Matt LaCosse

Matt LaCosse

No. 81 New York Giants
Position:	Tight end
Personal information
Date of birth:	(1992-09-21) September 21, 1992
Place of birth:	Naperville, Illinois
Height:
Weight:
Career information
High school:	Naperville North (IL)
College:	Illinois
Undrafted:	2015
Career history
New York Giants (2015)* New York Jets (2015)* New York Giants (2015–present)
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Roster status:	Active
Career NFL statistics as of Week 12, 2015
Player stats at NFL.com

Matt LaCosse (born September 21, 1992) is an American football tight end for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He is from Naperville, Illinois and attended Naperville North High School. He then went on to the University of Illinois, where he played football for four years.

Personal

His full name is Matthew Robert LaCosse, and is the son of Kim and Dave LaCosse. His father, Dave, played football at Ball State. Matt graduated from the University of Illinois in 2015 with a degree in Communications. He was also an honor roll student while at Naperville North High School. He is 6-foot-6 and weighs 258 pounds.

High School Career

At Naperville North High School, LaCosse played football, basketball, and baseball, earning eight varsity letters. As quarterback, he led Naperville North to the Class 8A quarterfinals in his senior year. In his senior season, he recorded 1,218 rushing yards, 14 rushing touchdowns, 919 passing yards, and five passing touchdowns He was named honorable mention All-State by the Chicago Tribune and was rated as a three-star recruit by Rivals.com. He initially gave an oral commitment to the University of Minnesota, but after their coach, Tim Brewster, was fired, LaCosse reconsidered and eventually chose Illinois.

College career

2011: Freshman Year

As a true freshman, LaCosse played in 10 games for the Illini. He made one start that year. His debut came against South Dakota State. He caught his first career pass for 11 yards in a game at Minnesota.

2012: Sophomore Year

As a sophomore, LaCosse played in all 12 games at tight end and got playing time on special teams. In 2012, he recorded three catches for 32 yards. One of his receptions was for a successful two-point conversion against Ohio State.

2013: Junior Year

LaCosse played in all 12 games and started nine of those games as the tight end. As a junior, he totaled 20 receptions for 237 yards. He ranked third on the team with three touchdown receptions. His season was highlighted by his career-high five receptions at Indiana. He also recorded three catches for 68 yards and two touchdowns against Miami (Ohio). He caught a two-point conversion pass against Southern Illinois.

2014: Senior Year

During his senior year at Illinois, he recorded 14 receptions for a total of 117 yards and three touchdowns. At the Illinois Pro Day, LaCosse ran his 40 yard dash in 4.64 seconds, and got 20 bench-press reps of 225 pounds.

Professional career

LaCosse went undrafted in 2015, but was quickly signed after the draft by the New York Giants. He was competing with Adrien Robinson, Jerome Cunningham, and Will Tye for the last tight end spot on the roster. On August 1, two days into training camp with the team, LaCosse injured his hamstring. Instead of landing on the Giants' injured reserve, they reached an injury settlement with him so that he could become a free agent. On August 24, the New York Jets signed LaCosse to a one-year contract. He was later waived by the Jets before the start of the 2015 season.

Then, on November 3, the Giants brought back LaCosse and signed him to their practice squad. On December 25, 2015, the New York Giants promoted LaCosse and defensive end Brad Bars to the 53-man roster and placed defensive tackle Markus Kuhn and linebacker James Morris on injured reserve.

External links

• Illinois Fighting Illini bio