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Montez Sweat

Shaquan Montez Sweat (born September 4, 1996) is an American professional football defensive end for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Michigan State, Copiah–Lincoln, and Mississippi State before being selected by the Washington Redskins in the first round of the 2019 NFL draft. Sweat was traded to the Bears mid-way through the 2023 season, with whom he received his first Pro Bowl selection.

Montez Sweat
refer to caption
Sweat with the Washington Commanders in 2022
No. 98 – Chicago Bears
Position:Defensive end
Personal information
Born: (1996-09-04) September 4, 1996 (age 28)
Richmond, Kentucky, U.S.
Height:6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Weight:262 lb (119 kg)
Career information
High school:Stephenson (Stone Mountain, Georgia)
College:
NFL draft:2019 / round: 1 / pick: 26
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of Week 2, 2024
Total tackles:224
Sacks:41.5
Pass deflections:15
Interceptions:1
Forced fumbles:10
Defensive touchdowns:1
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Early life

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Sweat attended Stephenson High School in Stone Mountain, Georgia, where he was rated as one of the top defensive ends in the country.[1] He committed to Michigan State to play college football.

College career

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Sweat played in two games for Michigan State in 2014, recording one sack, before redshirting in 2015. He left Michigan State in 2016 and enrolled at the Copiah–Lincoln Community College in Mississippi, where he also played for their football team.[2][3] In 2017, he left again to play for the Mississippi State Bulldogs.[4] In his first season at Mississippi State, Sweat registered 10.5 sacks and was named to the 2017 All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) football team. He then followed up by recording 12 sacks as a senior in 2018, making the 2018 All-SEC football team and being named an All-American.

College statistics

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Season Team GP Tackles Fumbles
Solo Ast Cmb TfL Sck FR Yds TD FF
2014 Michigan State 1 2 2 4 0.5 1.0 1 0 0 0
2015 Michigan State 0   Redshirted
2016 Co–Lin 9 32 7 39 — 5.0 1 0 0 2
2017 Mississippi State 13 21 27 48 15.5 10.5 1 0 0 0
2018 Mississippi State 13 27 26 53 14.5 12.0 0 0 0 1
Total 36 82 62 144 30.5 28.5 3 0 0 3

Professional career

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Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
6 ft 5+3⁄4 in
(1.97 m) 		260 lb
(118 kg) 		35+3⁄4 in
(0.91 m) 		10+1⁄2 in
(0.27 m)		 4.41 s 1.50 s 2.57 s 4.29 s 7.00 s 36 in
(0.91 m)		 10 ft 5 in
(3.18 m)		 21 reps
All values from NFL Combine[5][6]

Washington Redskins/Washington Football Team/Washington Commanders

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At the 2019 NFL Combine, Montez set a combine record for a defensive lineman running the 40 yard dash at 4.41 seconds.[7] At the same time, Sweat was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy at his combine health physical.[8] However, it was soon discovered to have been a misdiagnosis due to an improper measuring of his heart.[9] Sweat was eventually selected by the Washington Redskins in the first round, 26th overall, of the 2019 NFL draft.[10] The team traded back up into the first round to select him after using their original pick on Dwayne Haskins.[9] He signed his four-year rookie contract on May 29, 2019,[11] worth $11.6 million, including a $6.4 million signing bonus.[12] In Week 3 against the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football, Sweat recorded his first career sack in a 31–15 loss.[13] In Week 17 against the Dallas Cowboys, Sweat sacked Dak Prescott twice, one of which was a forced fumble that was recovered, during a 47–16 loss.[14]

 
Sweat sacking Tom Brady in the 2020–21 Wild Card Playoff game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

In a game against the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving in 2020, Sweat intercepted a pass thrown by Dalton late in the fourth quarter and returned it 15 yards for a touchdown that led to a 41–16 Washington victory.[15][16] The following week against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sweat tipped a pass late in the fourth quarter that led to an interception by Jon Bostic to help secure a 23–17 win over the then-undefeated Steelers.[17] In Week 15 Sweat batted a pass by Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson which was then intercepted by Daron Payne.[18]

