Antonio Cromartie
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| No. 31 San Diego Chargers | |
| Cornerback | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Date of birth: April 15, 1984 | |
| Place of birth: Tallahassee, Florida | |
| Height: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | Weight: 203 lb (92 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College: Florida State | |
| NFL Draft: 2006 / Round: 1 / Pick: 19 | |
| Debuted in 2006 for the San Diego Chargers | |
| Career history | |
As player:
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| Roster status: Active | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| Career NFL statistics as of week 17, 2008 | |
| Tackles | 132 |
| Sacks | 0.0 |
| INTs | 12 |
| Stats at NFL.com | |
Antonio Cromartie (born April 15, 1984 in Tallahassee, Florida) is a professional American football cornerback for the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League. He was drafted in the 1st round (19th overall) of the 2006 NFL Draft by the Chargers. He played college football at Florida State.
Cromartie is credited with the longest play in NFL history, as he returned a missed Minnesota Vikings field goal 109 yards for a touchdown on November 4, 2007.[1]
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[edit] Early years
Cromartie was a versatile player at Lincoln High School in Tallahassee, Florida, where he transferred after playing his early high school years at North Florida Christian School, also in Tallahassee. Throughout his senior season, Cromartie recorded 12 tackles and 2 interceptions, returned 3 punts and 2 kicks for TDs, had 450 yards and 1 touchdowns on 30 catches and ran the ball 13 times for 242 yards and 3 touchdowns. This was enough to earn Cromartie 2002 USA Today defensive player of the year.[2] Considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, Cromartie ranked sixth among cornerback prospects in the nation.[3]
Cromartie was also a standout in track and placed 3rd in the 110m hurdles and as a member of the 4x100 m relay team at the Class 4A County track meet.
[edit] College career
Cromartie decided to stay close to home and committed to playing college football at Florida State. After flashing playmaking potential as a nickel back and kick returner his first two years, Cromartie tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee July, 2005 during voluntary workouts before his junior year and was forced to miss the entire season. He was potentially going to play at wide receiver during his junior year but didn't because of the season ending injury.[4]
[edit] Professional career
[edit] 2006 NFL Draft
Despite being removed from competitive football for an entire year, Cromartie was still selected as the 19th overall pick of the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft by the Chargers based on his great potential. After not performing much at the NFL Combine, on March 16, 2006, just 8 months after surgery to repair his torn ACL, Cromartie performed at his pro day in 2006 for scouts.[5][6]
| Pre-draft measureables | |||||||||||||||||||
| Height | Weight | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20 ss | 3-cone | Vert | Broad | BP | Wonderlic | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6-2⅛* | 208 * | 4.38 ** | 1.58 * | 2.70 * | 3.89 ** | 7.02 ** | 42" ** | 11'00" ** | 18 * | 12 * | |||||||||
| * represents NFL Combine **represents Florida State Pro Day | |||||||||||||||||||
[edit] San Diego Chargers
On July 25, 2006, Cromartie signed a 5-year, $12.5 million contract with $7.35 million guaranteed with the Chargers. In his first season with the Chargers, Cromartie saw action at cornerback and on special teams. Toward the end of the season, Cromartie handled some punt and kickoff return duties. In a game against the Oakland Raiders, Cromartie returned a kickoff 91 yards, the longest return for the team since 2001.
Cromartie wore jersey #25 his rookie season but has since switched to #31 as a Charger for his sophomore year, the reverse of #13, the jersey he wore at Florida State University.
[edit] 2007 Season
On October 28, 2007, Cromartie had two interceptions, returning one 70 yards for a touchdown, 91 total interception return yards, and a fumble recovery for another touchdown while playing against the Houston Texans. Cromartie led the Chargers to a 35-10 victory over the Texans. He was subsequently nominated for the AFC Defensive Player of the Week award.
