Antwine Perez (born April 10, 1988) is a former American college football player. He played 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 ...

for the University of Maryland Terrapins. He played one season for the University of Southern California Trojans, before transferring. He was one of the most sought-after college recruits in the nation and received scholarship offers from over 40 schools.

Early life

He was born on April 10, 1988 in the Westville Grove area of Westville, New Jersey, to parents Phyllis and Lewis Perez. He attended Woodrow Wilson High School in

Camden Camden may refer to: People * Camden (surname), a surname of English origin * Camden Joy (born 1964), American writer * Camden Toy (born 1957), American actor Places Australia * Camden, New South Wales * Camden, Rosehill, a heritage res ...

, where he played high school football as a quarterback and

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

. As a junior, he recorded 1,763 passing yards and 15 touchdowns, ten rushing touchdowns, 58

tackle Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking ...

s, seven interceptions, and four forced

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful ...

s. As a senior in 2005, he recorded 82 tackles, 10 deflections, seven interceptions, four forced fumbles, and three fumble recoveries.Player Bio: Antwine Perez
, University of Maryland, retrieved June 5, 2009. He was named a ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

'' All-American, '' USA Today'' first-team All-American, EA Sports first-team All-American,Maryland adds Southern Cal transfer, two others
''

Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...

'', January 26, 2007. SuperPrep All-American, PrepStar All-American, all-conference quarterback, all-conference defensive back, and first-team all-state player. Perez was honored as '' The Philadelphia Inquirer'' South Jersey Defensive

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

, SuperPrep All-Northeast Defensive MVP, PrepStar All-Eastern, and

Gatorade Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. Gatorade is currently manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was first develop ...

New Jersey Player of the Year. He was named to the SuperPrep Elite 50, PrepStar Dream Team, and the ESPN 150. Perez was one of the most highly recruited players in the nation, and received in excess of forty scholarship offers. Scout.com rated him as a five-star prospect and fifth-ranked defensive back, while Rivals.com rated him as a four-star prospect and the second-ranked defensive back.Antwine Perez Profile
Scout.com, retrieved June 5, 2009.Antwine Perez Profile
Rivals.com, retrieved June 5, 2009. At least 47 programs offered Perez, including

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio State,

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

, and Tennessee.

College career

Perez graduated from high school a semester early and enrolled at the University of Southern California. As a true freshman in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, he saw action in seven games, primarily in a special teams role. Perez made brief appearances as a reserve free safety against Arkansas,

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

, and Oregon. Perez decided to transfer to the University of Maryland with the hope of earning more playing time and to be closer to home. He was required by NCAA transfer rules to sit out for one season. In

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, he saw action in all 13 games including two starts as a free safety. He also served in a special teams role and at linebacker due to the injury of Adrian Moten, the back-up for Moise Fokou. He made his first career start in the upset win against California, where he replaced injured starter Terrell Skinner and recorded three tackles. CBS Sports considers him the eighth-ranked free safety prospect for the

2011 NFL Draft The 2011 NFL Draft was the 76th installment of the annual NFL Draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York C ...

, while '' College Football News'' projected him as a possible fourth round selection if he had chosen to enter the

2010 NFL Draft The 2010 NFL Draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, with the firs ...

. During the 2010 season against Duke, Perez intercepted one pass and delivered a hard hit to break up another critical pass late in the game, which preserved a Maryland victory, 21–16. At

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

, Perez had two interceptions and forced a fumble to help Maryland to a 24–21 win. For his performance, he was named the Jim Thorpe Defensive Back of the Week.Antwine Perez of Maryland Named the Jim Thorpe Defensive Back of the Week
Jim Thorpe Association, October 27, 2010.

References

External links

*
Maryland Terrapins bioUSC Trojans bioESPN.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perez, Antwine 1988 births Living people Players of American football from Camden, New Jersey USC Trojans football players Maryland Terrapins football players Eastside High School (Camden, New Jersey) alumni People from Westville, New Jersey American football safeties