Jerico Nelson (born September 19, 1989) 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 ...

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 ...

. Nelson signed with the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

as an undrafted free agent in 2012. Nelson 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 ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

Early years

Nelson, from

New Sarpy, Louisiana New Sarpy is a census-designated place (CDP) in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,169 at the 2020 census. History In 1699, Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville and Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville discovered an indige ...

, attended both John Curtis Christian School and later

Destrehan High School Destrehan High School is a public high school located in Destrehan, Louisiana, United States and is approximately twenty-five miles west of New Orleans. It is part of the St. Charles Parish Public School System and serves all students on the eas ...

Destrehan, Louisiana Destrehan is a census-designated place (CDP) in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, United States. At the 2020 census, its population was 11,340. Etymology The community is named after Jean Noël Destréhan (1754–1823), who was twice President of ...

. Nelson was ranked as 23rd athlete in the nation and was ranked as the 9th overall prospect in the state of

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

by Rivals.com. He also was ranked as the No. 51 running back in the nation by Scout.com.

College career

He played

. He finished college with 268 tackles, 10.5 Sacks, 4 Interceptions, 12 Pass Deflections, 2 Forced fumbles. In his Freshman season, he finished with 37 tackles and 3.5 sacks. In his Sophomore season, he finished the season with 74 Tackles, 2.5 Sacks, one Interception and a Forced fumble. In his Junior season, he finished the season with 87 tackles, 2.5 Sacks, one Interception in which it was returned for a touchdown and a forced fumble. In his Senior season, he finished his Senior season with 70 Tackles, 2 sacks and 4 pass deflections.

Professional career

New Orleans Saints

On April 30, 2012, Nelson signed with the

as an undrafted free agent. On August 31, 2012, he was released. On September 1, 2012, he was signed to the practice squad. On December 15, 2012, he was promoted to the active roster from the practice squad after the team placed safety

Malcolm Jenkins Malcolm Jenkins (born December 20, 1987) is a former American football safety who played for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ohio State, earning consensus All-American honors, and winning the Jim ...

and Offensive tackle Charles Brown on injured reserve.

Texas Revolution

On January 5, 2016, Nelson signed with the Texas Revolution. On January 3, 2017, Nelson re-signed with the Revolution.

References

External links

Arkansas Razorbacks bioNew Orleans Saints bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Jerrico 1989 births Living people People from Kenner, Louisiana Players of American football from Jefferson Parish, Louisiana People from New Sarpy, Louisiana Sportspeople from St. Charles Parish, Louisiana American football safeties Destrehan High School alumni Arkansas Razorbacks football players New Orleans Saints players Texas Revolution players