Thomas Duarte

Thomas James Duarte (born March 30, 1995)[1] is an American former professional football player who was a tight end in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UCLA Bruins, and earned second-team all-conference honors in the Pac-12 as a junior in 2015. After forgoing his final year of college eligibility to enter the 2016 NFL Draft, he was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the seventh round. He spent most of his two seasons with the Dolphins on their practice squad. He played for the Arizona Hotshots of the Alliance of American Football (AAF) in 2019.

Thomas Duarte
refer to caption
Duarte (No. 18) with the UCLA Bruins in 2014
No. 83
Position:Tight end
Personal information
Born: (1995-03-30) March 30, 1995
Fullerton, California, U.S.
Height:6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:241 lb (109 kg)
Career information
High school:Mater Dei
(Santa Ana, California)
College:UCLA
NFL Draft:2016 / Round: 7 / Pick: 231
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Early life

Duarte was born in Fullerton, California to Timothy and Deborah Duarte.[2] Growing up, Duarte was always big. At age 10, he was 5 feet 5 inches (1.65 m) and 120 pounds (54 kg). He played tackle football for a year against players who were three to four years older. However, he went back to playing flag football after the players his size entered high school, and he became too big to play Pop Warner football due to their weight restrictions.[3][4]

Duarte returned to tackle football as a high school freshman at Mater Dei High in Santa Ana.[4][5] As a senior, he had 58 receptions with 1,025 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns and averaged 18 yards a catch. He also played on defense at linebacker, and had 42 tackles, 10 quarterback sacks, three interceptions and a fumble recovery.[4] He was named Player of the Year by the Los Angeles Times and Offensive Player of the Year by The Orange County Register.[4][6]

The son of a Mexican-American father and Japanese-American mother,[7] Duarte was one of the rare high-profile college recruits to be of Asian descent.[3] He was rated a four-star prospect and capable of playing tight end, H-back, or wide receiver in college.[3][8] He decided to attend the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), his mother's alma mater.[9]

College career

Duarte struggled with hamstring injuries during his first two seasons with the Bruins.[10] In his junior year in 2015, he was a second-team All-Pac-12 selection at tight end.[11] He finished the season with 53 receptions for 872 yards, and led the team with 10 touchdown catches. His 16.6 yards per reception was the highest among UCLA receivers with 10 or more catches. After the season, he opted to forgo his final year of college eligibility and enter the 2016 NFL Draft.[12]

Professional career

Duarte was the top performer in his position on the 40-yard dash, vertical jump, broad jump, 3 cone drill and the 20-yard shuttle in 2016 NFL Combine.

Pre-draft measurables
HeightWeightArm lengthHand span40-yard dash20-yard shuttleThree-cone drillVertical jumpBroad jumpBench press
6 ft 2+1⁄8 in
(1.88 m)		 231 lb
(105 kg)		 33 in
(0.84 m)		 10 in
(0.25 m)		4.72 s4.24 s6.97 s33.5 in
(0.85 m)		9 ft 10 in
(3.00 m)		12 reps
All values from NFL Combine,[13]

Miami Dolphins

Duarte was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the seventh round, 231st overall, in the 2016 NFL Draft.[14] On September 3, 2016, he was released by the Dolphins as part of final roster cuts.[15] He was later signed to their practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on November 5.[16] The next day, he was in for two snaps in a 27–23 win over the New York Jets in his only action for the season.[17]

On September 2, 2017, Duarte was waived by the Dolphins and was signed to the practice squad the next day.[18][19] He was promoted to the active roster on December 20 to replace tight end Julius Thomas, who was placed on injured reserve.[17][20]

During the 2018 offseason, Duarte missed part of the team's training program with a shoulder injury.[21] He returned for training camp but was among the Dolphins final cuts before the 2018 season after he failed to supplant veterans MarQueis Gray and A. J. Derby.[22][23][24]

Los Angeles Chargers

On September 3, 2018, Duarte was signed to the Los Angeles Chargers' practice squad.[25] He was released on September 25, 2018.[26]

Arizona Hotshots

In 2019, Duarte joined the Arizona Hotshots of the Alliance of American Football.[27] He caught eight passes for 111 yards and two touchdowns before the league suspended operations mid-season.[28]

Carolina Panthers

Duarte signed with the Carolina Panthers on April 8, 2019.[28] He was waived on May 13, 2019.[29]

