Joshua Payne Scobey (born December 11, 1979) 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 ...

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 ...

and

kick returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

who played seven seasons 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 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 ...

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

and was drafted 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 ...

in the sixth round of the 2002 NFL Draft.

Early years

Del City High School Del City High School is the only public high school located in Del City, Oklahoma, U.S., and one of three high schools in the Mid-Del School District. The school opened in 1953. According to GreatSchools.org, the high school is rated above Midwes ...

, Scobey finished with the best single season rushing total in Del City High School history, with 1,829 yards (1997). He rushed for 3,303 total rushing yards, trailing only Bennie Butler (

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

) in career rushing yards. He also finished only behind Butler in total rushing and receiving yards with 3,408.

College career

Scobey attended

Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College (NEO) is a public community college in Miami, Oklahoma. Established as the Miami School of Mines in 1919, NEO has an enrollment of approximately two thousand students. The Golden Norsemen is the school mascot. ...

Miami, Oklahoma Miami ( ) is a city in and county seat of Ottawa County, Oklahoma, United States, founded in 1891. Lead and zinc mining were established by 1918, causing the area's economy to boom. This area was part of Indian Territory. Miami is the capital of ...

. He then transferred to

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

, where he started at running back and set a school record for rushing touchdowns.

Professional career

Scobey's NFL career began when he was drafted by the

in the 2002 NFL Draft. In 2003, Scobey led the National Football League in kick-off return yardage and was allowed to be voted for the Pro Bowl. He played for the Cardinals for three seasons before moving to the Seahawks. In Seattle, he earned an NFC championship ring and he was the Seahawks' kickoff returner in

Super Bowl XL Super Bowl XL was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Seattle Seahawks and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion f ...

against the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

, and served as a team captain for the game and coin toss. On May 3, 2007, Scobey 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. ...

, but he re-signed with the Seahawks on December 4, exactly one year after he was placed on injured reserve by the Seahawks in 2006.

Post-playing career

On June 25, 2022, Scobey was promoted to the director of college scouting by the

Personal

Scobey is Buddhist. He practices

Nichiren Buddhism Nichiren Buddhism ( ja, 日蓮仏教), also known as Hokkeshū ( ja, 法華宗, meaning ''Lotus Sect'') is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222–1282) and is one of ...

through the

Soka Gakkai International Soka Gakkai International (SGI) is an international Nichiren Buddhist organisation founded in 1975 by Daisaku Ikeda, as an umbrella organization of Soka Gakkai, which declares approximately 12 million adherents in 192 countries and territories ...

, and has been a practicing Buddhist since he was five years old.

References

External links

Just Sports StatsSeattle Seahawks bioUnited Football League bio
1979 births Living people Sportspeople from Oklahoma City American football running backs American football return specialists Kansas State Wildcats football players Arizona Cardinals players Seattle Seahawks players Buffalo Bills players Las Vegas Locomotives players People from Del City, Oklahoma Players of American football from Oklahoma Northeastern Oklahoma A&M Golden Norsemen football players {{Oklahoma-sport-stub