Description
Bubba Ventrone is a former safety for the San Francisco 49ers and current special teams assistant coach for the New England Patriots of the National Football League. He was signed by the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2005. Ventrone has also been a member of the Cleveland Browns and New York Jets. He played college football at Villanova.
Ventrone received the nickname “Bubba” from his father as a child. As a seventh grader, Ventrone and two of his friends founded the Nathan S. Arenson Fund for Pancreatic Cancer Research, which supports research into pancreatic cancer at the University of Pittsburgh.
The safety attended Chartiers Valley High School in Bridgeville, Pennsylvania where he played football and holds records in track and field. He was a three-time All-Conference player and a Second-team All-State as a senior. Ventrone has a younger brother, Ross Ventrone, who in 2010 signed as an undrafted free agent with the Patriots. He is currently on the Pittsburgh Steelers roster.
Ventrone began his college career at Villanova University in 2001. As a junior in 2003, Ventrone was selected to the All-Atlantic 10 Conference first team. He finished his college career with 251 tackles, two sacks, and five forced fumbles.
The Patriots signed Ventrone to their practice squad on September 18, 2007 and then promoted to the team’s 53-man roster on November 3. It was his second stint with the Patriots. Upon the activation of Eddie Jackson and Chad Jackson from the PUP list, the Patriots released Ventrone on November 7, 2007, and re-signed him to their practice squad two days later. He was again promoted to the active roster in December, and remained on the active roster for the balance of the season, including Super Bowl XLII, in which he recorded his first NFL tackle.
During the 2008 offseason, Ventrone began practicing as a wide receiver, a position he had not played in games since he was a sophomore at Chartiers Valley High School; he had, however, previously lined up at wide receiver on scout teams in Patriots practices. In the Patriots’ third 2008 preseason game, Ventrone led all receivers with four receptions, while still playing on special teams and defense. Ventrone would go on to play in 15 games during the 2008 season, almost exclusively on special teams, recording six special teams tackles.
Ventrone signed with the Cleveland Browns on September 16, 2009. In 2010, Ventrone appeared in all 16 games in a reserve role and was one of the leaders on the club with nine special teams tackles and a fumble recovery. He was also part of a kickoff coverage group that led the NFL by allowing an average of only 17.8-yards per return and a punt coverage unit that allowed an average of 7.1 yards per return, a figure that was fifth-best in the NFL.
The featured red cutters gloves were game worn by Ventrone when the San Francisco 49ers faced the Green Bay Packers on January 5th, 2014 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Facing a blitz on third-and-8, elusive San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick scrambled 11 yards out of trouble to set up Phil Dawson’s 33-yard field goal as time expired for a 23-20 win over the Green Bay Packers. Kaepernick threw for 227 yards, including a 28-yard TD pass to Vernon Davis, and ran for another 98, while Michael Crabtree had eight catches for 125 yards for San Francisco. Ventrone has signed the gloves and added “Game Worn GB Playoff 2014” to the left one in gold. Awesome!!!
