Zeke Vandenburgh
{{Short description|American football player (born 1999)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name = Zeke Vandenburgh
| currentteam = Memphis Showboats
| number = 57
| position = Linebacker
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1999|1|18}}
| birth_place = Vallejo, California, U.S.
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 4
| weight_lb = 232
| high_school = Freeport
(Freeport, Illinois)
| college = Illinois State (2017–2022)
| undraftedyear = 2023
| pastteams =
- Miami Dolphins ({{NFL Year|2023}}–{{NFL Year|2024}})
- Memphis Showboats ({{UFL Year|2025}}–present)
| status = Active
| highlights =
- MVFC Defensive Player of the Year (2022)
- First-team All-MVFC (2022)
- Buck Buchanan Award (2022)
| pfr = VandZe01
}}
Ezekiel Vandenburgh (born January 18, 1999) is an American professional football linebacker for the Memphis Showboats of the United Football League (UFL). He played college football at Illinois State.
Early life
Vandenburgh was born on January 18, 1999, in Vallejo, California. He moved to Freeport, Illinois, where he attended and played high school football for Freeport High School. He was a three-year letterwinner and also recorded over 100 tackles as a senior. He was a First-Team All-Conference in 2016.{{Cite web |title=Zeke Vandenburgh - Football |url=https://goredbirds.com/sports/football/roster/zeke--vandenburgh/10283 |access-date=April 1, 2023 |website=Illinois State University Athletics |language=en}}
College career
Vandenburgh played college football for Illinois State. He redshirted in 2017.
In 2018 he played in all eleven games at linebacker and finished his first season with 22 tackles and a season-best four tackles in a game against Southern Illinois.
In 2019 he was a Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) All-Academic honorable mention team while also seeing playing time in all fifteen games. He finished the season with 51 tackles and nine tackles for loss. He recorded a half sack and four tackles in the second round of the FCS playoffs against Central Arkansas.
In 2020 the season was moved to the spring and was shortened to four games. He played in all four games and finished with thirteen tackles.
In the fall 2021 season he was once again MVFC All-Academic Team selection for a fourth-straight season.{{Cite web |last=randy.reinhardt@lee.net |first=Randy Reinhardt |title=Illinois State's Zeke Vandenburgh one of three finalists for Buchanan Award |url=https://pantagraph.com/sports/college/illinois-state/illinois-states-zeke-vandenburgh-one-of-three-finalists-for-buchanan-award/article_f1a0e91c-74b3-11ed-8bc0-03b8c33fb045.html |access-date=April 1, 2023 |website=pantagraph.com |language=en}} He started eleven games for the Redbirds and had 73 tackles and a team-leading four sacks. Against Northern Illinois he had a then-career-best fourteen tackles and was named MVFC Defensive Player of the Week.
In 2022 he started ten games for Illinois State while tallying a sack in eight of the ten games. Against Valparaiso, South Dakota State, and Western Illinois he had three-or-more sacks. In the season-finale against Western Illinois he also had a career-high seventeen tackles alongside the three-and-a-half sacks.{{Cite web |last=Haley |first=Craig |date=January 8, 2023 |title=Zeke Vandenburgh Wins 2022 Buck Buchanan Award |url=https://theanalyst.com/2023/01/2022-buck-buchanan-award-illinois-sts-zeke-vandenburgh-is-fcs-defensive-player-of-year/ |access-date=April 1, 2023 |website=The Analyst |language=en}} After the season he was named the MVFC Defensive Player of the Year,{{Cite web |last=Bayne |first=Derek |title=Vandenburgh reflects on big season, looks ahead to NFL Draft |url=https://www.wrex.com/news/featured-reports/vandenburgh-reflects-on-big-season-looks-ahead-to-nfl-draft/article_d8193b68-7cc7-11ed-9af1-979b02f31cae.html |access-date=April 1, 2023 |website=WREX |language=en}} First-Team All-MVFC,{{Cite web |title=2022 Missouri Valley Football All-Conference Teams |url=https://valley-football.org/news/2022/11/28/2022-missouri-valley-football-all-conference-teams.aspx |access-date=April 1, 2023 |website=valley-football.org |language=en}} and also earned the prestigious Buck Buchanan Award for Division I FCS's best defensive player.{{cite web | last=Prerost | first=Scott | title=Vandenburgh drafted by Birmingham Stallions of USFL | website=The Vidette | date=2023-02-21 | url=https://www.videtteonline.com/sports/vandenburgh-drafted-by-birmingham-stallions-of-usfl/article_54083342-b228-11ed-9498-ff89f43ccf40.html | access-date=2025-01-29}}
