DeMarco Sampson, Jr. (born December 19, 1985) is a former

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 ...

wide receiver. 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 ...

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

Early life

Sampson 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 ...

Castle Park High School Castle Park High School, established in 1962, is a high school in Chula Vista, California. It offers Advanced Placement classes. Along with Bonita Vista High School, it is one of only two schools in the Sweetwater Union School District that of ...

Chula Vista, California Chula Vista (; ) is the second-largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the Largest cities in Southern California, seventh largest city in Southern California, the List of largest California cities by population, fifteenth largest city ...

College career

Sampson was one of only two freshmen to earn a letter in 2005. He appeared in all 12 games recording six receptions for 60 yards and a touchdown. He did not play at all in the 2006 season due to a foot injury he suffered during an intrasquad scrimmage in August. He missed his second straight year in 2007 due to an injury. He saw action in 11 games as a reserve in 2008. He caught 11 passes for 111 yards and one touchdown. Sampson re-earned his starting job in 2009. He accumulated 62 receptions for 851 yards and eight touchdowns. His performance earned him second-team all-

Mountain West Conference 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 ...

honors. Sampson returned to school for his sixth year of eligibility in 2010. He had a career year by catching 67 passes for 1,220 yards and eight touchdowns. His outstanding numbers earned him a spot on the 2010 All-Mountain West First-team as voted by the coaches.

Professional career

Arizona Cardinals

Sampson was drafted with the 249th overall pick in 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 ...

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 ...

Buffalo Bills

Sampson signed with the

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

on May 30, 2013. On August 26, 2013, he was cut by the Bills.

Los Angeles Kiss

Sampson was assigned to the Los Angeles Kiss 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 ...

on January 2, 2014. He was activated from the "other league exempt" list on May 13, 2014.

San Francisco 49ers

Sampson was signed by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

on January 14, 2014. Sampson was waived on May 12, 2014.

Coaching career

Sampson served as an assistant coach at Hilltop High School in Chula Vista. In 2018, a fellow Hilltop coach and former high school teammate of his, Freddy Dunkle, was hired as head coach at Montgomery High School, and Sampson followed him as his offensive coordinator.

Personal life

Sampson was born in Oakland, California to Karen and DeMarco Sampson. His mother's cousin is former

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

, Icky Woods. He is now a high school football coach at Montgomery High School in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

References

External links

San Diego State Aztecs bio

NFL.com bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sampson, DeMarco 1985 births Living people Sportspeople from Chula Vista, California Players of American football from San Diego County, California San Diego State Aztecs football players American football wide receivers Arizona Cardinals players Buffalo Bills players Los Angeles Kiss players San Francisco 49ers players Coaches of American football from California High school football coaches in California