Luke Rhodes Explained

Luke Rhodes
Current Team:Indianapolis Colts
Number:46
Position:Long snapper
Birth Date:2 December 1992
Birth Place:Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Height Ft:6
Height In:2
Weight Lbs:238
High School:Hollidaysburg
College:William & Mary (2011–2015)
Undraftedyear:2016
Pastteams:
Status:Active
Highlights:
Statseason:2023
Statlabel1:Games played
Statvalue1:118
Statlabel2:Total tackles
Statvalue2:14
Pfr:RhodLu00

Luke Rhodes (born December 2, 1992) is an American professional football long snapper and linebacker for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at William & Mary.

College career

Roads attended the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, where he was a linebacker for the William & Mary Tribe.[1] He was given a red-shirt for the 2011 season, before starting 9 times for William & Mary as a red-shirt freshman in 2012.

Rhodes ultimately started in 45 of 47 games for the Tribe, and ended his collegiate career with 341 tackles (172 solo), five sacks, one interception, six forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries.

Rhodes was selected three times tho the All-Colonial Athletic Association First Team and was the only Division I-AA player named to the watch list for the 2015 Butkus Award Watch List.

Professional career

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Rhodes signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent on May 2, 2016.[2] He was released on September 3, 2016 as part of final roster cuts.[3]

Indianapolis Colts

On October 5, 2016, Rhodes was signed to the practice squad of the Indianapolis Colts.[4] He was promoted to the active roster on December 7, 2016,[5] where he was listed on the roster as a linebacker, participating mainly on special teams.

During the off-season, the Colts converted Rhodes to a new position, that of long snapper for punts and kickoffs. Rhodes successfully adapted to his new role and on August 28, 2017, was named the Colts' full-time long snapper after winning a training camp competition against rookie Thomas Hennessy.[6]

On April 2, 2018, Rhodes signed an exclusive rights tender with the Colts through the 2018 season.[7]

On June 11, 2019, Rhodes signed a four-year, $4.85 million contract extension with the Colts with $1.25 million guaranteed, making him the highest-paid long snapper in the league.[8] He went on to be named an Associated Press (AP) Second-team All-Pro choice in 2020 and 2021.

In 2021, Rhodes handled long snapping duties in 16 games for the fifth consecutive season. He was named AP First-team All-Pro. Rhodes also became the first Indianapolis long snapper named to the Pro Bowl since Matt Overton in 2013.[9]

On September 8, 2023, Rhodes signed a four-year, $6.465 million contract extension with the Colts, once again making him the highest-paid long snapper in the league.[10]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Hayden Clark, et al., (eds.), 2024 Media Guide. Indianapolis, IN: Indianapolis Colts, Inc., 2024; [p. 313, pdf p. 306].
  2. Web site: Buccaneers Land 19 Rookie Free Agents. Smith, Scott. Buccaneers.com. May 2, 2016. December 7, 2016. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20180303164623/http://www.buccaneers.com/news/article-1/Buccaneers-Land-19-Rookie-Free-Agents/e49fcb5e-de33-492a-8e0e-dabc9c770b26. March 3, 2018.
  3. Web site: Buccaneers Trim Roster to 53. Smith, Scott. Buccaneers.com. September 5, 2016. December 7, 2016. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20170807072107/http://www.buccaneers.com/news/article-smith/Buccaneers-Trim-Roster-to-53/497131d1-73d4-477a-9857-dabc52dfaf49. August 7, 2017.
  4. Web site: Indianapolis Colts Make Roster Move. Blogs.Colts.com. October 5, 2016. December 7, 2016. January 24, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210124133250/https://blogs.colts.com/2016/10/05/indianapolis-colts-make-roster-move-17/. dead.
  5. Web site: Indianapolis Colts Make Roster Moves. Blogs.Colts.com. December 7, 2016. December 7, 2016. January 18, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210118051016/https://blogs.colts.com/2016/12/07/indianapolis-colts-make-roster-moves-178/. dead.
  6. Web site: Luke Rhodes To Be Colts' Full-Time Long Snapper. Walker, Andrew. Colts.com. August 28, 2017.
  7. Web site: Colts' Luke Rhodes: Inks tender to stay in Indy. cbssports.com. April 2, 2018. April 3, 2018.
  8. Web site: Hickey . Kevin . June 11, 2019 . Colts' Luke Rhodes becomes NFL's highest-paid long snapper . 2024-07-23 . Colts Wire . USA Today.
  9. Web site: Colts' Darius Leonard, Luke Rhodes, Jonathan Taylor Named 2021 First-Team AP All-Pros. 2022-01-20. www.colts.com. en-US.
  10. Web site: Colts sign Luke Rhodes to richest contract for long-snapper. Holder, Stephen. ESPN. September 8, 2023.