Dwight Larte Lowery (born January 23, 1986) 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 ...

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 ...

. He was drafted by the

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

in the fourth round of the

2008 NFL Draft The 2008 NFL Draft was the 73rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 26 and April 27, ...

. 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 Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

Early years

Lowery attended

Soquel High School Soquel High School is a high school in Soquel, California, located on Old San Jose Road. It has 1,200 students and was established in 1962. The school is operated by the Santa Cruz City High School District. The school mascot is the Knights. Aca ...

Soquel, California Soquel (; Ohlone: ''Sokel'') is an unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, California, located on the northern coast of Monterey Bay. The population was 9,980 at the 2020 census. Geography Soquel is located a ...

where he was an All Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League

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 ...

for the Knights during his senior year. Lowery broke the school's scoring record for a single season (25

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s) and the County's single game scoring record (7 TD; 5 rushing, 1 receiving and a returned

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

for the games final he earned All-League defensive back his junior and senior year having 20 interceptions in 20 games. Lowery also played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and was a 3-year starter on the varsity squad. He earned league

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

honors his junior year, and lead his team into the

Central Coast Section The Central Coast Section (CCS) is the governing body of public and private high school athletics in the portion of California encompassing San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, Monterey County, San Benito County, Santa Cruz County and a few priv ...

Playoffs.

College career

Cabrillo College

Lowery previously attended

Cabrillo College Cabrillo College is a public community college in Aptos, California. It is named after the conquistador Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo and opened in 1959. Cabrillo College has an enrollment of about 12,000 students per term. Facilities Classes are of ...

Aptos, California Aptos (Ohlone for "The People") is an unincorporated town in Santa Cruz County, California. The town is made up of several small villages, which together form Aptos: Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley, Aptos Village, Cabrillo, Seacliff, Rio del Mar, and S ...

where he played

Free 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

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

for the Seahawks. During Lowery's Freshman season at Cabrillo College, he received All State defensive back honors and lead California in INTs (9). His Sophomore season was cut short with a hand injury but he still managed four more interceptions in the games following the injury. He left Cabrillo with 13 picks in 15 games. He also led the state in return yards in 2004.

San Jose State

Lowery was a two-time

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

selection AFCA and

FWAA The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

All-America

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 ...

for

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sys ...

. Lowery led the nation in 2006 with 9 interceptions. In his senior season at San Jose State University Lowery recorded 4 interceptions and was named to the all- WAC team in

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 ...

. In the post-season 83rd

East–West Shrine Game East West (or East and West) may refer to: *East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture Arts and entertainment Books, journals and magazines *'' East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salm ...

, Lowery had 2 interceptions. Lowery had applied for a draft grade from the

NFL 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 major ...

's advisory committee following the 2006 season but decided that he would return in 2007 for his Senior season at SJSU.

Awards and honors

*Named to the 2007 ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

'' All-American Team. *Named to the 2006 and 2007 AFCA All-America Team *Named to the 2007 Scout.com All-America Third-team *Earned All- WAC first-team Honors in 2007 *Became the first player in San Jose State University history to be named an All-American in back-to-back years. *Named to 83rd East-West Shrine All-Star Game in 2008

Professional career

New York Jets

Impressed with Lowery's versatility and ball skills, the

would draft him in the fourth round (113th overall) of the

as a cornerback/safety. An injury to cornerback Justin Miller would see Lowery debut in his first NFL game 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 ...

; Lowery performed modestly with four tackles and three passes defensed. Lowery was named to the NFL's mid-season all-rookie team for his efforts on defense however in November, Lowery was benched in favor of veteran

Ty Law Tajuan Edward "Ty" Law (born February 10, 1974) is an American former American football, football cornerback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the New England Patriots. He played college football a ...

. In spite of the benching, Lowery continued to improve and contribute as a backup cornerback earning the praise of his head coach

Eric Mangini Eric Anthony Mangini (born January 19, 1971) is a former American football coach and current television sports analyst. Mangini had been with the San Francisco 49ers since 2013 and served as the team's tight ends coach for two seasons before b ...

and his teammates. In 2009, Lowery continued to contribute as a backup and would finish the season with 24 tackles, 9 passes defensed and 3 interceptions. In 2010, Lowery would record his first career touchdown, intercepting

Brett Favre Brett Lorenzo Favre ( ; born October 10, 1969) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, primarily with the Green Bay Packers. Favre had 321 consecutive starts from 1992 to 20 ...

on a play that would seal the Jets' victory over the

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

Jacksonville Jaguars

Lowery was traded to the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

for an undisclosed draft pick on September 3, 2011. In his first game with Jacksonville, Lowery intercepted a

Matt Hasselbeck Matthew Michael Hasselbeck (born September 25, 1975) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Boston College and was drafted in the sixth round ...

pass to seal a Jaguar victory. On March 13, 2012, Lowery agreed to a four-year extension with the Jaguars. He was placed on season-ending injured reserve on December 22, 2012. In week 2 of the 2012 season during the Jaguars home opener loss to the Houston Texans, Lowery tackled a fan who ran onto the

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

. Lowery's 2013 season ended when he was placed on injured reserve on October 8. He was released from injured reserve on November 4.

Atlanta Falcons

Lowery signed with the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

on April 8, 2014. Lowery helped contribute to a struggling Atlanta Falcons defense in 2014. Lowery replaced old Atlanta Falcons Free Safety Thomas Decoud and did an outstanding job.

Indianapolis Colts

Lowery signed with the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

on April 3, 2015.

San Diego Chargers

On March 9, 2016, Lowery signed a three-year contract with the

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 ...

. Lowery was signed to fill any empty void previously filled by All-Pro safety

Eric Weddle Eric Steven Weddle (born January 4, 1985) is an American former football safety who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He played college football at Utah, where he was a consensus All-American, and was selected by t ...

. On September 2, 2017, Lowery was released by the Chargers.

NFL statistics

Post-playing career

In 2018, Lowery was named the head football coach at

, his alma mater.

Personal life

Lowery was born to Tracy Rivers who raised him as single mother. Lowery has six other siblings, including a sister, Aujanae. Lowery is married to his wife, Ashley Lowery.

References

External links

Los Angeles Chargers bioSan José State Spartans bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowery, Dwight 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Santa Cruz, California Players of American football from California African-American players of American football American football cornerbacks American football safeties Cabrillo Seahawks football players San Jose State Spartans football players New York Jets players Jacksonville Jaguars players Atlanta Falcons players Indianapolis Colts players San Diego Chargers players Los Angeles Chargers players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people