Bruce Thornton (cornerback)
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| Born: | January 31, 1980 LaGrange, Georgia | ||||||||||
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| College: | Georgia | ||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2004 / Round: 4 / Pick: 121 | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
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| Roster status: | Retired | ||||||||||
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| Player stats at NFL.com · PFR | |||||||||||
Bruce Thornton (born January 31, 1980 in LaGrange, Georgia) is a former American football cornerback who played for the Dallas Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers. He played college football at the University of Georgia.
Early years
Thornton attended LaGrange High School where he was a three-year starter at running back. As a senior, he earned Super Prep All-America honors after finishing with 1,920 rushing yards, 28 touchdowns, 932 return yards and 12 blocked kicks. In his high school career he totaled 4,541 rushing yards on 560 carries.
At the University of Georgia, he redshirted his freshman year. The following season, he only started one game at tailback and registered 230 yards, 47 carries, 3 touchdowns (2 were against New Mexico State University), while averaging 18.4 yards per kickoff return.
As a sophomore he was converted to cornerback by Willie Martinez, Georgia's secondary coach and defensive coordinator. He eventually became the Bulldogs' best cornerback, often facing the opponents' best wide receivers.[1] He went on to collect 129 tackles and four interceptions (including one returned for a touchdown) in his collegiate career. He recorded 129 tackles, 4 interceptions and 21 passes defensed as a three-year starter.
Professional career
Dallas Cowboys
Thornton was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth round (121st overall) of the 2004 NFL Draft. He only played one game in 2004, in which he returned two kickoffs for 43 yards, before tearing his ACL and being placed on the injured reserve list.[2] He was waived on September 8, 2005.[3]
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers signed him to their practice squad on September 14, 2005.[4] Injuries forced the 49ers to promote him to the active roster on September 30 and eventually named him the starter at left cornerback. In his first start he was matched against All-Pro Marvin Harrison and was able to limit him to 2 receptions for 17 yards, receiving honorable mention NFL defensive player of the week. He finished with 11 starts, 32 tackles, 2 interceptions and 8 passes defensed.
On August 1, 2006, he was released after struggles in his play caused him to drop in the depth chart.[5]
New York Jets
On August 4, 2006, he signed as a free agent with the New York Jets and was waived 8 days later.
Jacksonville Jaguars
On May 9, 2007, he was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars and was released on September 1.[6]
Montreal Alouettes (CFL)
He joined the Montreal Alouettes practice squad late in 2007, but did not make the team the following year.[7]
References
- ^ Lynch, Kevin (2005-11-13). "Thornton corners a job with 49ers". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-04-12.
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/10/sports/football/11GIANTS-WIRE.html?_r=0
- ^ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9803E2DF1231F93AA3575AC0A9639C8B63
- ^ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9805E3DB1031F936A2575AC0A9639C8B63
- ^ Associated Press (2006-08-01). "Niners release former starting CB Thornton". Retrieved 2008-04-11.
- ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=nfl&id=2865587
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-07-06. Retrieved 2014-05-24.
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