Corey Franklyn Sawyer (born October 4, 1971) is a former American college and professional football player who was a

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

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 six seasons during the 1990s. He played college football for Florida State University, and earned All-American honors. He played professionally for the Cincinnati Bengals and New York Jets of the NFL, the

Memphis Maniax The Memphis Maniax were an American football team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The team was part of the XFL begun by Vince McMahon of World Wrestling Entertainment and by NBC, a major television network in the United States. Home games were playe ...

of the

XFL XFL may refer to: Sports * XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001 * XFL (2020), a professional American football league Vehicles * Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...

, and the

Tampa Bay Storm The Tampa Bay Storm were a professional arena football team based in Tampa, Florida, US. It played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Originally the team was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and operated as the Pittsburgh Gladiators. The f ...

and Chicago Rush of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

(AFL).

Early years

Sawyer was born in Key West, Florida.National Football League, Historical Players
Corey Sawyer
Retrieved February 12, 2012. He graduated from Key West High School,databaseFootball.com, Players
Corey Sawyer
. Retrieved February 12, 2012. where he 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 ...

for the Key West Conchs.

College career

Sawyer accepted an

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the United ...

to attend Florida State University, where he played for the

Florida State Seminoles football The Florida State Seminoles football team represents Florida State University (variously Florida State or FSU) in the sport of American football. The Seminoles compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Col ...

team from 1990 to 1993. He was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American at defensive back as a senior in 1993, and was a member of the Seminoles' team that defeated the

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference, and the Cornhuskers compete in NCAA Divis ...

18–16 in the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game ...

to win the

Bowl Coalition The College Football Bowl Coalition was formed through an agreement among Division I-A college football bowl games and conferences for the purpose of forcing a national championship game between the top two teams and to provide quality bowl game ...

national championship.

Professional career

The Cincinnati Bengals selected Sawyer in the fourth round (104th pick overall) of the

1994 NFL Draft The 1994 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 1994, at the Marriott Ma ...

. He played for the Bengals from to . He played in 60 regular season games for the Bengals, mostly as a backup at cornerback, but also as a punt and kickoff returner.Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players
Corey Sawyer
Retrieved February 12, 2012. In his five seasons in Cincinnati, he returned 54 punts for 507 yards and a touchdown, and 15 kickoffs for 305 yards. As a defensive back, he compiled 163 tackles and 11 interceptions for 163 return yards and a touchdown. He also played one NFL season as a backup for the New York Jets in . He played for the

of the

in 2001. He then played for the

and Chicago Rush of the

(AFL) from 2002 to 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sawyer, Corey 1971 births Living people All-American college football players American football cornerbacks Cincinnati Bengals players Florida State Seminoles football players New York Jets players Tampa Bay Storm players Chicago Rush players People from Key West, Florida Memphis Maniax players