Kevin Bryant Mathis (born April 29, 1974) 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 wi ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

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) for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

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 ...

, and Atlanta Falcons. He played college football at

Texas A&M University–Commerce Texas A&M University–Commerce is a public university in Commerce, Texas. With an enrollment of over 12,000 students as of fall 2017, the university is the third-largest institution in the Texas A&M University System. Founded in 1889, the inst ...

Early years

Mathis was born in Gainesville, Texas, and attended Gainesville High School, where he

lettered Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

in football,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, and track. In football, he was a two-time All-District selection. He accepted a football scholarship from Texas A&M University-Commerce. As a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after ...

freshman, he was a backup

, tallying 64 tackles, 3 interceptions, 11 passes defensed and 4 fumble recoveries. As a sophomore he was named a starter at

, registering 57 tackles, 3 interceptions, 13 passes defensed and 3 forced fumbles As a junior, he collected 55 tackles, 6 interceptions and 16 passes defensed, while having 26 punt returns for a 10.4-yard average and 11 kickoff returns for a 24.6-yard average. As a senior, he recorded 48 tackles (2 for loss), 4 interceptions, 17 passes defensed and one sack. He led the team with 16 punt returns for a 9.7-yard average and 15 kickoff returns for a 24.9-yard average. In 2009, he was inducted into the Texas A&M-Commerce Athletic Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Mathis was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

after the

1997 NFL Draft The 1997 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 19–20, 1997, at the Paramount T ...

, after dropping because of his size and small college background. He would end up making the team after taking advantage of Deion Sanders being away while playing professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

and displaying his track speed (4.19 seconds in the 40-yard dash). As a rookie, he played in all 16 games, recorded 23 tackles, 5 passes defensed, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, 12

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 ...

tackles and also returned punts. He started the final 3 contests at right cornerback, following Sanders' season ending rib fracture injury. In

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, he was moved to the left side to backup

Kevin Smith Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, comic book writer, author, YouTuber, and podcaster. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy buddy film '' Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, ...

. At the end of the season, he passed an injured Smith on the depth chart, starting the final 4 games of the season and the wild card playoff loss against the Arizona Cardinals. He also established himself as one of the more productive kickoff returners in the league, averaging 24.8 yards to finish ranked sixth in the NFC. He posted 41 tackles, 2 interceptions, 8 passes defensed, one forced fumble, 2 fumble recoveries and

tackles. He missed 3 games with a broken right forearm. In

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

, he would miss 8 games because of knee and hamstring injuries. He had 4 starts, but was mostly a backup behind Smith and Charlie Williams. In

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

, the Cowboys had a lot of turnover at

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

and one of the moves made to improve the depth was trading Mathis to the

in exchange for

Chris Bordano Christopher E. Bordano (born December 30, 1974) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League for the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons. He played college football at Southern Methodist University. Early years Bor ...

on April 26. Also factoring in the decision was his injury history and the numbers at the

position (signing of

Ryan McNeil Ryan McNeil is a fictional character from ''The Young and the Restless'', an American soap opera on the CBS network. Created by William J. Bell, the character was portrayed by Scott Reeves, who made his first appearance on June 26, 1991, as a b ...

and 3 rookie

s draft selections).

New Orleans Saints

Mathis was named the starter at left cornerback for all 16 games in the 2000 season and finished with 87 tackles and 1

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 ...

. He helped the

reach the playoffs for the first time since 1992 and also win their first ever playoff game. As a starter in the 2001 season, he injured his cervical spine while tackling the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

Ki-Jana Carter Kenneth Leonard "Ki-Jana" Carter (; born September 12, 1973) is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons. He played college football at Penn State, where he earned consensus All ...

. On July 24, 2002, he was waived injured.

Atlanta Falcons

On September 17, 2002, Mathis was signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the Atlanta Falcons. He played 11 games in the nickel packages, registering a career-high 3 interceptions. He started 12 games in 2004, finishing with 67 tackles and 2 interceptions (both returned for

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 Amer ...

s). On September 13, 2005, he was lost for the season with a career-threatening left knee injury, after tearing 3 ligaments during a practice drill. The next year, he returned to play but suffered a career-ending neck injury, while tackling Eddie Drummond on the opening kickoff against the Detroit Lions on November 5, 2006. He was released injured on April 9, 2007.

Coaching career

In 2012, he became a football assistant coach at

Prime Prep Academy Prime Prep Academy was a grouping of charter schools in Texas cofounded in 2012 by Deion Sanders, a former American football and baseball player (the school's name is derived from his "Prime Time" moniker), who has also coached at the schools. Initi ...

. In

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

he joined

Jackson State University Jackson State University (Jackson State or JSU) is a public historically black research university in Jackson, Mississippi. It is one of the largest HBCUs in the United States and the fourth largest university in Mississippi in terms of studen ...

as the defensive backs coach. In December 2022, Mathis followed Sanders to the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sy ...

to be the defensive backs coach for the

Colorado Buffaloes The Colorado Buffaloes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Colorado. The university sponsors 17 varsity sports teams. Both the men's and women's teams are called the Buffaloes (Buffs for short) or, rarely, the Golden Buffalo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathis, Kevin 1974 births Living people People from Gainesville, Texas Players of American football from Texas American football cornerbacks Texas A&M–Commerce Lions football players Dallas Cowboys players New Orleans Saints players Atlanta Falcons players High school football coaches in Texas Jackson State Tigers football coaches Colorado Buffaloes football coaches Ed Block Courage Award recipients