Sweat suffered a jaw fracture during a Week 8 game against the Denver Broncos in 2021 and was placed on injured reserve.[19][20] After testing positive, he was placed on the COVID-19 reserve list on December 8, 2021.[21] On December 18, he was taken off the COVID-19 list and placed back on the active roster two days later.[22][23] In the Week 15 against the Philadelphia Eagles, Sweat recorded a sack and forced a fumble, which was recovered by Landon Collins, on quarterback Jalen Hurts.[24]

On April 27, 2022, the Commanders exercised the fifth-year option in Sweat's contract.[25] In Week 5, Sweat accounted for two of the five sacks the Commanders' had against the Tennessee Titans.[26] He contributed another two sack performance against the Houston Texans in Week 11.[27]

Chicago Bears

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On October 31, 2023, Sweat was traded to the Chicago Bears for a second-round pick in the 2024 NFL draft.[28][29] Four days later, he signed a four-year contract extension worth $98 million, including $72 million guaranteed.[30][31] He recorded his first sack as a Bear in Week 11 against the Detroit Lions in their 31–26 loss. On January 3, 2024, Sweat was named a Pro Bowler for the first time.[32] He finished the season a career-high 12.5 sacks across two teams in 2023, collecting 6.5 while with the Commanders before adding another 6 with the Bears.[33] He became the first player in NFL history to lead two teams in sacks during a single season.[33] Matt Eberflus, the Bears head coach, referred to Sweat's impact as the "'Tez effect", which allowed the other players around him to generate more sacks, quarterback pressures, and turnovers.[33][34]

NFL career statistics

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Legend
Bold Career high
Year Team Games Tackles Fumbles Interceptions
GP GS Cmb Solo Ast Sck FF FR Yds TD PD Int Yds Avg Lng TD
2019 WAS 16 16 50 31 19 7.0 2 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
2020 WAS 16 16 45 28 17 9.0 2 0 0 0 6 1 15 15 15 1
2021 WAS 10 10 24 13 11 5.0 3 0 0 0 — — — — — —
2022 WAS 17 17 46 27 19 8.0 0 0 0 0 2 — — — — —
2023 WAS 8 8 32 21 11 6.5 2 0 0 0 1 — — — — —
CHI 9 9 25 17 8 6.0 1 0 0 0 3 — — — — —
Career 76 76 222 137 85 41.5 10 0 0 0 14 1 15 15 15 1

Personal life

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Sweat was raised by his grandparents as a child.[35] Both his mother and older brother died in 2021, the latter being killed at the age of 27 in a shooting in Henrico County, Virginia.[36] As a rookie, Sweat was featured in Old Spice television commercials.[37]

In June 2021, Sweat expressed his disinterest in getting vaccinations against the COVID-19 virus and that he would forgo getting a COVID-19 vaccine.[38]

