Erik James Coleman (born May 6, 1982) 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 ...

who played 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). He was selected 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 fifth round of the

2004 NFL Draft The 2004 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, 2004 at the Theater at ...

and also played for 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 ...

and

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 ...

. 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 ...

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

College career

Coleman played college football at

. He majored in communications.

Professional career

New York Jets

Coleman was selected by the

in the fifth round (143rd overall) of the

. He unexpectedly became one of the most important Jet defenders, cementing his starting role with interceptions in each of his first two NFL games. He finished the season as the NFL's highest grossing member of its performance-pay program, the league's plan for rewarding low-salary players who outperform their contracts. In week six of the 2005 season against 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. ...

he made a career high 14 tackles. Before the 2006 season Coleman underwent an appendectomy, slowing his production that season. During his tenure with the

he started in 45 of 48 regular season games.

Atlanta Falcons

On March 1, 2008, Coleman was signed by the

. In the 2008 season, Erik Coleman had 95 total tackles, 6 passes deflected, and three interceptions. Those three interceptions were the most on the Atlanta Falcons team. On February 9, 2011, Coleman was released from the Falcons.

Detroit Lions

On February 18, 2011, Coleman signed a one-year contract with the

. He was released on December 4, 2012.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Post-NFL career

SNY

Following his retirement in 2013 from the NFL, Coleman joined the SNY team. Coleman uses his own on-field experience as an on-air sports analyst, reporting post-game recaps for SNY’s "Jets Post Game Live!", "Jets Extra Point", "Jets Nation" and SNY's Jets Draft show. Frequently also appearing as a sports commentator on numerous sports shows and network programs such as Hannity on Fox,

Closing Bell ''Closing Bell'' can refer to two CNBC programs: the original ''Closing Bell'' on CNBC (which debuted on February 4, 2002) and '' European Closing Bell'' on CNBC Europe (which was cancelled on December 18, 2015). The show is named after the be ...

with

Liz Claman Elizabeth Kate Claman (born December 12, 1963) is the anchor of the Fox Business show ''The Claman Countdown''. Claman was previously the co-anchor of the CNBC morning television program '' Morning Call''. Before that, Claman was the co-host ...

Fox Business Fox Business (officially known as Fox Business Network, or FBN) is an American business news channel and website publication owned by the Fox News Media division of Fox Corporation. The channel broadcasts primarily from studios at 1211 Avenue ...

, ABC, PIX 11, CBS, ESPN Radio and WFAN, to name a few.

Radio

In addition to his on-camera career, Coleman has hit the airwaves as a radio host. Coleman began his radio resume as an on-air analyst with Stony Brook University’s football radio broadcast team in 2015. Most recently, Coleman has joined

Sirius XM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...

as a host on Channel 88’s for NFL rewind discussing the plays of the week and engaging with fans.

Philanthropy

As a humanitarian, Coleman is a mentor for My Brother’s Keeper Mentorship Program, and supports a number of causes including, pediatric cancer, traumatic brain injury, and sickle cell anemia. Adding to his list of long charity causes, Coleman is the celebrity ambassador for The THRIVE Network, an organization that helps those with disabilities in need.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, Erik 1982 births Living people Players of American football from Sacramento, California American football safeties Washington State Cougars football players New York Jets players Atlanta Falcons players Detroit Lions players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people