Minnesota Football Countdown to Kickoff: #89 Matt Spaeth
Today marks just 89 days until Minnesota football returns to the field for its 2026 season on September 3 at Huntington Bank Stadium against the Eastern Illinois Panthers.
As we do every year, Gophers Nation will count down to kickoff every day with our Minnesota football countdown to kickoff series.
Each day, we will highlight a current or former Gopher who wears the number of days remaining till kickoff. For today, that player is former Golden Gopher tight end Matt Spaeth, since no current Gopher wears the No. 89 jersey.
Let’s take a look back at Spaeth’s career.
Career Rewind
A native of St. Michael, Minnesota, Spaeth was a member of Minnesota’s 2002 recruiting class after a standout career at St. Michael-Albertville, where he was star both on the gridiron and hardwood.
As a freshman, Spaeth didn’t see the field for the Gophers, but he made his debut in 2003, playing in all 12 games. In those 12 games, he totaled 98 yards and averaged 8.2 yards per reception. He earned Freshman All-American honors for his performance.
In 2004, his game took a step up, with 24 receptions, 298 yards, and four touchdowns, before he totaled 26 receptions for 333 yards and four touchdowns as a redshirt junior in 2005.
Spaeth then broke out in his redshirt senior season in 2006 when he recorded 47 receptions for 564 yards and four touchdowns, all despite suffering a significant shoulder injury in October that he played through in November.
He earned All-Big Ten First team honors both in 2005 and 2006 and was also a First-Team All-American in 2006. The honors didn’t stop there either for Spaeth for his senior season, as he earned the John Mackey Award for the nation’s top tight end as well as the Ozzie Newsome Award.
After his standout performance in 2005 and 2006, Spaeth was one of the top tight end prospects in the 2007 NFL Draft and was eventually selected in the third round by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Between two separate stints with Pittsburgh in 2007-10 and 2013-15, Spaeth spent two seasons with the Chicago Bears.
He would go on to spend nine seasons in the NFL, playing in 123 games while totaling 55 career receptions for 420 yards and 10 touchdowns. He was notably a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl XLIII championship roster.
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