Joe Cohen (born June 6, 1984) is an American former player of

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

and

Canadian football Canadian football () is a sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's scoring area ( ...

who was a defensive tackle. Cohen played college football for the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, and was a member of a BCS National Championship team. He was picked 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 ...

in the fourth round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played professionally for the Detroit Lions of 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) and the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL).

Early years

Cohen was born in

Melbourne, Florida Melbourne is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is located southeast of Orlando. As of th2020 Decennial Census there was a population of 84,678. The municipality is the second-largest in the county by both size and population. ...

.Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players
Joe Cohen
Retrieved March 16, 2011. He attended

Palm Bay High School Palm Bay Magnet High School is a public high school located in Melbourne, Florida, north of the boundary of Palm Bay, Florida. It is part of the Brevard County School District. History The school originally opened as Southwest Junior High Sc ...

in Melbourne, and he played high school football for the Palm Bay Pirates. In high school, he played at the RB position as well as defensive line. Cincinnati Bengals defensive back Reggie Nelson and U.S. Olympic runner

Xavier Carter Xavier Carter (born December 8, 1985) is an American professional track and field athlete. He attended Louisiana State University and was a star on the track and field team as well a member of the football team. Before LSU, Xavier Carter graduat ...

were teammates of Cohen at Palm Bay High School. Following his high school career, Cohen played in the 2003 U.S. Army All-American Bowl with future Florida Gators teammates Chris Leak and

Andre Caldwell Andre Jerome "Bubba" Caldwell (born April 15, 1985), is a former professional American football player who was a wide receiver and kickoff returner in the National Football League (NFL). Caldwell played college football for the Florida Gator ...

College career

Cohen accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the

in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach

Ron Zook Ronald Andrew Zook (; born April 28, 1954) is an American football coach and former player who currently serves as the Defensive Coordinator of the Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL. He was the head football coach at the University of Florida from ...

and coach

Urban Meyer Urban Frank Meyer III (born July 10, 1964) is a college football TV commentator and former American football coach. He spent most of his coaching career at the collegiate level, having served as the head coach of the Bowling Green Falcons fro ...

Florida Gators football The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division o ...

team from 2003 to 2006.
2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 98, 180 (2011). Retrieved August 28, 2011. As a senior in 2006, he was a member of the Gators' BCS National Championship team.

Professional career

The

drafted Cohen in the fourth round (135th overall pick) of the 2007 NFL Draft, and he played professionally for a single season for the Detroit Lions in . On November 15, 2009, Cohen made the first sack of his pro career, sacking

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

quarterback

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 201 ...

in a 27–10 loss. Cohen signed with the

of the CFL on June 7, 2012, and played in five regular season games for the Argos.

Life after playing career

He is currently an assistant football coach for the Viera Hawks at Viera High School in Viera, Florida.VieraHawksFootball.com, Coaches
JV & Varsity Assistant Coaches
Retrieved July 22, 2014.

References

Bibliography

* Carlson, Norm, ''University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators'', Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). .

External links

Joe Cohen
– Florida Gators player profile {{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Joe 1984 births Living people American football defensive ends American football defensive tackles Detroit Lions players Florida Gators football players Miami Dolphins players Oakland Raiders players People from Melbourne, Florida Players of American football from Florida San Francisco 49ers players