José Cortéz

For the Ecuadorian footballer, see José Luis Cortez.
José Cortéz
No. 2, 6, 8, 1
Position: Placekicker
Personal information
Date of birth: (1975-05-27) May 27, 1975
Place of birth: San Vicente, El Salvador
Height: 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight: 200 lb (91 kg)
Career information
College: Oregon State
Undrafted: 1999
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
  • XFL champion (2001)
Career NFL statistics
Field Goals Made: 53
Field Goals Attempted: 74
Field Goal Percentage: 71.6%
Longest Field Goal: 52
Points: 258
Player stats at NFL.com

José Antonio Cortéz (born May 27, 1975) is a former American football placekicker. In his 7 season journeyman professional football career, Cortéz played for 12 different teams in 4 different leagues. He is distinguished as being the first Salvarodan to play in the National Football League.

College career

Cortéz started at Los Angeles Valley College, where he was both the kicker and punter. He later transferred to Oregon State University, where he was a two-year letterman. His junior season he made honorable mention All-Pac-10 team after converting 11 of 19 field goal attempts.

Professional career

Jose Cortez signed as an undrafted free agent with the Cleveland Browns prior to the 1999 NFL season. After being cut by the Browns, signed and cut by the San Diego Chargers, he made the practice squad of the New York Giants. After appearing in one game for them, he was allocated to NFL Europe, where he played for the Amsterdam Admirals. Upon returning to the Giants, he was released, re-signed with the Chargers, and was re-released. After being released by the Chargers again, he joined the Los Angeles Xtreme of the brand-new XFL. Cortez, along with quarterback Tommy Maddox, led the Xtreme to a 7-3 record and the XFL title; Cortez also led the league in scoring with 20 field goals. Cortez earned Most Valuable Player honors in the championship game, kicking four field goals. Cortez's success in the XFL earned him a starting spot with the San Francisco 49ers, who signed Cortez before the 2001 NFL season. He played in every game for the Niners, before being released following the season. He signed with the Washington Redskins just after the start of the 2002 season. He played the remainder of the season for Washington. He spent the next two years with the Minnesota Vikings. After being cut by Minnesota, he briefly kicked for the Detroit Fury of the Arena Football League before returning to NFL action. The Colts were his fourth team of the 2005 NFL season; he has spent time with the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, and 49ers. The main reason for Cortez's moves is that he is usually signed as a fill-in while the starting kicker is injured; previously he has substituted for Billy Cundiff (Dallas), David Akers (Philadelphia), and Joe Nedney (San Francisco), and was used primarily on kickoffs for the Colts while fellow former Colt Mike Vanderjagt handled PATs and field goals. He was released by the Colts on April 3, 2006.] Cortez is one of the few players to have played in the NFL, Arena Football League, NFL Europe, and XFL. After retiring from the NFL, Cortez joined the Oregon State Police as a Trooper. Graduating from the Oregon State Police Academy in December 2007, he began patrol in May 2008, receiving his trooper stripes in January 2009.

Career statistics

Regular season

    Kicking
Season Team League GP FGs XPs Pts.
1999 NYG NFL 1 0 0 0
2001 Los Angeles XFL 10 20 0* 60
2001 San Francisco NFL 16 18 47 101
2002 Washington NFL 14 23 34 103
2003 Minnesota NFL 2 0 0 0
2004 Minnesota NFL 8 0 0 0
2005 Dallas NFL 7 12 13 49
2005 Philadelphia NFL 4 0 3 3
2005 San Francisco NFL 1 0 2 2
2005 Indianapolis NFL 2 0 0 0
NFL totals 55 53 99 258

* XFL rules prohibited extra-point kicks.

Post NFL career

Following his NFL career, Cortéz became a state trooper in Oregon. Cortéz was fired in 2013 after being sentenced to seven days in jail for official misconduct on the job. Cortéz was accused of fondling a woman during a DUI stop. He also received one year of probation.[1]

References

  1. ↑ "Former NFL kicker Jose Cortez fired as state trooper". National Football Post.
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