Atlanta Falcons

On August 24, 2019, Duarte was signed by the Atlanta Falcons.[30] He was waived on August 31, 2019.[31]

References
  1. "2015 UCLA Bruins Football Media Guide" (PDF). UCLA Bruins. 2015. p. 17. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 5, 2015.
  2. "Thomas Duarte Bio". UCLABruins.com. Archived from the original on January 16, 2016.
  3. Maya, Adam (February 4, 2013). "Mater Dei's Duarte breaking the mold". OCVarsity.com. Archived from the original on February 3, 2016.
  4. Fryer, Steve (December 18, 2012). "Mater Dei's Duarte is offensive player of the year". OCVarsity.com. Archived from the original on February 2, 2016.
  5. Muranaka, Gwen (June 27, 2013). "A New Son of Westwood". Rafu Shimpo. Archived from the original on February 4, 2016.
  6. Sonheimer, Eric (December 19, 2012). "Mater Dei's two-sided hit". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 30, 2016.
  7. Wang, Jack (November 25, 2013). "UCLA receiver Thomas Duarte proud of biracial heritage". Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on January 10, 2016.
  8. Oliver, Brandon P. (October 8, 2012). "Calif. TE Thomas Duarte in no rush". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on February 2, 2016.
  9. Miller, Jeff (August 28, 2013). "Practice makes perfect for Bruins' Duarte". The Orange County Register. Archived from the original on September 18, 2015.
  10. Foster, Chris (November 12, 2015). "There's always a catch with UCLA's Thomas Duarte". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 31, 2016.
  11. Gold, Jason (January 12, 2016). "Report: UCLA receiver Thomas Duarte declares for 2016 NFL Draft". FoxSports.com. Archived from the original on February 23, 2016.
  12. Taylor, Johnson (January 13, 2016). "UCLA WR Thomas Duarte latest to leave early for NFL". NBCSports.com. Archived from the original on January 17, 2016.
  13. "NFL Events: Combine Player Profiles - Thomas Duarte". National Football League.
  14. "2016 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  15. Poupart, Alain (September 3, 2016). "Dolphins Make Moves To Get Roster To 53". MiamiDolphins.com. Archived from the original on June 16, 2018.
  16. "PRESS RELEASE: Dolphins Make Roster Moves". MiamiDolphins.com. November 5, 2016. Archived from the original on September 4, 2017.
  17. Habib, Hal (December 20, 2017). "Two snaps in two years, but Miami Dolphins TE Thomas Duarte gets shot at last". Palm Beach Post. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017.
  18. "Dolphins Make Roster Moves". MiamiDolphins.com. September 2, 2017. Archived from the original on June 20, 2018.
  19. "Dolphins Sign 8 To Practice Squad". MiamiDolphins.com. September 3, 2017. Archived from the original on December 10, 2017.
  20. "Miami Dolphins Make Roster Moves". MiamiDolphins.com. December 20, 2017. Archived from the original on February 23, 2018.
  21. "Dolphins' Thomas Duarte: Participating in training camp". CBSSports.com. August 3, 2018.
  22. Beasley, Adam H.; Jackson, Barry (September 1, 2018). "Brock on! Osweiler earns spot on Dolphins' 53-man roster". Miami Herald.
  23. Beasley, Adam H.; Jackson, Barry; Salguero, Armando (September 1, 2018). "Live updates: All the players the Miami Dolphins have cut from their roster". Miami Herald.
  24. "Miami Dolphins Make Roster Moves". MiamiDolphins.com. September 1, 2018.
  25. "Chargers Announce Trio of Roster Moves". Chargers.com. September 3, 2018.
  26. Henne, Ricky (September 25, 2018). "Chargers Sign Pair to Practice Squad". Chargers.com.
  27. Platte, Kent Lee (January 9, 2019). "Detroit Lions to scout new Alliance of American Football league". Pride of Detroit. SB Nation. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
  28. Strickland, Bryan (April 8, 2019). "Panthers sign five players to their 90-man roster". Panthers.com. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  29. Ulrich, Logan (May 13, 2019). "Panthers Waive TE Thomas Duarte".
  30. McFadden, Will (August 24, 2019). "Falcons agree to terms with three players, including kicker Blair Walsh". AtlantaFalcons.com.
  31. McFadden, Will (August 31, 2019). "Falcons 2019 roster announced". AtlantaFalcons.com.
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