Trystan Colon (born March 23, 1998), formerly known as Trystan Colon-Castillo, 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 ...

center for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

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

Missouri Tigers The Missouri Tigers intercollegiate athletics programs represent the University of Missouri, located in Columbia. The name comes from a band of armed Union Home Guards called the "Fighting Tigers of Columbia" who, in 1864, protected Columbia ...

Early life

Colon was born in

Webb City, Missouri Webb City is a city in Jasper County, Missouri, United States. The population was 13,031 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Joplin, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area. Webb City also has a police department, a fire department, and animal ...

to Heriberto "Eddie" and Neysa Rosaria Colon. His mother moved from Puerto Rico to go to college at

Missouri Southern State University Missouri Southern State University (Missouri Southern, MSSU, or MoSo) is a public university in Joplin, Missouri. It was established in 1937 as Joplin Junior College. The university enrolled 4,087 students in Fall 2023. History Missouri Souther ...

in Joplin and his father followed shortly after. His dad died in a motor vehicle accident in Joplin when Trystan was one year old. He was a three-year varsity football player for the Webb City High School Cardinals, during the 2013 through 2015 seasons as an offensive lineman. He contributed to two class 4 state championship teams and one runner-up team, that tallied an overall record of 43–2, and included a 15–0 season in 2014. He also played basketball in high school.

College career

He played

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. He earned the team's Lifter of the Year after his redshirt season. Due to his success as a true freshman, Colon started 13 games the following year, making it onto the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

coaches' All-Freshman squad. He also was given the Team Underclassmen Leadership Award. He started the final 38 games of his three years playing after his redshirt year. He then started all 25 games for the Tigers in 2018 and 2019 but the team was ineligible to participate in a bowl game due to NCAA sanctions.

Professional career

Baltimore Ravens

After not being selected in the

2020 NFL draft The 2020 NFL draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The ...

, Colon was signed 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 ...

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 ...

. He was waived on September 5, 2020, and re-signed to the practice squad the next day. He was elevated to the active roster on October 10, 2020, for the team's week 5 game 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 ...

, and reverted to the practice squad after the game. He was promoted to the active roster on October 12, 2020, and made his first career start against the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

on December 2, 2020, due in part to the Ravens' team-wide COVID-19 outbreak. The Ravens placed an exclusive-rights free agent tender on Colon on March 10, 2021. He signed a one-year contract on April 18. The Ravens' announcement of this signing officially referred to him as Trystan Colon for the first time, per his request, and has remained the case since. The Ravens placed an exclusive-rights free agent tender on Colon on March 9, 2022. He played a total of 20 games in his three seasons, 2020 through 2022, with the Ravens.

New York Jets

On March 22, 2023, Colon signed with 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 ...

. On August 29, 2023, Colon was waived.

Arizona Cardinals

On August 30, 2023, Colon was claimed off waivers by the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

. During the 2023 season, he played 14 games, four as a starter, most at left guard. On March 11, 2024, he signed a $1.75 million, one-year contract with the Arizona Cardinals.

Detroit Lions

On June 4, 2025, Colon signed with the

References

External links

Detroit Lions bioMissouri Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colon, Trystan 1998 births Living people American football centers American sportspeople of Puerto Rican descent Arizona Cardinals players Baltimore Ravens players Detroit Lions players Missouri Tigers football players New York Jets players People from Webb City, Missouri Players of American football from Missouri Hispanic and Latino American players of American football