Gutierrez: From Army grad to special teams warrior, Jon Rhattigan takes pride in every role

Nov 21, 2025 at 02:42 PM

Paul Gutierrez

Raiders Columnist

Special teams ace? Sure.

Special teams war daddy? Why not?

And yet…

Jon Rhattigan, an inside linebacker by trade who was signed midseason to help shore up the Raiders special teams units, has a more wide-ranging description for himself.

That of a complete football player.

And for good reason.

"It's everything you do in football, right?" Rhattigan told me of playing and excelling on special teams on the most recent episode of Upon Further Review.

"It's tackling. It's blocking. It's vision. It's being aggressive. So you kind of wrap all that together, and … I love the fact that when you're a good special teams player, you're a good complete football player. And that's kind of how I pride myself in the game."

It's a dignity and a dedication precious few others in the NFL hold, and one that Rhattigan does not take for granted.

Because whenever his NFL career comes to a close, Rhattigan, as an Army grad, has a five-year commitment to fulfill.

It makes you wonder how Rhattigan can compartmentalize reading an NFL playbook during game week, knowing what awaits him in the real world.

"Yeah, I think my best answer is that I don't, because I think the best thing you can do for yourself when you're a professional football player, whatever job it is that you have, it's not about what's going to happen a year from now, it's not about what's going to happen five, 10 years from now, it's never about the future. It's about right now, focusing on today.

"I chose to go to West Point and I am very fortunate and glad that I did and graduated from there. And with that comes serving our country. So I'll have no problem with that when the time comes. But in the meantime, I'm completely focused on being a football player and representing West Point and the military and, obviously, now the Raiders organization as best I can."

Consider: Rhattigan is one of just three Army players to have ever suited up for the Raiders, joining tight end/offensive lineman Bob Mischak (1963-65) and defensive end Andre Carter II (2024).

And when told that Al Davis crafted the Raiders iconic uniforms after being inspired by Army's "Black Knights of the Hudson" scheme, Rhattigan smiled.

"I love that," he said. "The more you know. I love that.

"It's cool to know that history. It's cool to have some personal history. But at the end of the day, it's about the organization and Coach [Pete Carroll's] Rule No. 1 - protect the team. So it's about the organization more than anything and I'm just so fortunate to be out here. It's tough, right? We're not where we want to be as a team. We're 2-8 and that's going to come with its frustrations. But at the end of the day, it's such a world class organization. So representing the Raiders, representing the NFL and then, obviously, West Point and our nation's military, it's a lot more than just the record sometimes and it's tough to really say that because football is about winning. Playing competitive sports is about winning."

Rhattigan, Army's first-ever Bednarik Award semifinalist for the nation's top collegiate linebacker, entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2021 with Carroll's Seahawks and spent three seasons in Seattle. Rhattigan played for Carolina in 2024 before linking up with Pittsburgh this season.

Carroll came calling again, plucking him off the Steelers practice squad on Oct. 8.

"He is the real deal as a guy," Carroll said. "Great character. All that you think could come out of that [West Point] experience and that decision to go there, he stands for it on a regular basis. Really consistent, tough as hell and you really can count on Jon. I love him being on our team."

Raiders punter AJ Cole said he told Rhattigan, who plays right tackle on the punt coverage team, everything has looked and felt "different" since he arrived.

"He's the exact type of personality you want in that role," Cole said. "He definitely takes pride in it and that's something that's contagious. When there's a guy that's taking that much pride in it and bringing that much juice, it's hard for other people not to follow."

Playing and, yes, excelling on special teams has been Rhattigan's vehicle to sticking in the NFL.

But, why?

"I want to do it," he said. "I think sometimes in the NFL, that's kind of make-or-break for guys. They think they might be too good for it, they think it doesn't have as much of an impact. Whatever misconceptions guys have, ultimately, I want to do it because it's a role and it's a huge impact if you let it be.

"When we have some of these kick returns that go past the logo, that's huge for our offense, flipping the field, and it's really just a thankless job, and I have no problem doing a thankless job. As long as it helps the team win."

Still looking for a title to affix to Rhattigan?

Check out his major at Army - geospatial information science - and go from there.

Literally.

"What I always tell people is it has a lot to do with satellite imagery, data collection," he said. "The easiest real world application would be Google Maps, right? Wherever it is you're trying to go, obviously, you get mapped-out directions and there's a lot of applicability in the military, for sure. It was in our geography department so I knew I wanted to be in the geography department, I've always been pretty fond of the outdoors."

Jon Rhattigan, Special Teams Ace/War Daddy/Complete Football Player/Orienteering Outdoorsman.

Yeah, that checks out.

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Las Vegas Raiders offensive lineman Stone Forsythe (70) in the weight room during practice at Intermountain Health Performance Center.