Anthony Cioffi (born August 26, 1994) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

who is a free agent. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

, where he was a four-year starter, as a

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

his freshman and sophomore years, as a

free safety Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...

his junior year, and as a

strong safety Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...

in his senior season. He was signed by the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2017. He spent two years on the CFL's

Ottawa Redblacks The Ottawa Redblacks (officially stylized as REDBLACKS) ( French: Le Rouge et Noir d'Ottawa) are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Startin ...

before signing a futures/reserves contract with the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. In January 2021, Cioffi signed with the BC Lions.

Early years

Anthony's parents, Jerry and Josephine Cioffi, own a deli in his hometown of Springfield, NJ. His mother is an Italian teacher at Florence M. Gaudineer Middle School while his father and other family members runs the deli, Cioffi's Deli and Pizza. Known for his exceptional speed, ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'' noted in an April 2017 feature that "...Cioffi and BYU's Micah Hannemann were the only

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

corners to start for a BCS school recently. Cioffi had earned his way into that coveted corner spot after a stellar high school career at Jonathan Dayton in Springfield, New Jersey and by winning the 2012 Group 1 state title in the 100 meters with a time of 10.86. Cioffi defeated the favorite in that state title race,

Anthony Averett Anthony Averett (born November 30, 1994) is an American football cornerback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Alabama. Early years Averett attended Woodbury Junior-Senior High Schoo ...

, who is now a cornerback for the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

. He graduated high school with a 2.3 GPA"

Professional career

Oakland Raiders

Cioffi signed with the

as an undrafted free agent on May 5, 2017. He was waived on September 2, 2017.

Ottawa Redblacks

On April 19, 2018, Cioffi signed with the

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL).

New York Jets

On February 13, 2020, Cioffi was signed to a two-year deal by the

. He was waived on August 15, 2020, but re-signed a week later. He was waived again on August 25, 2020.

BC Lions

On January 13, 2021, it was announced that Cioffi had signed a one-year contract with the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first season ...

. He played in 10 regular season games where he had 23 defensive tackles, one interception, and one forced fumble. He was released prior to free agency on January 11, 2022.

Tampa Bay Bandits

On February 23, 2022, on the second day of the 2022 USFL draft, the Tampa Bay Bandits picked Cioffi with the 5th pick of the 19th round. Cioffi and all other Tampa Bay Bandits players were all transferred to the

Memphis Showboats The Memphis Showboats were an American football franchise in the United States Football League. They entered the league in its expansion in 1984 and made the 1985 playoffs, losing in the semifinal round to the Oakland Invaders. Perhaps the mo ...

after it was announced that the Bandits were taking a hiatus and that the Showboats were joining the league. On January 21, 2023, Cioffi was released by the Showboats.

Vegas Vipers

After participating in the XFL Combine, Cioffi's league playing rights were acquired by the

Vegas Vipers The Vegas Vipers are a professional American football team based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The team is an owned-and-operated member of the XFL (2020), XFL, owned by RedBird Capital, Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia's Alpha Acquico, LLC. The team beg ...

on August 9, 2023. He signed with the team on October 18, 2023. The Vipers folded when the XFL and USFL merged to create the United Football League (UFL).

St. Louis Battlehawks

On January 5, 2024, Cioffi was selected by the

St. Louis Battlehawks The St. Louis BattleHawks are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. The team was founded by Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment and is an owned-and-operated member of the new XFL owned by Dwayne Johnson’s Alpha A ...

during the

2024 UFL dispersal draft The 2024 UFL dispersal draft was the player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams for the 2024 UFL season and disperse the rosters from the eight teams from its component conferences, the XFL and USFL, that were not retained i ...

. He was released on March 10, 2024.

References

External links

*
BC Lions bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cioffi, Anthony 1994 births Living people American football safeties BC Lions players Canadian football defensive backs Jonathan Dayton High School alumni Oakland Raiders players Ottawa Redblacks players Rutgers Scarlet Knights football players People from Springfield Township, Union County, New Jersey Players of American football from Union County, New Jersey Players of Canadian football from New Jersey New York Jets players St. Louis Battlehawks players Tampa Bay Bandits (2022) players Vegas Vipers players