=College statistics=
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" | ||||||||||
| rowspan="2"| Season
! colspan="1"| Games ! colspan="9"| Defense | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Solo | Ast | TOT | TFL | Sacks | Int | PD | FF | FR | |
| colspan="12" style="{{CollegePrimaryStyle|Illinois State Redbirds}}" | Illinois State Redbirds | ||||||||||
| 2017
| colspan="10" | {{abbr|DNP|Did not play}} | ||||||||||
| 2018
| 11 || 15 || 7 || 22 || 3.5 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | ||||||||||
| 2019
| 15|| 37 || 14 || 51 || 9.5 || 5.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | ||||||||||
| 2020–21
| 4 || 4 || 9 || 13 || 1.0 || 1.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | ||||||||||
| 2021
| 11 || 44 || 26 || 70 || 8.5 || 4.0 || 0 || 2 || 0 || 0 | ||||||||||
| 2022
| 10 || 51|| 49|| 100|| 21.0|| 14.0|| 1|| 5|| 2|| 1 | ||||||||||
| [https://goredbirds.com/sports/football/roster/zeke--vandenburgh/10283 Career] | 51 | 151 | 105 | 256 | 43.5 | 24.0 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 1 |
Professional career
{{NFL predraft
| height ft = 6
| height in = 3 3/4
| weight = 234
| dash = 4.80
| ten split = 1.62
| twenty split = 2.74
| shuttle = 4.42
| cone drill = 7.06
| vertical = 34.5
| broad ft = 10
| broad in = 2
| bench = 24
| arm span = 31 5/8
| hand span = 9 3/4
| note = All values from Pro Day{{Cite web |url=https://draftscout.com/dsprofile.php?PlayerId=1056029&DraftYear=2023 |title=2023 NFL Draft Scout Zeke Vandenburgh College Football Profile |access-date=June 24, 2023 |website=DraftScout.com}}
}}
= Miami Dolphins =
On February 21, 2023, Vandenburgh was drafted 38th overall to the Birmingham Stallions of the United States Football League (USFL).{{Cite web |date=March 15, 2023 |title=Freeport's Zeke Vandenburgh performs for NFL scouts at Northwestern's Pro Day |url=https://www.mystateline.com/sports/nfl/freeports-zeke-vandenburgh-performs-for-nfl-scouts-at-northwesterns-pro-day/ |access-date=April 1, 2023 |website=MyStateline.com |language=en-US}}
On May 12, 2023, Vandenburgh was signed by the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent.{{cite web|url=https://www.mystateline.com/sports/nfl/freeports-zeke-vandenburgh-getting-an-nfl-shot-with-the-dolphins/|title=Freeport's Zeke Vandenburgh getting an NFL shot with the Dolphins|website=mystateline.com|publisher=Nexstar Media|date=April 29, 2023|access-date=April 30, 2023}} On July 18, 2023, the Dolphins placed him on injured reserve.{{Cite web |date=July 18, 2023 |title=Miami Dolphins Make Roster Moves |url=https://www.miamidolphins.com/news/miami-dolphins-make-roster-moves-x3599 |access-date=2024-10-02 |website=MiamiDolphins.com |language=en-US}} He was waived/injured on August 19, 2024.{{Cite web |date=August 19, 2024 |title=Miami Dolphins Make Roster Moves |url=https://www.miamidolphins.com/news/miami-dolphins-make-roster-moves-8-19-24 |access-date=2024-10-02 |website=MiamiDolphins.com}}
= Memphis Showboats =
On January 23, 2025, Vandenburgh signed with the Memphis Showboats of the United Football League (UFL).{{Cite web |title=UFL Transactions |url=https://uflboard.com/ufl-transactions/ |access-date=2025-01-24 |website=UFLBoard.com |language=en-US}}
Personal life
Vandenburgh married his wife, Leah, on March 18, 2023.{{Cite web |title=THE SWEET SUMMER OF 2022 |url=https://www.theknot.com/us/leah-kuper-and-zeke-vandenburgh-mar-2023/our-story}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://goredbirds.com/sports/football/roster/zeke--vandenburgh/10283 Illinois State Redbirds bio]
{{Buck Buchanan Award}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vandenburgh, Zeke}}
Category:Players of American football from Vallejo, California
Category:Players of American football from Illinois
Category:American football linebackers
Category:Freeport High School (Illinois) alumni
Category:Illinois State Redbirds football players