Ryan Clint Nece (born February 24, 1979) is a formerAmerican footballlinebacker who played in theNational Football League (NFL). He was signed by theTampa Bay Buccaneers as anundrafted free agent in 2002. He playedcollege football atUCLA.Nece is the son ofPro Football Hall of FamesafetyRonnie Lott.

Nece is a community activist involved in many charities throughout the Tampa Bay area. He is on the board of the Tampa Bay Sports Authority and Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo. In 2006, he created his own foundation "The Ryan Nece Foundation", funding programs for youth and families.

Nece is also the co-founder and managing partner at Next Legacy Partners, aFund of funds inPalo Alto, California.^[1]

Ryan Clint Nece was born on February 24th, 1979, inSan Bernardino, California. Nece attendedPacific High School (San Bernardino, California), where he claimed prestigious titles of All-City honors and team MVP, while also taking on the role of team captain as both a junior and senior. In addition to that, he received all-league honors inbasketball andtrack and field.^[2]

Nece graduated from theUniversity of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and was a four-year starter for theBruins and finished his career with 281 careertackles (173 solo), with 22 tackles for loss and 10sacks. He started out in hisredshirt year as a safety but converted to linebacker afterwards. In just his first year, he secured a first-team Freshman All-American honors. The following year, 1999, he finished third on the team with 65 stops. In his junior year, despite playing with a shoulder that required surgery, he was selected for the 2000 pre-season Watch List for theButkus Award. In his final year at UCLA, he was awarded an honorable mention for All-Pac-10 selection andButkus Award semifinalist.^[3]

Nece tore hisACL in his rookie year, ending his season after being a stalwartspecial teams tackler throughout the season. In2003, Nece moved into the starting spot across star linebackerDerrick Brooks and finished the season with 70 tackles and oneinterception.

During his time with the Buccaneers, Nece played 101 games, won theSuper Bowl XXXVII, and totaled 212 tackles. He was released by the Buccaneers during final cuts on August 30, 2008.^[4]

On August 31, 2008, Nece was signed by theDetroit Lions. The move reunited him with Lions head coachRod Marinelli, who was an assistant coach for the Buccaneers during Nece's first four seasons in Tampa Bay. Nece was released by the Lions in the 2009 off-season.

With Marc Isenberg, Nece is the co-author ofGo Pro Like a Pro, a small booklet from 2011 created for athletes, their parents, and others who influence, advise, and work on athletes’ behalf.^[5]

TheUnited Football league announced on September 14, 2010, that Nece would be doing sideline reporting during live games on theVersus network. He joined thePac-12 Network as a sideline reporter and football analyst in 2012.

In 2010, Nece and former teammateJeb Terry founded Straightcast Media, a technology which was used by more than 200 NFL players to capture mobile video that could be shared across multiple platforms, including television, digital, and social media. In 2015,Fox Sports announced that it had acquired assets from StraightCast Media.^[6] Following the acquisition, Nece worked at Fox Sports as a football analyst.

During his time as a broadcaster and entrepreneur, Nece was simultaneously a Principal at Arenda Capital Management, a private investment firm inLos Angeles, California, and a Partner at Provident Investment Advisor. Following these investment experiences, Nece went on to co-found Next Play Capital, a minority-owned and ledVenture Capital firm that had given investors access to top-tier, access constrained venture funds and venture-backed companies across their full lifecycle. During this time, Nece was an early investor in Tonal,FanDuel,Rubrik, Stemcentrx, andPure Storage.^[7] In 2023, the firm had joined forces with Legacy Ventures, under the new name of Next Legacy Partners.^[8]

In 2006, as a way to formalize his own charitable contributions to the community, Nece started the Ryan Nece Foundation, an organization that empowers teens to embrace the "Power of Giving" through volunteerism and inspirational leadership programs.^[9] Nece actively serves as the chairman to this day.

Nece also serves as the founder and chairman of NextPlayU, a virtual training program designed for athletes that are transitioning into careers after sports.^[10]

Nece was raised by his parents,Ronnie Lott and Cathy Nece. His parents chose to give him his mother's maiden name with the hopes he would create his own identity and would avoid expectations as the son of Ronnie Lott. Nece and Lott became the second father-and-son duo to both win aSuper Bowl, joiningBoband Brian Griese.^[11]Nece is married to actress and singerWilla Ford. They held a wedding ceremony in April 2015.^[12] In March 2016, it was announced that the couple was expecting their first child.^[13] In 2016, they welcomed a son.^[14]

• Detroit Lions bioArchived September 4, 2008, at theWayback Machine
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers bio

• College football announcers
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• 1979 births
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• Players of American football from San Bernardino, California
• American football linebackers
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• Tampa Bay Buccaneers players
• Detroit Lions players

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