A fourth-year NFL player in 2014, Rey has made tremendous strides since signing with Bengals in ’10 as a college free agent out of Duke ... Emerged in 2013 as a key performer on the NFL’s third-ranked defense ... Replaced injured MLB Rey Maualuga in starting lineup for Games 9-11 ... On Nov. 10 at Baltimore, Rey became the first player in Bengals history with three sacks and one INT in a game ... Had a sack, a forced fumble and an INT returned for a TD on Dec. 22 vs. Minnesota ... Has played in every Bengals game since the start of the 2011 season ... Ranked third on team in 2013 with 11 special teams tackles.
A fourth-year NFL player in 2014, Rey has made tremendous strides since signing with Bengals in ’10 as a college free agent out of Duke ... Emerged in 2013 as a key performer on the NFL’s third-ranked defense ... Replaced injured MLB Rey Maualuga in starting lineup for Games 9-11 ... On Nov. 10 at Baltimore, Rey became the first player in Bengals history with three sacks and one INT in a game ... Had a sack, a forced fumble and an INT returned for a TD on Dec. 22 vs. Minnesota ... Has played in every Bengals game since the start of the 2011 season ... Ranked third on team in 2013 with 11 special teams tackles.
Career transactions: Signed with Cincinnati as college free agent on 4-30-10 ... Waived by Bengals on 9-4-10 ... Signed to Bengals practice squad on 9-5-10 ... Signed to Bengals roster on 12-8-10 ... Re-signed with Bengals on 3-12-12 ... Re-signed with Bengals as exclusive-rights player on 4-3-13 ... Re-signed with Bengals as restricted free agent on 3-15-14.
2013 general: Played in Games 1-16, with starts in Games 9-11, replacing injured MLB Rey Maualuga ... Had 54 tackles on defense, after entering year with just 18 for his career ... Third on team in special teams tackles (11) ... Four sacks, two INTs (one returned for TD), a forced fumble, four passes defensed and tied for second on team with seven tackles-for-loss.
2013 game-by-game: On Oct. 6 vs. New England, stopped RB LeGarrette Blount for no gain on first-and-goal play from one in fourth quarter, and defense went on to hold Patriots to FG ... Had two tackles on the four plays of a goal-line stand Oct. 13 at Buffalo ... Led team with 10 tackles, including two for losses, in start Oct. 31 at Miami ... Had 13 tackles Nov. 10 at Baltimore, second on team, including three sacks of Joe Flacco for 19 yards, and intercepted a deflected Flacco pass in second quarter, returning four yards to Bengals 35 ... Had 13 tackles Nov. 17 vs. Cleveland, including one for loss and a QB pressure ... Returned to a reserve role on Dec. 1 at San Diego, recording two tackles and recovery of a Keenan Allen fumble in fourth quarter ... Six tackles Dec. 8 vs. Indianapolis, second on team ... Set up game’s first score Dec. 22 vs. Minnesota, with a sack-and-strip of Matt Cassel, with DE Carlos Dunlap returning fumble 42 yards to Vikings four ... Also vs. Minnesota, returned second quarter INT 25 yards for his first career TD ... One special teams tackle in Wild Card playoff on 1-5-14 vs. San Diego.
Previous seasons: 2010—Played in all five preseason games for Bengals and tied for third on team in tackles (15) ... Opened season on practice squad, and signed to roster the week of Game 13 ... Inactive for Games 13-14, and played in Games 15-16 ... Made NFL debut Dec. 26 vs. San Diego, recording two special teams tackles. 2011—Finished fifth on special teams with nine tackles ... Had two special teams tackles Sept. 11 at Cleveland and Oct. 16 vs. Indianapolis ... Tied for special teams lead with two tackles Oct. 30 at Seattle. 2012—Made one start and had 18 tackles, one sack and one PD for season ... His 12 special teams tackles trailed only Dan Skuta (17) and Jeromy Miles (15) ... Started Sept. 16 vs. Cleveland at WLB, replacing injured Thomas Howard, and finished second on team in tackles (nine) ... Four tackles Sept. 23 at Washington ... Tied for the team lead in special teams tackles (two) Oct. 21 vs. Pittsburgh ... Led special teams with three tackles Dec. 30 vs. Baltimore ... Led team with three special teams tackles in Wild Card playoff on 1-5-13 at Houston.
College: Played four seasons (2006-09) at Duke, seeing action in 48 games with 35 starts ... A two-year team captain, he left Blue Devils ranked ninth in program history in tackles (330) ... Averaged 106 tackles per year over his last three seasons ... Set school record with three fumble returns for TDs, and also had 28 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks and three INTs.
Personal: Hometown is Far Rockaway, N.Y. ... Attended Bayside High School, and later spent one season at Mercersburg (Pa.) Academy ... In 2009, earned a University Scholar Athlete award from the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame ... Enjoys bowling and movies ... Last name is pronounced “RAY.”
NOTE ABOUT NFL EXPERIENCE: Rey did not earn an accrued year of experience toward NFL free agency in 2010 because he was not on a 53-player roster, a Reserve/Injured list or a Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform list for the required minimum of six games that season.
