boxing," Steward trained 41 world champion fighters throughout his career, mos ...

, an inductee both of the

International Boxing Hall of Fame The International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, right next to exit 34 of the New York State Thruway, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected on ballots cre ...

and the

World Boxing Hall of Fame The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk of a "plu ...

, and won via a unanimous decision at the

Boardwalk Hall Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall, formerly known as the Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Built during 1926–1929, it was Atlantic City's primary convention center until the opening of ...

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city (New Jersey), city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of ...

on March 26, 2011, to extend his winning streak to three in a row. He extended his win streak to 4–0 in a first-round knock out against Blake Warner at the Winstar Casino in Thackerville, Okla. on April 23, 2011. After testing positive for a substance in marijuana, he was suspended. After taking a second test, his suspension was lifted.

Bob Arum Robert Arum (born December 8, 1931) is an American lawyer and boxing promoter. He is the founder and CEO of Top Rank, a professional boxing promotion company based in Las Vegas. Prior to becoming a boxing promoter, Arum was employed as an attorn ...

said, "I think that the commission did the right thing by lifting the suspension... The tests that were taken were very unreliable. Now Tommy has taken a proper test, and as a result, you know that he's clean. So they did the right thing." Zbikowski returned to the ring again in 2016 and won all three of his fights that year. His last fight was on October 17, 2017, when he defeated a boxer named Martez Williamson who was ranked 639th in the world at the time, and whose won-lost record was 3–20 after the bout.

Professional boxing record

, style="text-align:center;" colspan="8", 8 Wins (5 knockouts), 0 Losses 0 Draws 0 No Contest'

, - , align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Res. , align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Record , align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Opponent , align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Type , align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Rd., Time , align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Date , align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Location , align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Notes , -align=center , Win, , 8–0 , , align=left, Martez Williamson , , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , Win, , 7–0 , , align=left, Raymond Gray , , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , Win, , 6–0 , , align=left, Albert Harkins , , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , Win, , 5–0 , , align=left, Keith Jackson , , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , Win, , 4–0 , , align=left, Blake Warner , , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , Win, , 3–0 , , align=left, Caleb Grummet , , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , Win, , 2–0 , , align=left, Richard Bryant , , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center , Win, , 1–0 , , align=left, Robert Bell , , , , align=left, , align=left, , -align=center

References

External links

Brown profileWestern Michigan profile
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Zbikowski, Tom 1985 births Living people 21st-century American firefighters American football return specialists American football safeties American male boxers American people of Polish descent American people of German descent Baltimore Ravens players Brown Bears football coaches Chicago Bears players Indianapolis Colts players Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Western Michigan Broncos football coaches Boxers from Illinois Coaches of American football from Illinois Players of American football from Illinois Sportspeople from Park Ridge, Illinois