Cedric Oglesby (born July 26, 1977) is an American former

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 ...

placekicker Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter. Spe ...

who played one season in 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 ...

(NFL) for the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

. 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 the

South Carolina State Bulldogs The South Carolina State Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs (also SC State) sponsors fourteen sports teams representing South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, South Carolina in intercollegiate athletics, including men’s and women's basketball, ...

and also had stints in the NFL with the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

and

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

. He was one of the first African-American kickers in the NFL.

Early life and education

Oglesby was born on July 26, 1977, in

Decatur, Georgia Decatur is a city in, and the county seat of, DeKalb County, Georgia, which is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. With a population of 24,928 in the 2020 census, the municipality is sometimes assumed to be larger since multiple ZIP Codes in ...

. He grew up in Stone Mountain and attended

Southwest DeKalb High School Southwest DeKalb High School (SWD) is a high school located in unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. It is a part of the DeKalb County School System. It houses one of the two High Achievers Magnet Programs in DeKalb County, the ot ...

, where he played

and

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

. After graduating from Southwest DeKalb, Oglesby was convinced by coach Buck Godfrey to attend South Carolina State University. In his first year at the school, he was named All- Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, while playing both

and punter for the

. Oglesby earned his second consecutive all-conference selection as a

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

in 1997, being named first-team All-MEAC as a punter, after recording 69 punts averaging 39.3 yards each. He also went 8-of-13 on

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...

s and converted all but three of his 31 extra point attempts. With 52 total points in 11 games he placed first on the team. In the annual

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

Heritage Bowl The Heritage Bowl was a NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) bowl game held by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The bowl pitted a team from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) against a team from the Southwe ...

, a loss against the Southern Jaguars, Oglesby tied the record for best punt average, recording 43.6 yards per-punt on seven attempts. Oglesby's coach,

Willie Jeffries Willie E. Jeffries (born January 4, 1937) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at South Carolina State University for 19 seasons in two stints, five seasons at Wichita State University, and five sea ...

, described him as "just a good athlete. He can do a two-step punt, a one-step punt and a no-step punt." In the 1998 season, Oglesby set the school record for most field goals made, with 11, and also broke the team record for longest field goal, successfully attempting a 52-yarder. He spent his final season at South Carolina State in 1999.

Professional career

After going unselected in the

2000 NFL Draft The 2000 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur U.S. college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 15– 16, 2000, at the Thea ...

, Oglesby was signed by the

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 ...

. He was released on May 1. The following year, he spent time with the

, but was not able to make the final roster, despite making all of his field goal attempts in preseason, including a game-winning 33-yarder against the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

in overtime. While a free agent in , Oglesby worked as a substitute teacher. He was practicing kicking in December, near the end of the NFL season, when he got a call from the

. The Cardinals' previous kicker,

Bill Gramatica Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

, had injured himself celebrating, and so Oglesby was signed as a replacement for the final three games of the season, beating Vitaly Pisetsky for the job. He made his NFL debut in week 15 against the

, making a 34-yard field goal and two extra points, but missing a 35-yard attempt. It made him one of the first African-American kickers in league history. Oglesby performed better in his second match, making all three of his field goal attempts, each of his three extra points, and a tackle in the 30–7 win over the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

. He played his final game against the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

in week 17, making two field goals and two extra points in the 17–20 loss. He became a free agent after the season and did not sign another NFL contract.

Personal life

Oglesby became a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

while at South Carolina State. He operated a kicking camp after his playing career.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oglesby, Cedric 1977 births Living people American football punters American football placekickers Players of American football from Decatur, Georgia South Carolina State Bulldogs football players Dallas Cowboys players San Diego Chargers players Arizona Cardinals players