Matt Lengel’s first career catch is a touchdown from Tom Brady

AP Photo | Charles Krupa

Matt Lengel’s professional stats are as follows: one catch, 18 yards, one touchdown. That touchdown came just last weekend and was definitely a memorable one for the 26-year-old tight end out of Eastern Kentucky.

Lengel has been on the Patriots’ roster since November 2, but came across everyone’s radar when he caught a second quarter touchdown from Tom Brady in a 41-3 routing of the New York Jets on Christmas Eve.
And what a great Christmas gift that was. His family was in town for the holidays; his fiancée was visiting; and he was celebrating his 26th birthday. Needless to say, it’s been a whirlwind week for the sudden star.

“It’s crazy the amount of people that have reached out or where I’ve seen my name,” said Lengel, “My family’s sending me an article I hadn’t seen before or whatever. At the same time, I’m sitting there with my fiancée, and we’re trying to figure out where we’re going to go for dinner. Nothing really changes.”

So, who exactly is Matt Lengel?

Lengel began his collegiate football career as a redshirt freshman in 2009 at Northeastern University in Boston. He transferred to Eastern Kentucky the following season after Northeastern ended its football program.

While at Eastern Kentucky, Lengel had 34 catches for 367 yards with two touchdowns.

He spent all of the 2015 season and the beginning of the 2016 season with the Cincinnati Bengals before joining the Patriots at the start of November.

“Everybody’s wondering who the heck I am,” said Lengel.

Now he’s got our attention at the right time as the Patriots look to finish the season strong and head into playoffs.

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