Joe Cardona
New England Patriots | Lieutenant, U.S. Naval Service
Joe Cardona grew up in El Cajon, Calif., the son of Patrick and Margaret Cardona. Cardona attended high school at Granite Hills, where he was a two-sport athlete in football and lacrosse. By the time he graduated in 2010, Cardona lettered twice in football and four years in lacrosse, and finished as conference lacrosse MVP. After graduation, he attended the Naval Academy Prep School before enrolling in the United States Naval Academy in 2011, with a spot on the football team.
At Navy, Cardona made an immediate impact as a freshman. He appeared in every game and became only the second rookie in program history to start at the long-snapper position. From there Cardona would establish himself as one of college football’s best long snappers. In his college career, he was never charged with a bad snap. During that time, the Midshipmen went 30-21, were a perfect 4-0 against Army, and won two of their three bowl games. He graduated from Navy in 2015, earning four letters for each year he played.
After graduation, Cardona was picked in the fifth round (No. 166) of the 2015 NFL Draft by the Patriots. He became just the fourth long snapper to be drafted in NFL history, and the second by New England. Cardona made his NFL debut in Week 1 against the Steelers, and finished his rookie season appearing in every regular season and postseason contests. In 2016 and 2017, Cardona registered seven total tackles and was the long snapper for all Patriots’ punts, field goals and extra points through every regular season and postseason games, including Super Bowls LI and LII. For the 2018 season, Cardona again appeared in each New England regular season and post-season games, including Super Bowl LIII.
In addition to his football success, Cardona is simultaneously commissioned as Lieutenant in the Naval Reserves out of Newport, Rhode Island. Back in 2015, he learned how to balance both commitments as the only active player in the NFL who was also an active member of the military.
