Drayton Florence

Drayton Florence

refer to caption

Florence in 2006.
No. 29, 21, 31
Position: Cornerback
Personal information
Date of birth: (1980-12-19) December 19, 1980
Place of birth: Ocala, FL
Height: 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight: 193 lb (88 kg)
Career information
High school: Ocala (FL) Vanguard
College: Tuskegee
NFL Draft: 2003 / Round: 2 / Pick: 46
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career NFL statistics
Tackles: 486
Sacks: 0.0
INTs: 20
Forced fumbles: 3
Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

Drayton Florence, Jr. (born December 19, 1980) is a former American football cornerback who played eleven seasons in the National Football League. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the second round of the 2003 NFL Draft. He played college football at Tennessee-Chattanooga and Tuskegee.

Florence was also a member of the: Carolina Panthers, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, Buffalo Bills, and Denver Broncos.

Early years

Florence was an all-district selection at Vanguard High School in Ocala, Florida, but spent his sophomore year at Richland Northeast High School in Columbia, South Carolina.

College career

Florence attended Tuskegee UniversityHe was inducted into Tuskegee University Hall Of Fame in 2014 (2001–2002) after transferring from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (1999–2000). He registered school-record three returns for touchdowns on interceptions at Tuskegee. As a senior, he was named first-team Division II All-America by the Associated Press and American Coaches Association. Florence is the highest drafted player to enter the NFL from Tuskegee University. Florence finished his degree at The University Of North Florida with a bachelors in Sport Management.

Professional career

2003 NFL Draft

Florence was drafted by the Chargers 46th overall in the second round of the 2003 NFL Draft and was the 2nd cornerback selected by Chargers that draft after Sammy Davis. He is the highest drafted NFL player from Tuskegee University

Pre-draft measureables
Ht Wt 40-yard dash 10-yd split 20-yd split 20 ss 3-cone Vert Broad BP Wonderlic
6-0¼ * 198 lb * 4.39 * 1.53 * 2.58 * X * X * 35 in. * 10'04" * 18 * X
(* represents NFL Combine)[1]

San Diego Chargers

Initially drafted as a nickel back who could fill in at safety if needed, Florence had fought his way to become a legitimate starting cornerback in the NFL across Quentin Jammer.

2007 playoffs

On Sunday, January 14, 2007 in the AFC Divisional Playoff game against the New England Patriots after a muffed punt by wide receiver Eric Parker at the San Diego 31-yard line, Florence committed a personal foul, head-butting Patriot TE Daniel Graham following a 3rd and long play.[2] During the play, the Charger defense had stopped the Patriots for a 7-yard loss putting the ball at the Charger 37-yard line (apx. 53-yard field goal range). The result of the penalty was a Patriots first down on the Charger 18. The extension of the drive led to a Stephen Gostkowski 34 yard field goal. The Patriots went on to win the game 24-21.[3]

The NFL fined San Diego Chargers cornerback Drayton Florence $15,000 for the illegal hit he put on Houston Texans Quarterback Matt Schaub on Sunday October 28. On an interception return, Florence drilled Schaub from the blind side, and he was penalized 15 yards for unnecessary roughness. The league ruled that on a change of possession, Florence unnecessarily made helmet-to-helmet contact with Schaub, who suffered a concussion and missed the rest of the game.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On March 1, 2008, Florence was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars to a six-year $36 million contract with $13 million in guaranteed money.[4] After only one disappointing season with the team he was released on February 11, 2009.[5]

Buffalo Bills

On March 3, 2009, Florence was signed by the Buffalo Bills. Florence made the starting rotation under Head Coach Chan Gailey. Florence responded by leading the Bills in takeaways, including a fumble returned for a touchdown against the Bengals and an interception returned for a touchdown against Minnesota, two weeks apart.[6] He also scored the go-ahead touchdown in the Bills' victory against the New England Patriots in 2011.

On July 27, 2011, Florence re-signed with the Bills for 3 years at a total contract value of $15 million. On May 4, 2012, Florence was released.

Denver Broncos

Florence signed with the Denver Broncos on May 10, 2012 and released on Aug, 31, 2012.

Detroit Lions

Florence signed with the Detroit Lions on September 2, 2012.[7]

Carolina Panthers

Florence signed with the Carolina Panthers on March 13, 2013,[8] expecting to bring his veteran experience to help the young Panthers secondary.

On August 31, 2013, he was cut by the Panthers.[9] He was later re-signed to their roster on September 19, 2013.

Detroit Lions

On August 7, 2014, he signed with the Detroit Lions.[10] He was later released on August 19, 2014.

On May 1, 2015, he retired from the NFL and graduated from the University of North Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Sports Management.[11]

NFL stats

Year Team GP COMB TOTAL AST SACK FF FR FR YDS INT IR YDS AVG IR LNG TD PD
2003 SD 16 20 20 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
2004 SD 13 36 31 5 0.0 0 0 0 4 54 14 40 0 7
2005 SD 13 54 47 7 0.0 0 0 0 1 9 9 9 0 11
2006 SD 16 66 54 12 0.0 0 0 0 3 24 8 23 0 16
2007 SD 16 61 55 6 0.0 0 1 0 2 4 2 4 0 10
2008 JAX 15 36 32 4 0.0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
2009 BUF 14 60 49 11 0.0 0 0 0 1 7 7 7 0 11
2010 BUF 16 58 49 9 0.0 1 1 27 3 42 14 40 1 15
2011 BUF 16 50 41 9 0.0 1 1 0 3 64 21 30 1 12
2012 DET 8 19 17 2 0.0 0 0 0 1 29 29 29 0 7
2013 CAR 14 26 19 7 0.0 0 0 0 2 40 20 38 1 9
Career 157 486 414 72 0.0 3 4 0 20 273 14 40 3 103

[12]

Key

Personal

He is the cousin of Chicago Rush wide receiver Carlos Wright.[13]

References

  1. ↑ "Drayton Florence Draft Profile", NFLDraftScout.com, retrieved January 18, 2010
  2. ↑ "The Marty Watch begins following Chargers' ouster". Sporting News. 2007-01-15. Retrieved 2007-01-17.
  3. ↑ "Play By Play, 3rd Quarter". ESPN. 2007-01-14. Retrieved 2007-01-17.
  4. ↑ "Jags sign former San Diego cornerback". 2008-03-01. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
  5. ↑ Ketchman, Vic (02-11-2009). "Porter, Florence cut by Jaguars". Jaguars.com. Retrieved 02-11-2009. Check date values in: |access-date=, |date= (help)
  6. ↑ Bills, CB Florence Agree to Terms Yahoo Sports, March 4, 2009
  7. ↑ Drayton Florence to sign with Lions, reports say
  8. ↑ Panthers sign veteran Drayton Florence
  9. ↑
  10. ↑ Dunkak, Ashley. "Lions Sign Veteran Cornerback Drayton Florence". CBS Detroit. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  11. ↑ Wilson, Aaron. "Drayton Florence officially retiring from NFL, graduating from college". National Football Post. Reign Net Media. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
  12. ↑ "Drayton Florence Stats". ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  13. ↑ Ultimate Jaguars Newsroom: It's a Small world 02/19/04
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 3/8/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.