Charles Washington (born March 10, 1993) 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 ...

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 ...

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

and signed with the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

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 ...

after the

2016 NFL Draft The 2016 NFL Draft was the 81st annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

Early years

Washington played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

Crespi Carmelite High School Crespi Carmelite High School, shortly known as Crespi, is a private Catholic all-male four-year college preparatory high school located in Encino District, Los Angeles, California. It is part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The ...

Encino, California Encino (Spanish language, Spanish for "oak") is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. History In 1769, the Spanish Portolá expedition, first Europeans to see inland areas of California, traveled north t ...

. He recorded 57 solo tackles, 29 tackle assists, 5 interceptions, 7 rushing attempts, 123 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns his senior year in 2010, earning league defensive MVP honors.

College career

Washington played for the

Fresno State Bulldogs The Fresno State Bulldogs are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent California State University, Fresno (commonly referred to as Fresno State). The university is a member of NCAA Division I's Mountain West Conference (MW). It was a ...

Fresno State University California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bache ...

from 2012 to 2015. He was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

in 2011. He played in 12 games in 2012, recording 8 solo tackles, 5 tackle assists, 2 pass breakups and 1 fumble recovery. Washington also returned a blocked extra point attempt for two points. He earned

Mountain West The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations o ...

(MW) All-Academic honors in 2012. He started all 13 games in 2013, totaling 50 solo tackles, 21 tackle assists, 2 sacks, 1 interception, 2 pass breakups and 1 forced fumble. Washington started the first 11 games of the season at

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 ...

and the final 2 at

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 ...

. He garnered MW All-Academic recognition. He started all 14 games in 2014, recording 61 solo tackles, 17 tackle assists, half a sack, 2 interceptions, 7 pass breakups and 1 fumble recovery. Washington started seven games at cornerback, six at safety and one at

nickelback Nickelback is a Canadian Rock music, rock band formed in 1995 in Hanna, Alberta. It is composed of guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist Ryan Peake, bassist Mike Kroeger, and drummer Daniel Adai ...

. He earned MW All-Academic honors in 2014. He played in 11 games, all starts, in 2015, totaling 31 solo tackles, 9 tackle assists, 1 sack and 6 pass breakups. Washington's first four starts of 2015 were at cornerback while his last seven were at strong safety. He missed one game due to injury. He garnered MW All-Academic recognition in 2015. Washington played in 50 games, starting 38, during his college career, recording 202 total tackles and 3 interceptions. He participated in the

NFLPA Collegiate Bowl The NFLPA Collegiate Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game for NFL draft-eligible college players, held annually in January. The event was founded in 2012 by the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA). Players predomi ...

in January 2016. He majored in criminology corrections at Fresno State.

Professional career

Washington was rated the 64th best cornerback in the

by NFLDraftScout.com.

Detroit Lions

After going undrafted, Washington signed with the

on May 6, 2016. He was waived by the Lions on September 3 and signed to the team's practice squad on September 4. He was released on October 12 and signed to the Lions' practice squad on October 17, 2016. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Lions on January 9, 2017. In 2018, Washington played in 13 games before being placed on injured reserve on December 22, 2018. On August 31, 2019, Washington was waived by the Lions.

Arizona Cardinals

On September 1, 2019, Washington was claimed off waivers by 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 ...

. On March 27, 2020, Washington was re-signed by the Cardinals. On March 29, 2021, Washington re-signed with the Cardinals on a one-year contract. He was placed on injured reserve on September 29, 2021 with a hamstring injury. He was activated on December 18. On May 2, 2022, Washington re-signed with the Cardinals. He was placed on injured reserve on September 1, 2022. He was activated on November 12.

References

External links

College stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington, Charles Living people 1993 births American football cornerbacks American football safeties Arizona Cardinals players Detroit Lions players Fresno State Bulldogs football players Players of American football from Inglewood, California Players of American football from Colorado 21st-century African-American sportspeople