Montez Sweat

BIOGRAPHY

Shaquan Montez Sweat was born on September 4th, 1996, in Stone Mountain, Georgia. He is an outside linebacker in the NFL.

He attended Stephenson highs school, where he was rated as one of the top tight ends in the country. He recorded 33 tackles, including six for losses with one sack, in 12 games his senior season playing for Coach Ron Gartrell.

He played college football at Mississippi State University; after graduating high school in 2014, he played at Michigan State where he appeared in two games at defensive end in his first season. In his collegiate debut, he collected four tackles, including a half-sack (2 yards), against Jacksonville State.

He was considered the sixth-best junior college defensive end prospect in the nation according to 247 Sports and was listed No. 43 on Scout.com’s Top 100 prospects. He was No. 47 on 247Sports’ Top 100 JUCO recruits and A three-star recruit who posted 39 tackles with six for loss in 2016 at Co-Lin; he also recorded five sacks, forced two fumbles and grabbed one interception.

As a junior at Mississippi State, he was a first-team All-SEC selection in his first season, starting all 13 games and played outside linebacker in the 3-4 and defensive end in the 4-3. He  Joined Jeffery Simmons as the two became just the second duo in the SEC West since 2003 to both earn first-team All-SEC honors and became the first Bulldog to lead the SEC in sacks since 2005 with 10.5 for a loss of 64 yards. He tied for eighth nationally in sacks and also had 7.5 sacks in SEC only games, which tied for the league lead.

As a senior in 2018, he was one of the nation’s best defensive ends for the second straight season and Started 12 of 13 games. He earned first-team All-America honors from the Football Writers Association of America, Sporting News, and Phil Steele and collected second-team All-America status from The Associated Press, Sports Illustrated and CBS Sports. He finished as a semifinalist for the Bednarik Award, given annually to the nation’s top defensive player and teamed with Jeffery Simmons to become the first defensive line duo in MSU history to win first-team All-SEC honors from the AP in back-to-back seasons.

He also was named a first-team All-SEC selection by the league’s coaches for the second straight year and Led MSU in sacks for the second consecutive year (11.5). He finished second in the SEC and tied for sixth nationally in sacks after leading the league as a junior, and his 11.5 sacks were also good for seventh in single-season MSU history.

The Washington Redskins selected sweat in the first round, 26th overall, of the 2019 NFL Draft.

On April 27, 2022, the Commanders exercised the fifth-year option in Sweat's contract. In Week 5, Sweat accounted two of the five sacks the Commanders' had against the Tennessee Titans . He contributed another two sack performance against the Houston Texans in Week 11.

Sweat was traded to the Chicago Bears on during the 2023 season.