The following week, Cromartie made NFL history. Minnesota Vikings kicker Ryan Longwell came onto the field to attempt a 58-yard field goal to end the first half. The Chargers put Cromartie in the endzone to return the field goal in case of a missed kick. The field goal attempt missed the goalposts and fell toward the back of the endzone. Cromartie caught the football, came down with both feet in bounds, two inches from the back of the end zone, and began the return. Cromartie returned the missed field goal 109 yards for a touchdown at The Metrodome, setting a record for the longest play in NFL history. This record can be equaled but never exceeded (barring a rule change); a regulation football field is 100 yards long, the end zones are 10 yards deep, a play ends when the ball crosses the goal line, and all plays are rounded down to the nearest yard. Therefore, according to the current rules of the game, 109 is the theoretical maximum for plays in the NFL.
The next week Cromartie made his first NFL start in place of the injured Quentin Jammer and intercepted three passes thrown by Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts; the last of which was a leaping one-handed interception in front of Colts WR Reggie Wayne.[7] Cromartie called the one-handed interception the best play of his short career.[8] He is the first player to intercept Peyton Manning three times in one game during the regular season, and earned Defensive Player of the Week honors for his performance in the game.[9] Cromartie ended up going to the Pro Bowl after getting double-digit interceptions, which set a Chargers record for interceptions.
On November 24, 2007, Cromartie became the starting cornerback, replacing Drayton Florence (who became a free agent at the end of the season).
In the AFC Divisional game against the Indianapolis Colts, Cromartie recorded another interception against Peyton Manning, and his defensive efforts during the game (including a forced fumble against Marvin Harrison) helped the Chargers knock off the defending-champion Colts.
In the AFC Championship game, Cromartie recorded an interception against the Patriots' quarterback and 2007 NFL MVP Tom Brady. In this game, the Patriots' main big-play receiving threat and unanimous AP All-Pro, Randy Moss, was held to one catch for 18 yards and no touchdowns. However, despite the performance from the Chargers' secondary, the Patriots ended the Chargers' playoff run for the second consecutive season.
On December 16, 2007, Cromartie set a franchise record by recording his 10th interception of the season, breaking the previous record of 9 interceptions set by Charlie McNeil in 1961. His 10 interceptions led the NFL for number of interceptions in 2007. In addition, Cromartie had 2 post season interceptions.
Cromartie was one of three cornerbacks selected to the 2007 AFC Pro Bowl team, his first selection. At the Pro Bowl, Cromartie intercepted two passes.
[edit] 2008 Season
Cromartie did not have as a successful third season. After stating before the season began that he'd like to break the all-time interception record in a season (14), he managed only 2 interceptions for the season. At the end of the season, Cromartie announced that he played the entire season with a broken hip. The injury was sustained in the first week of the season against the Carolina Panthers.
[edit] Personal life
He has four younger siblings: two sisters, Shakita Gradener and Sade Gardener, and two brothers: Khalid Williams and T.J Williams.[10]
His cousin, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, was an All-American cornerback at Tennessee State University, and was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals with the 16th pick in the 2008 NFL Draft.
Antonio Cromartie has seven children living in five states, and has been named in at least five paternity suits in the past two years.[11]
[edit] References
- ^ "Minnesota 35, San Diego 17", Yahoo!Sports, 2007-11-04. Accessed 2007-11-04
- ^ "All-USA 2002 high school football team". USATODAY.com. 2005-05-20. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/preps/football/02allusa.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
- ^ "Rivals.com Cornerbacks 2003". Rivals.com. 2003-02-05. http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/viewrank.asp?ra_key=179.
- ^ ESPN - Cromartie to miss 2005 season. - College Football
- ^ *Antonio Cromartie, CB, Florida State - 2006 NFL Draft Scout Profile, Powered by The SportsXchange
- ^ Scout.com
- ^ SignOnSanDiego.com > Sports - Give Cromartie a party, more starts
- ^ ESPN - Cromartie's first start at corner a smash hit - NFL
- ^ Chargers.com - News » Headlines » Sproles, Cromartie earn League honors
- ^ Corbett, Jim. "How high can Cro go?". http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/chargers/2008-03-23-sw-antonio-cromartie_N.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
- ^ Acee, Kevin. "Exorcise program". http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/jul/12/1s12chargers01169/. Retrieved 2009-08-01.
[edit] External links
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