Pirates Re-Sign DB Matt Elam
January 29, 2025 - Indoor Football League (IFL)
Massachusetts Pirates News Release
LOWELL, MA - The Massachusetts Pirates have re-signed former NFL defensive back Matt Elam for the 2025 season. The former first round draft pick of the Baltimore Ravens, played in 15 regular season games for the Pirates last year, making 13 starts. Elam recorded 52 tackles with four for a loss with one interception. He also broke up four passes and had one fumble recovery.
Elam's signature game came in a 26-21 win over the Jacksonville Sharks in Massachusetts first-ever home game in Lowell. He recorded eight tackles with two for a loss while breaking up a pass at the Tsongas Center.
The former FIrst-Team All-American at the University of Florida also started all three of the Pirates playoff games last year and made 9.5 tackles and had a 17-yard interception return for a touchdown in the teams Eastern Conference Championship win over Green Bay.
Elam was the 32nd pick overall in the 2013 National Football League Draft. From 2013-2016 he appeared in 41 games making 26 starts for the Ravens. He had 131 tackles, .5 sacks, seven passes defended, one interception and a forced fumble in his NFL career.
Elam went to the Ravens after attaining All-American status at the University of Florida. The 5'10", 200 lb. DB from Palm Beach Gardens, FL made an immediate impact in Gainesville after arriving in 2010, playing in all 13 games as a true freshman for the Gators. As a sophomore in 2011 he started all 13 games. Elam notched interceptions against Kentucky and Tennessee. In Florida's Gator Bowl victory over Ohio State he recorded six tackles including two for a loss and a sack. He finished the year as the Gators leader with 11 tackles for a loss, had seven pass breakups and two forced fumbles.
In 2021 Elam led the team with four interceptions, In his final collegiate game he had a season high 11 tackles against Louisville in the Sugar Bowl. At the end of his Junior year he was selected as a First-Team All-American by the Associated Press, SI.com,, The Sporting News and CBS Sports.com. An All-Southeast Conference selection, Elam declared for the NFL Draft, finishing his Gator career with 176 tackles, 23.5 tackles for a loss with 13 pass breakups, six interceptions, three forced fumbles while recovering another.
After playing for the Ravens, Elam continued his professional career in 2018 with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League. That season he started nine games making 31 tackles with three sacks and an interception
In 2020 Elam moved south playing for the DC Defenders of the XFL. There he started in three of the four games he played making 15 tackles with one interception. In 2021 he played his first season of indoor football with the Tucson Sugar Skulls in the Indoor Football League, seeing the field in 13 games with 55 tackles, 3.5 sacks, nine passes broken up, two forced fumbles and a pair of fumble recoveries.
In 2022 Elam went back to the CFL with the Edmonton Elks. There he started in three games making ten tackles. He returned to the XFL in 2023 with the Orlando Guardians starting ten games and registering 29 tackles with one interception
In December of 2023 he signed with the Orlando Predators of the Arena Football League before joining the Pirates.
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