Baigeh Joe Tucker (born October 12, 1980) is a former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

and San Francisco 49ers. He also was a member of the BC Lions in the Canadian Football League (CFL). 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 ...

at the University of Wisconsin. He is distinguished as being the first Sierra Leonean to play in the National Football League.

Early years

B.J., short for Baigeh Joe, was born in Sierra Leone and moved with family to Seattle in 1990. He did not take up

until his freshman year of high school. Tucker attended Nicolet High School, where he played as a cornerback, wide receiver and running back. He led the team in rushing as a junior. The next year, he received

Super Prep ''Super Prep'' is a sports magazine based in Laguna Beach, California, published in since 1985. It was founded and is published by Allen Wallace, a lawyer. Its main focus is to provide recruiting information on high school football players. In 19 ...

All-American, All-conference and North Shore Conference

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 ...

of the Year honors, while registering 38 receptions for 628 yards at wide receiver. He was a standout track and field athlete, winning the state

100 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...

and

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

. He also won those events at the Nike Junior Olympics meet in Seattle in 1998. He won 6 state track titles (two each in the

200 __NOTOC__ Year 200 ( CC) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Victorinus (or, less frequently, year 953 '' Ab ur ...

and 4 × 100 relay) and was named Wisconsin's 1998 Track Athlete of the Year.

College career

Football

Tucker accepted a scholarship from the University of Wisconsin. He appeared in only one game as a freshman. In 2000, he was the top backup and

nickel back In American football, a nickelback is a cornerback or safety (gridiron football position), safety who serves as the additional defensive back in a nickel defense. A base defense consists of two cornerbacks and two safeties, making the nickelback ...

, appearing in 9 games (2 starts), while making 23 tackles and 7 passes defensed. The next year, he started the first two contests and finished with 9 games appearances, 15 tackles and 2 passes defensed. As a senior, he focused on football and became a starter at right cornerback, posting 76 tackles, 5 interceptions (led the team and second in the conference), 12 passes defensed, one

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 ...

recovery and one forced fumble. He finished his college career after playing in 34 games (18 starts), registering 115 tackles (94 solo), 21 passes defensed and 5 interceptions.

Track and field

In 1999, he was a part of the school's Big Ten Conference Champion indoor and outdoor teams, finishing second in the 60 metres at the 2000 indoor finals. In 2000, he helped defend the Big Ten Conference Champion indoor and outdoor championships. In 2001, he finished second in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

as the school won the Big Ten Conference outdoor track title. His personal bests were 10.35 seconds in the

, 21.10 in the

and 6.70 seconds in the 60 metres.

Personal bests

Professional career

2003 NFL Combine

Dallas Cowboys

Tucker was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the sixth round (178th overall) of the

2003 NFL Draft The 2003 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League (NFL) teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936 NF ...

, because of his track speed. He was waived on August 17.

New Orleans Saints

On August 19,

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, he was claimed off waivers by the New Orleans Saints and was later released on August 31.

Oakland Raiders

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 ...

signed him to their practice squad on September 4,

, but was later cut.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The

signed him to their practice squad on December 12,

. He was signed to the active roster on December 24. He was waived before the start of the season on May 20,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

Seattle Seahawks

On February 1,

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, he was signed as a free agent by the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

and was allocated to the Amsterdam Admirals of

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

. He had a strong showing there, including being named All-NFL Europe, tied for the league lead with 5 interceptions and helped his team win World Bowl XIII. He was released on September 4.

San Francisco 49ers

On October 8,

, the San Francisco 49ers signed him to their roster, before being cut 2 days later and signed him to the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

on October 12. He would later be waived and signed during different periods of times. On July 16,

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, he was placed on the injured reserve list with a pectoral muscle injury. He wasn't re-signed after the season.

BC Lions (CFL)

On September 16,

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 signed with the BC Lions of the CFL. He played in four games mainly on special teams, before being released on June 18,

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

. He is currently a firefighter in Tacoma, WA, serving since 2011.

References

External links

Tucker fighting for more than NFL career
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tucker, B.J. 1980 births Living people Sportspeople from Freetown Sierra Leonean emigrants to the United States Sportspeople from the Milwaukee metropolitan area Sierra Leonean players of American football Sierra Leonean players of Canadian football Players of American football from Wisconsin American football cornerbacks Wisconsin Badgers football players Pittsburgh Steelers players Amsterdam Admirals players San Francisco 49ers players Sherbro people BC Lions players