Matt Giordano

Matthew Victor Giordano (born October 16, 1982) is a former American football safety. He was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the fourth round of the 2005 NFL Draft. Giordano grew up in Clovis, California and played college football at Fresno City College and University of California, Berkeley.

This article is about the former American football player. For the drummer, see 75 Watts.

Matt Giordano
Giordano with the Oakland Raiders
No. 43, 47, 37, 49, 27
Position:Safety
Personal information
Born: (1982-10-16) October 16, 1982
Fresno, California
Height:5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight:204 lb (93 kg)
Career information
High school:Clovis (CA) Buchanan
College:California
NFL Draft:2005 / Round: 4 / Pick: 134
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Tackles:206
Interceptions:10
Pass deflections:17
Player stats at NFL.com

Giordano was part of the Colts' Super Bowl XLI championship team that defeated the Chicago Bears. He was also a member of the Green Bay Packers, Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints and Oakland Raiders.

Early years

Attending Buchanan High School in Clovis, California, Giordano played a key role as team co-captain in Buchanan's inaugural Valley championship in 2000. His football jersey number was 2 while playing for Buchanan. As a senior, he had five interceptions and 64 tackles while causing three fumbles, and averaged nine yards per carry and 12.6 yards per reception on offense. He broke Buchanan records for longest punt return for a touchdown, most blocked kicks and most interceptions in a game. He was a two-time all (TRAC) Tri-River-Athletic-Conference first-team choice and was also named the Defensive Player of the Year by the Clovis Exchange Club and Buchanan High's Most Outstanding Player in football and track in 2001. Giordano was also crowned individual league champion in the 400 meters in 1999.

College career

Giordano attended Fresno City College for two years. He won All-State honors as a freshman, was a two-time All-Conference pick, and was the Defensive MVP in the Northern California Championship game.

He then played college football with the California Golden Bears, at the University of California, Berkeley. As a senior, Giordano won All-Pacific-10 Conference first team honors, and was an All-American honorable mention. During his career, he had two interceptions, six pass deflections, one sack, 111 tackles (four for losses), two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery. He graduated from Berkeley.

Professional career

Indianapolis Colts
Pre-draft measurables
HeightWeight40-yard dash10-yard split20-yard shuttleThree-cone drillVertical jumpBroad jump
5 ft 10 in
(1.78 m)		 194 lb
(88 kg)		 4.48 s1.59 s4.17 s6.79 s33 in
(0.84 m)		10 ft 0 in
(3.05 m)
Times from Pro Day at California on March 17, 2005.[1]

The Indianapolis Colts selected Giordano in the fourth round (134th overall) of the 2005 NFL Draft. Giordano played in 15 games as a rookie, starting in the September 11 game.[2] He made 12 tackles and 1 pass deflected.[3]

In 2006, his second season, Giordano played 12 games and made 25 tackles.[3] On December 10 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Giordano made his first career interception, of David Garrard. Giordano also deflected a pass and made a season-high 9 tackles in the game.[3] On December 18, a Monday night game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Giordano made his first professional start.[2] The Colts won Super Bowl XLI 29-17 over the Chicago Bears on February 4, 2007. On fourth down late in the fourth quarter, Giordano deflected a pass by Rex Grossman to Desmond Clark in a play described as icing the game for Indianapolis.[4]

Giordano started 4 games out of 12 played in 2007 and made 20 tackles, 4 passes deflected, and 2 interceptions.[3] In the season-opening 41-10 victory over the New Orleans Saints, Giordano intercepted Drew Brees and returned the pick 83 yards in the Colts' final touchdown play of the game.[5]

In 2008, Giordano played all 16 regular season games and played on special teams in the Wild Card playoff game against the San Diego Chargers.[2][6] Giordano made 23 tackles and 1 pass deflected.[3]

Giordano signed a one-year contract with the Colts on April 20, 2009.[7] On September 6, the Colts released Giordano to make room for linebacker Cody Glenn.[8]

Green Bay Packers

On September 23, 2009, the Green Bay Packers signed Giordano after releasing Aaron Rouse.[9] With the Packers in 2009, Giordano played 5 games and made 2 tackles.[3] He was released on March 5, 2010.[10]

New Orleans Saints

Giordano signed with the Atlanta Falcons on March 16, 2010 and participated in training camp with the team before being cut on August 31.[2][11] Giordano signed with the New Orleans Saints on October 12, 2010 and played 9 games with 3 tackles.[2][3] In his debut with the Saints on October 17 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Giordano recovered an on-side kick attempt by Tampa kicker Connor Barth in the fourth quarter in New Orleans's 31-6 victory.[12]

Oakland Raiders

The Raiders signed Giordano on August 15, 2011 after Hiram Eugene suffered a serious hip injury in the pre-season opener.[13] He was released on September 3, but was re-signed on September 5. In the 2011-2012 season, Giordano led the team in interceptions along with his 70 tackles.

St. Louis Rams

The Rams signed Giordano on June 15, 2013 after the Rams released rookie free agent safety Don Unamba.[14]

Personal life

Giordano was married March 4, 2005 to Laura Enns of Clovis, California. He was an American Studies major. His great-grandfather is Italian born Ralph Giordano (Also known as Young Corbett III), who was a world welterweight boxing champion in 1933. Matt is the son of Victor and Janet Giordano. His notable combine marks include a 345 lb (156 kg) bench press and 19 repetitions at 225 lb (102 kg), 4.02 20 yd shuttle, 4.48 40-yd dash, 33.5 vertical jump, and a 455 lb (206 kg) squat. Giordano is now a physical education teacher at Buchanan High School. Giordano accepted the position of head coach for the Buchanan Bears football team for 2016 season.

References
  1. "Matt Giordano, DS #11 FS, California". NFL Draft Scout. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
  2. "Matt Giordano". Oakland Raiders. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
  3. "Matt Giordano". NFL. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
  4. Highfill, Bob (February 5, 2007). "The fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLI". The Record. Stockton, California. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
  5. Richards, Phil (September 7, 2007). "Lopsided victory over New Orleans caps Super Bowl champs' daylong celebration". Indianapolis Star. Archived from the original on May 8, 2008.
  6. "Matt Giordano game logs, 2008". NFL. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
  7. Chappell, Mike (April 21, 2009). "Colts' lack of interest upsets Rhodes". Archived from the original on April 24, 2009.
  8. "Colts add LB Cody Glenn". Indianapolis Colts. Archived from the original on September 10, 2009.
  9. Bedard, Greg A. (September 23, 2009). "Packers release Rouse, sign Giordano at safety". Packers Blog. Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Online. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
  10. Bedard, Greg A. (March 5, 2010). "Packers release Montgomery, Giordanowork=Packers Blog". Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Online. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
  11. "Falcons rework secondary by cutting CB Hill, signing S Giordano". Associated Press. March 16, 2010. Retrieved March 16, 2010.
  12. "New Orleans Saints 31 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers 6, Sunday, October 17, 2010". pro-football-reference. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
  13. Inside the Oakland Raiders: Raiders Sign a Pair of Safeties
  14. Report: Rams sign former Raiders safety Matt Giordano Archived June 21, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
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