Raymond Ventrone
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| New England Patriots — No. 41 | |
| Safety | |
| Date of birth: October 21, 1982 | |
| Place of birth: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | |
| Height: 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | Weight: 200 lb (91 kg) |
| National Football League debut | |
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| 2007 for the New England Patriots | |
| Career history | |
| College: Villanova | |
| Undrafted in 2005 | |
Teams:
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| Current status: Active | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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| Stats at NFL.com | |
Raymond "Bubba" Ventrone[1] (born October 21, 1982 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American football safety for the New England Patriots of the National Football League. He was originally signed by the Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2005. He played college football at Villanova.
Ventrone has also been a member of the New York Jets in his career.
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[edit] College career
Ventrone began his college career at Villanova University in August 2001. He impressed college coaches early with his speed and strength. Ventrone had an illustrious career at Villanova until his senior year when he fractured his ankle in the season's fourth game against the University of New Hampshire.
[edit] Professional career
Although the Patriots considered picking Ventrone with the final pick of the 2005 NFL Draft, they signed tight end Andy Stokes as "Mr. Irrelevant"; Ventrone then signed as an undrafted free agent. Ventrone was released at the end of training camp and re-signed to the practice squad. After spending the rest of the 2005 season, he was allocated to NFL Europa in the spring of 2006. There, Ventrone suffered an injury and was placed on the team's injured reserve list, sidelining him for the 2006 season. After the Patriots released Ventrone on February 13, 2007, he signed with the New York Jets on February 21, 2007.
After the Jets released Ventrone in their final cutdown before the 2007 season, they signed him to their practice squad, but released him on September 12. The Patriots signed him to their practice squad on September 18, and then promoted to the team's 53-man roster on November 3. Upon the activation of Eddie Jackson and Chad Jackson from the PUP list, the Patriots released him on November 7, 2007, and re-signed him to their practice squad two days later. He was again promoted to the active roster for the Miami game, and remained on the active roster for the duration of the season, including Super Bowl XLII, in which he recorded his first NFL tackle.
During the 2008 offseason, Ventrone has been practicing as a wide receiver, a position he hasn't played in games since he was a sophomore at Chartiers Valley High School (Ventrone has lined up at wide receiver on scout teams in Patriots practices).[2]
