Quick Facts
CancerBiography
Rakeem Nathan Nuñez-Roches (born July 3, 1993) is a Belizean professional American football defensive end for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the sixth round (217th overall) of the 2015 NFL Draft. He played college football at Southern Mississippi.
High school career
Nuñez-Roches attended Central High School in Phenix City, Alabama. For his high school football career, he recorded 132 career tackles, 17 sacks, and four forced fumbles. He also played basketball and baseball. He earned All-state honors in basketball and was voted best pitcher in baseball. In football, he was rated as a three-star defensive lineman by ESPN, as well as two stars from Rivals.com and Scout.com. He was selected Second-team All-Area by the Opelika-Auburn News and was an Alabama Top 50 player, ranked No. 39 by the Tuscaloosa Times.
College career
Nuñez-Roches played at the University of Southern Mississippi from 2011 to 2014 where he majored in biological sciences.
As a freshman in 2011, he appeared in six games and was named to the Conference USA All-Freshman team. For the 2011 season, he recorded two tackles and 1.5 tackles-for-loss.
As a sophomore in 2011, he started 11 of 12 games, his only non-start being Southern Miss' senior night game against UTEP. For the 2012 season, he recorded 37 tackles, of which 22 were solo, six tackles-for-loss, one sack, and one forced fumble.
As a junior in 2013, he started the first two games of the season, before suffering a season-ending injury, which earned him a medical redshirt. For the season, he recorded eight tackles, of which two were solo, and 0.5 tackles-for-loss.
As a redshirt junior in 2014, he appeared in 11 games. He recorded 63 tackles (35 solo), 15 tackles-for-loss, four sacks, and one forced fumble. Following the 2014 season, he decided to forego his final year of eligibility and entered the 2015 NFL Draft.
College statistics
| Year | Team | GP/GS | Tackles | Sacks | Pass defense | Fumbles | Safeties | TDs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solo | Ast | Total | TFL | No | Int | PD | FF | FR | |||||||||||||
| 2011 | Southern Miss | 6 / 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| 2012 | Southern Miss | 12 / 11 | 22 | 15 | 37 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| 2013 | Southern Miss | 2 / 2 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| 2014 | Southern Miss | 11 / 11 | 35 | 28 | 63 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Career | 31 / 24 | 61 | 49 | 110 | 23 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
Professional career
Kansas City Chiefs
2015
Nuñez-Roches was drafted in the sixth round (217th overall) of the 2015 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs. He was the first Belizean born player to ever be drafted in the NFL. On May 11, he signed his rookie contract with the Chiefs. In the 2015 season, he appeared in seven games and recorded four solo tackles.
2016
On September 17, 2016, Nuñez-Roches was released by the Chiefs. He was signed to the practice squad on September 20, 2016. He was signed to the active roster on October 18, 2016. On December 8, he recorded his first career sack against the Oakland Raiders. He appeared in eleven games and started five for the Chiefs in the 2016 season.
2017
In 2017, Nuñez-Roches played in all 16 games with 11 starts, recording 24 tackles.
2018
On March 14, 2018, the Chiefs placed an original-round restricted free agent tender on Nuñez-Roches allowing him to negotiate with another team, however the Chiefs have an option the match the contract. If they chose not to, they will receive a 6th round draft pick as compensation.On April 29, 2018, Nuñez-Roches officially re-signed with the Chiefs after no other teams made an offer. He was released by the Chiefs on May 8, 2018.
Indianapolis Colts
On May 11, 2018, Nuñez-Roches was claimed off waivers by the Indianapolis Colts. He was waived on September 1, 2018.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
On October 2, 2018, Nuñez-Roches was signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
On March 15, 2019, Nuñez-Roches was re-signed by the Buccaneers.
On March 20, 2020, Nuñez-Roches was re-signed by the Buccaneers.
Career statistics
| Year | Team | GP | GS | Comb | Total | Ast | Sck | PD | FF | FR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | KC | 7 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | KC | 11 | 5 | 23 | 14 | 9 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | KC | 16 | 11 | 24 | 13 | 11 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | TB | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 37 | 16 | 53 | 33 | 20 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Personal life
Born in Dangriga, Belize, Nuñez-Roches is fluent in both English and Garifuna.
In December 2019, Nuñez-Roches' dog, a Cane Corso, was found abandoned in a field in Hillsborough County.It was rescued after approximately 36 hours and traced back to him, where it was later learned that he raises Cane Corso dogs.The dog was missing some teeth, and Nuñez-Roches refused to take possession of it.The Tampa Bay Buccaneers stated on December 31, 2019 that they were investigating Nuñez-Roches