Ted Karras

A team captain in each of his two Bengals seasons, Karras became a vocal leader in the locker room almost instantaneously after signing with Cincinnati as an unrestricted free agent in the 2022 offseason ... Named the Bengals' nominee for the 2023 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award, in recognition of his charitable work with Indianapolis-based Village of Merici through his fan-favorite "Cincy Hat" ... Has started at center in all 36 possible games for Cincinnati over the past two seasons (regular season and postseason) ... Lined up for 98.9 percent of the team's offensive snaps (1075 of 1087) in 2023, and 99.4 (1099 of 1106) during '22 regular season ... Has experience at all three interior O-line spots (12 career starts at LG and five at RG, in addition to C) ... Spent five of first six seasons with New England, with the only outlier coming in 2020 with the Miami Dolphins ... Originally a sixth-round pick of Patriots in 2016, and played his first three seasons ('16-18) as a reserve before settling as New England's starting C in 2019 ... Won Super Bowls with Patriots in 2016 and '18.

A team captain in each of his two Bengals seasons, Karras became a vocal leader in the locker room almost instantaneously after signing with Cincinnati as an unrestricted free agent in the 2022 offseason ... Named the Bengals' nominee for the 2023 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award, in recognition of his charitable work with Indianapolis-based Village of Merici through his fan-favorite "Cincy Hat" ... Has started at center in all 36 possible games for Cincinnati over the past two seasons (regular season and postseason) ... Lined up for 98.9 percent of the team's offensive snaps (1075 of 1087) in 2023, and 99.4 (1099 of 1106) during '22 regular season ... Has experience at all three interior O-line spots (12 career starts at LG and five at RG, in addition to C) ... Spent five of first six seasons with New England, with the only outlier coming in 2020 with the Miami Dolphins ... Originally a sixth-round pick of Patriots in 2016, and played his first three seasons ('16-18) as a reserve before settling as New England's starting C in 2019 ... Won Super Bowls with Patriots in 2016 and '18.

Career transactions:

Selected by New England in sixth round of 2016 NFL Draft (221st overall) ... Signed with Patriots on 5-6-16 ... Waived by Patriots on 9-2-17 ... Signed to Patriots practice squad on 9-3-17 ... Signed to Patriots roster on 9-7-17 ... Patriots contract expired 3-18-20; became unrestricted free agent ... Signed with Miami as unrestricted free agent on 3-20-20 ... Dolphins contract expired on 3-17-21; became unrestricted free agent ... Signed with New England as unrestricted free agent on 3-19-21 ... Patriots contract expired on 3-16-22; became unrestricted free agent ... Signed with Cincinnati as unrestricted free agent on 3-17-22.

Pro career:

2016—Played in all 16 regular-season games (one start at RG) and all three postseason contests as a rookie for New England team that won Super Bowl LI ... Started at RG in NFL debut on Sept. 11 at Arizona ... Filled reserve and special teams role for remainder of regular season and playoffs ... Played three snaps on special teams in Super Bowl LI win over Atlanta.

2017—Played in all 16 regular-season games (two starts at C) and three postseason games for New England, as Patriots won AFC Championship and advanced to Super Bowl LII ... Both starts came in place of injured starter David Andrews ... Made first career start at C on Nov. 19 vs. Oakland in Mexico City ... Started at C again the next week on Nov. 26 vs. Miami.

2018—Played in 13 regular-season games (two starts at RG) and all three postseason contests for New England team that won Super Bowl LII ... Both starts at RG — Nov. 4 vs. Green Bay and Nov. 11 at Tennessee — came in place of injured Shaq Mason ... Saw four snaps on special teams in Super Bowl LIII win over L.A. Rams.

2019—Played and started 15 games for New England ... Inactive Dec. 8 vs. Kansas City (knee) ... Made first postseason start (at C) in Wild Card Playoff vs. Tennessee.

2020—Signed with Miami as an unrestricted free agent during offseason and started all 16 games at C for the Dolphins.

2021—Re-joined New England as an unrestricted free agent over offseason and went on to play in all 17 regular-season games and one postseason game ... Played Games 1-4 as a reserve, started at RG in Games 5-6, then took over starting LG spot for remainder of regular season and playoff game.

2022—Team captain in first Bengals season who started all 16 regular-season games and all three postseason contests at C ... Played 99.4 percent (1099 of 1106) of offensive snaps, third most on the team ... Leader of new-look offensive line that allowed 14 sacks in second half of regular season, after giving up 30 in first half ... Pass protected for QB Joe Burrow, who set single-season team records for completions (414) and passing TDs (35) ... Helped open holes for HB Joe Mixon's 153 rushing yards and four rushing TDs on Nov. 6 vs. Carolina, before being rested in the fourth quarter of 21-point win ... On Dec. 4 vs. Kansas City, helped pave the way for HB Samaje Perine's 106 rushing yards on 21 attempts (5.0 average) ... Played all 205 possible offensive snaps in postseason ... Helped Bengals net 172 rushing yards in Divisional Playoff win at Buffalo.

2023—Voted a team captain for second straight season and started all 17 games at C ... Lined up for 1075 of a possible 1087 offensive snaps (98.9 percent) ... Opened holes for run game that netted 93 yards on the ground on Oct. 8 at Arizona, while pass protecting for QB Joe Burrow's 287 passing yards ... Helped offense produce 134 rushing yards on Oct. 29 at San Francisco ... On Nov. 5 vs. Buffalo, helped limit Bills to one sack while pass protecting for Burrow's season-high 348 passing yards on 44 attempts ... Blocked for offense that totaled 491 yards, including 156 rushing, on Dec. 4 at Jacksonville ... On Dec. 10 vs. Indianapolis, helped O-line allow zero sacks while paving the way for 111 team rushing yards ... Sat out 12 offensive snaps in second half of season finale vs. Cleveland, as Bengals took out several starters after building substantial lead.

College:

Spent five years (2011-15) at the University of Illinois, with a redshirt season in '11 ... Four-year starter at RG (43 career games) ... Team captain as a senior in 2015, and was a three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection (2012, '14 and '15) ... Honorable mention All-Big Ten as a junior in 2014, then earned third-team honors (media) as a senior in '15.

High school/personal:

Hometown is Indianapolis, Ind. ... Attended Cathedral High School in Indianapolis, where he won Indiana 4A state titles in 2008 and '10 ... Married wife, Rachel, in 2018 offseason ... Graduated from Illinois in December 2014 with a degree in communication, and earned MBA from Indiana University ... Father, Ted Karras Jr., played DT at Northwestern, played briefly in the NFL for the Washington Redskins and earned a Super Bowl as a replacement player following the 1987 NFL lockout ... Father is a longtime football coach on the college level, and started the football program at Marian University in Indianapolis ... Grandfather, Ted Karras, was a DT at Indiana and played nine seasons in the NFL, winning 1693 World Championship with the Chicago Bears ... Great uncle is 2020 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Alex Karras, who won Outland Trophy as DT at Iowa and was four-time Pro Bowler with the Lions; Alex Karras went into acting after his playing career, and starred in 1980s sitcom "Webster" ... Great uncle, Paul Karras, played at Iowa; Great uncle, Lou Karras, played at Purdue and three seasons with the Washington Redskins; Uncle, Tony Karras, played at Northwestern ... Named Bengals' nominee for 2023 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award, in recognition of his charitable work with Indianapolis-based Village of Merici through his fan-favorite "Cincy Hat."