Brett Toth

Brett Toth (born September 1, 1996) is an American football offensive tackle for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League and a United States Army ROTC affiliate who serves at Arizona State University. He is an Army Black Knights football graduate who is a beneficiary of revised United States Department of Defense policies regarding professional athletic career opportunities for military service academy graduates.[1] Toth is a second lieutenant in the United States Army with deferred service.[2]

Brett Toth
No. 78 – Arizona Cardinals
Position:Offensive tackle
Personal information
Born: (1996-09-01) September 1, 1996
Charleston, South Carolina
Height:6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Weight:304 lb (138 kg)
Career information
High school:West Ashley (SC)
College:Army
Undrafted:2018
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

Early life

Toth attended West Ashley High School in Charleston, South Carolina.[3][4]

West Point career

Toth studied physics and nuclear engineering at West Point and became the first person to represent Army at the Senior Bowl when he was invited to participate in the 2018 edition.[5] He also played in the 2018 East–West Shrine Game.[6] As a junior for the 2016 Army Black Knights football team triple option offense (which finished second in the country with a 339.5 yards of offense per game), he was rated as the fifth-best run-blocking tackle in NCAA football according to Pro Football Focus and the 23rd-best offensive lineman according to Bleacher Report.[7] During his senior season, the 2017 Army Black Knights led the nation in offense.[8] During that season, Army rushed 785 times last season and attempted just 65 forward passes.[6] Toth served as a graduate assistant for the 2018 Black Knights and he executed the engineering officer training, earning a platoon leader role.[8]

Professional football career

When Toth entered his commitment at West Point, there was a 5-year service commitment. However, the policy was changed to 24 months during his stay.[6] There had been precedent (such as Joe Cardona of the 2015 NFL draft) for military school graduates to be allowed to defer their 24-month service policy,[9] but in 2017, United States Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis rescinded the policy to allow military service academy student-athlete graduates to delay their assignments to explore professional sports opportunities. In June 2019, United States President Donald Trump requested that a policy be established to facilitate athletic pursuits and 2019 NFL draft selectee Austin Cutting was the first to sign a professional contract following the new policy.[10] When Toth applied for his waiver in August 2019, he was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri.[10] Toth cites Alejandro Villanueva, Collin Mooney and Josh McNary as his role models.[6] Toth had served a year as a second lieutenant before being granted a deferment.

In August 2019, he signed a three-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles even though he had already missed all of training camp and two preseason games.[11] The Eagles waived Toth, but he was claimed by the Cardinals at the end of the 2019 preseason.[12] He was placed on the reserve/non-football illness list by the Cardinals on October 19, 2019.[13]

Notes
  1. Alper, Josh (September 6, 2019). "Brett Toth "very grateful" to United States Army for allowing him to play". NBC Sports. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  2. Conway, Tyler (September 1, 2019). "Report: Army 2nd Lieutenant Brett Toth Claimed by Cardinals After Eagles Release". Bleacher Report. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  3. "Brett Toth #78 OL". NFL.com. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  4. Hartsell, Jeff (August 16, 2019). "Charleston's Brett Toth gets Army waiver to sign with NFL's Eagles". The Post and Courier. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  5. Vilona, Bill (January 25, 2018). "Army's Brett Toth makes Senior Bowl history". PNJ.com. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  6. Jones, Mike (January 25, 2018). "Army OT Brett Toth draws NFL attention, but service comes first". USA Today. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
  7. "B/R CFB 150: Top 25 Offensive Linemen". Bleacher Report. January 19, 2017. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  8. Scott, Jelani (August 16, 2019). "Eagles sign tackle Brett Toth after military waiver". NFL.com. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  9. Tomasson, Chris (April 29, 2019). "Austin Cutting to serve his country with Air Force but still could be Vikings' long snapper". St. Paul Pioneer Press. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
  10. Hartsell, Jeff (August 14, 2019). "Trump decision could help West Ashley's Brett Toth get Army's permission to play in NFL". The Post and Courier. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
  11. Zangaro, Dave (August 16, 2019). "Brett Toth gets military waiver, signs deal with Eagles". NBC Sports. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  12. Conway, Tyler (September 1, 2019). "Report: Cardinals claim OT Brett Toth, cut by Eagles". USA Today. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  13. Urban, Darren (October 19, 2019). "Cardinals Put Patrick Peterson Back On Active Roster". AZCardinals.com. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
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