The most decorated football player in Hobart history, Ali Marpet ’15 led the Statesmen to unprecedented heights on the gridiron and developed into an elite lineman in the National Football League, helping the Tampa Bay Buccaneers win Super Bowl LV.
During his Hobart career, Marpet and his classmates produced a 41-5 record, winning four straight Liberty League Championships. The Statesmen appeared in four consecutive NCAA playoffs, reaching the national quarterfinals twice.
As a Statesman, Marpet was a three-year starter at left tackle, earning All-Liberty League first team honors in each of those seasons. He was also a three-time D3football.com All-East selection, rising to the first team in 2014. During that magical senior season, Marpet became the first lineman to be voted the conference’s Offensive Player of the Year and was named to four All-America teams, including the AFCA and D3football.com first teams.
Marpet was in the lineup for four of the top 10 single game rushing performances in Hobart history. In his first season as a starter in 2012, when the Statesmen won 12 straight games to reach the NCAA quarterfinals for the first time, he helped clear the way for 334 yards rushing against RPI and 355 yards against Union. The following season, Marpet’s blocking helped Hobart run for 343 yards against Dickinson. As a senior, he led the Statesmen to 404 yards against Merchant Marine, the third highest rushing total in program history.
At the Block H, Marpet was honored with the 2015 William C. Stiles ‘43 Memorial Award for leadership, determination and character. He also earned the Middleton Award as Hobart’s 2014 offensive MVP and the Tryon Award as Hobart’s top lineman following the 2013 season.
Through his tireless pursuit of improvement, Marpet earned an invitation to the Reese’s Senior Bowl, where his play merited an invitation to the NFL Combine. His performance there, led the Buccaneers to select him with the 61st overall pick of the 2015 NFL Draft, the highest selection ever for a Division III player.
Marpet started all 101 games he played for the Bucs, including Tampa’s 31-9 victory over Kansas City in Super Bowl LV. He played in the 2022 Pro Bowl before announcing his retirement after a seven-year career.
In his final NFL season, Marpet had an 84.1 Pro Football Focus grade, which ranked sixth among 70 guards with 500-plus offensive snaps, per NFL Research. That season, Tampa Bay allowed the fewest sacks of any team, despite leading the league with 762 dropbacks.
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