Tuck played high school football in Alabama at Central Coosa County. He played for legendary coach Andrew Slome. Growing up, Tuck\'s favorite football teams were the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys, but his favorite sport was basketball. Although he began playing football in the seventh grade, Justin only began to take it seriously in his freshman year of high school where he originally started out as a quarterback before changing positions to tight end and defensive end. His accolades include earning Alabama Class 4A Player of the Year as a senior in 2000, as well as lettering in football at both linebacker and tight end. For his career at Central-Coosa, Tuck recorded 492 tackles with 37 sacks, 26 forced fumbles, and 17 fumble recoveries. As a tight end, Tuck had 115 catches for 2,106 yards and 17 touchdowns. Subsequently, Tuck also won two state championships as a member of the high school basketball team. Tuck played for Legendary coach Andrew Slome\n', '

Tuck received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Notre Dame, where he played for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team from 2001 to 2004. After redshirting his 2001 freshman year, Tuck played sparingly in his sophomore season. Playing only 180 minutes for the season, Tuck recorded his first collegiate sack against Michigan State. Despite his limited playing time and one start against Rutgers, Tuck was named a third-team freshman All-American by The Sporting News. Tuck increased his production in his final two seasons at Notre Dame. In 2003, he finished the season with 13.5 sacks, 19 tackles for a loss and three forced fumbles before suffering a knee injury against Syracuse. Tuck frequently encountered double-team coverage in 2004. Despite a lingering knee problem from the previous season and not playing in Notre Dame\'s Insight.com Bowl loss to Oregon State, Tuck still finished the season with 47 tackles, six sacks and 14 stops for losses.\n', '

Nicknamed The Freak by his teammates for his raw athleticism, Tuck holds several defensive records at Notre Dame. Topping the previous record mark of 22.5 sacks by Kory Minor, Tuck finished his collegiate career with 24.5 sacks. His career 43 tackles for loss and 13.5 sacks in a single season are also school records. He graduated from Notre Dame in May 2005 with a degree in management from the Mendoza College of Business.\n', '

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