Ryan Roberts

Ryan Roberts (born August 11, 1980) is an American former football player who played defensive end in college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team from 1998 to 2002. He is an alumnus of Haddonfield Memorial High School.

Early life Roberts was born on August 11, 1980, in Camden, New Jersey,

When Roberts began high school, he was a soccer player, but was urged by a friend to try football during the fall of his freshman year. He considered two conveniently located Ivy League institutions as potential colleges early in his high school career: in-state Princeton University and nearby University of Pennsylvania. Nonetheless, he entered his senior season as a top-100 class of 1998 football recruit according to the Prep Football Report by Tom Lemming.

As a senior, Roberts rushed for over 1000 yards and had 10 quarterback sacks. His official visits included Iowa, Penn State and Notre Dame as well as invitations to visit schools such as Georgia Tech, Northwestern and Syracuse. At one point, he planned to use his five allotted official visits to see Syracuse, Notre Dame, Penn State, Iowa and North Carolina. On February 5, 1998, Roberts signed his National Letter of Intent to play for Notre Dame.

Roberts was a 1997 USAToday honorable-mention All-American Football team selection at defensive end. He was also recognized as a 1997 First team All-State selection by the Associated Press. Roberts posted a safety during the inaugural Governor's Bowl All-Star Classic high school football contest of New York state all-stars vs. New Jersey All-stars. The game was an annual event until 2008, but was later reformatted.

College career Roberts began his Notre Dame career as a linebacker, but switched to defensive end after his freshman season for the 1998 Fighting Irish. Senior Captain Grant Irons was lost for the season with a shoulder injury forcing Roberts into the starting lineup for the 2000 team. He started in 8 of 12 games, His sack against Texas A&M came on his first play of the game. during the Carson Palmer era. In the game, he had a total of 4 tackles for a loss as well as a touchdown saving tackle to force a field goal. He also had a few open field rundown from behind tackles. Willingham retained Greg Mattison as the defensive line coach, giving Roberts, who by now had earned a science-business degree, some continuity in 2002. The defensive line of Cedric Hilliard, Darrell Campbell, Roberts and Kyle Budinscak with reserves that included sophomore Justin Tuck, was a large part of Notre Dame's sudden rise to prominence in 2002. That year, Roberts posted 2 sacks against both Purdue's Kyle Orton and Michigan State's Jeff Smoker.

Roberts' senior season was the last season in which career-ending bowl games did not count in career stats. Thus, any sacks recorded in the 2003 Gator Bowl against Philip Rivers and NC State are not included in his career total. and 4 sacks against the 2000 West Virginia Mountaineers.