References

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  1. ^ Melnick, Kyle (July 16, 2019). "Seven Things We've Learned About Montez Sweat". Redskins.com. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  2. ^ Griffith, Mike (April 18, 2016). "Defensive linemen Craig Evans and Montez Sweat no longer with Michigan State". MLive. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  3. ^ "2017 Top Football Recruits". 247sports. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  4. ^ "Montez Sweat". 247sports. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  5. ^ "NFL Draft Prospect Profile – Montez Sweat". NFL. May 15, 2019. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
  6. ^ "Mississippi State DE Montez Sweat : 2019 NFL Draft Scout Player Profile". NFLDraftScout. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
  7. ^ Middlehurst-Schwartz, Michael (March 3, 2019). "Montez Sweat sets 40-yard dash record for defensive linemen at NFL scouting combine". USA Today. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
  8. ^ Maya, Adam (April 25, 2019). "Montez Sweat possibly misdiagnosed with heart issue". NFL. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  9. ^ a b Bergman, Jeremy (April 25, 2019). "Montez Sweat falls to Redskins after misdiagnosis". NFL. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  10. ^ "2019 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
  11. ^ Bergman, Jeremy (May 29, 2019). "Redskins sign No. 26 pick Montez Sweat to rookie deal". NFL. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  12. ^ "Montez Sweat". Spotrac.
  13. ^ "Trubisky, Bears get offense on track, beat Redskins 31–15". ESPN. Associated Press. September 22, 2019. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  14. ^ "Cowboys beat Redskins 47–16, miss playoffs with Eagles' win". ESPN. Associated Press. December 29, 2019. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  15. ^ Kosko, Nick (November 26, 2020). "Watch: Montez Sweat's pick six caps off Washington win". 247Sports. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  16. ^ Olson, Andrew (November 26, 2020). "Montez Sweat shows off his athleticism on impressive pick-6". Saturday Down South. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  17. ^ Cadeaux, Ethan. "How did Washington beat Pittsburgh? Montez Sweat, Chase Young say Ravens helped". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  18. ^ Cadeaux, Ethan (December 20, 2020). "Daron Payne reflects on his first career interception". NBC Sports. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
  19. ^ Jhabvala, Nicki (November 3, 2021). "Washington DE Montez Sweat expected to miss 4-6 weeks with a fractured jaw". Washington Post. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  20. ^ Selby, Zach (November 13, 2021). "Washington places Montez Sweat on Injured Reserve, signs Bunmi from practice squad". Washington Commanders. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  21. ^ "Washington places Montez Sweat on Reserve/COVID-19 list, Logan Thomas on Injured Reserve, signed Jonathan Williams from Giants practice squad". Washington Commanders. December 8, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  22. ^ "Washington activates multiple defensive linemen off Reserve/COVID-19 list". Washington Commanders. December 18, 2021. Archived from the original on February 2, 2022. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  23. ^ Selby, Zach (December 20, 2021). "Washington activates Montez Sweat, Sam Cosmi as part of multiple roster, coaching moves". Washington Commanders. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  24. ^ "Washington-Eagles Wednesday Stats Pack". Washington Commanders. December 22, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  25. ^ Selby, Zach (April 27, 2022). "Commanders exercise fifth-year option on Montez Sweat". Washington Commanders. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  26. ^ Washington Commanders Public Relations (October 10, 2022). "Commanders-Titans Stats & Snaps". Commanders.com. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
  27. ^ Washington Commanders Public Relations (November 21, 2022). "Commanders-Texans Stats & Snaps". Commanders.com. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  28. ^ Selby, Zach (October 31, 2023). "Commanders trade DE Montez Sweat to Chicago Bears". Commanders.com. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  29. ^ Mayer, Larry (October 31, 2023). "Roster Move: Bears trade for DE Montez Sweat". ChicagoBears.com. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  30. ^ Kownack, Bobby (November 4, 2023). "Bears, DE Montez Sweat agree to four-year, $98 million extension in new money". NFL.com.
  31. ^ Mayer, Larry (November 5, 2023). "Bears sign Montez Sweat to 4-year extension". ChicagoBears.com. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
  32. ^ "2024 Pro Bowl Games: Complete NFC Roster Revealed". NFL.com. January 3, 2024. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  33. ^ a b c Hajduk, Gabby (January 9, 2024). "Sweat finishes season as sack leader for Bears, Commanders". ChicagoBears.com. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  34. ^ Chamberlain, Gene (November 16, 2023). "'Tez Effect' Felt by Full Bears Defense". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  35. ^ Melnick, Kyle (July 16, 2019). "Seven Things We've Learned About Montez Sweat". Washington Commanders. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  36. ^ Keim, John (December 29, 2021). "Anthony Sweat, brother of Washington Football Team DE Montez Sweat, shot and killed in Virginia". ESPN. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
  37. ^ Ducote, Nick (October 14, 2019). "Montez Sweat stars in Old Spice Commercial". WLBT.com. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  38. ^ Keim, John (June 9, 2021). "Montez Sweat 'not a fan' of COVID-19 vaccine despite Washington Football Team bringing in expert to address players". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
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