Kwamie Lassiter (December 3, 1969 – January 6, 2019) was an

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 ...

. He was signed 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 ...

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 ...

in 1995. 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 Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

Early years

Born in

Hampton, Virginia Hampton () is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 137,148. It is the List ...

, Lassiter graduated from

Menchville High School Menchville High School is one of five high schools in Newport News, Virginia, United States. The school colors are purple and gold, and its mascot is a monarch. Menchville is the top school in Newport News regarding the number of students taking ...

in Newport News,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

in 1989.

College career

Lassiter played his first two years of

Butler County Community College Butler County Community College (BC3) is a public community college in Butler Township, Pennsylvania. It also offers courses in Cranberry Township, as well as in Lawrence, Mercer, and Jefferson counties. More recently the college has begun to ...

in 1989 and 1990 before transferring to the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

in 1991. He sat out the 1991 season, played at Kansas from 1992 to 1994, and graduated with a degree in communications. After Lassiter suffered a broken collarbone by the third game of the 1993 season, the NCAA granted Lassiter a sixth year of eligibility.

Professional career

Lassiter played for the

from 1995–2002,

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

in 2003 and

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arri ...

in 2004. He finished his career with 609 tackles (437 solo tackles), 25 interceptions, and four sacks. In the Cardinals' final regular season game of the 1998 season, a 16-13 victory over the

that clinched the Cardinals' first playoff berth in 15 years, Lassiter intercepted Chargers quarterback

Craig Whelihan Craig Dominic Whelihan (born April 15, 1971) is a retired American football quarterback in the NFL, XFL, and AFL. He played college football at the University of the Pacific. High school years Born in San Jose, California, Whelilhan graduated f ...

four times. After the 2001 season, Lassiter was selected as an alternate for the

2002 Pro Bowl The 2002 Pro Bowl was the NFL's all-star game for the 2001 season. The game was played on February 9, 2002, at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii. The final score was AFC 38, NFC 30. Rich Gannon of the Oakland Raiders was the game's MVP. AFC ...

after reaching career highs with 112 tackles and 9 interceptions. Lassiter spent the 2003 season with the Chargers, but he was cut during the 2004 preseason. The St. Louis Rams signed Lassiter on September 21, 2004.

NFL statistics

Post-playing career

From 2006 to 2008, Lassiter was a pregame and postgame host for the Arizona Cardinals Radio Network. From 2009 until his death, Lassiter hosted ''Kwamie Lassiter's Sports Talk'' on the VoiceAmerica Internet radio network. From 2010 until his death, Lassiter was president of the

NFL Alumni The NFL Alumni Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is composed of former National Football League (NFL) players, coaches, team staff members and associate members who work voluntarily to raise funds for youth-oriented causes and ...

chapter in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. From 2009 to 2010, Lassiter was defensive backs coach at

Mesa Community College Mesa Community College (MCC) is a public community college in Mesa, Arizona. It is the largest of the 10 community colleges in the Maricopa County Community College District, the largest community college district in the United States in ter ...

. In 2012, Lassiter became defensive backs coach for the Las Vegas Locomotives of the UFL.

Personal life

Three of Lassiter's sons, Kwamie II, Darius and Kwinton, have played college football or in the NFL. Kwamie II plays for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

, having played college football at his father's alma mater Kansas. Kwinton also plays at Kansas, while Darius plays for

BYU Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...

Lassiter's daughter, Darian, is a professional dancer who was on the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

dance team as well as the

cheerleaders. As of 2020, she is a member of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders and appeared on season 15 of their reality television show Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team.

Death

On January 6, 2019, Lassiter died aged 49. He died of a heart attack suffered while working out.

References

External links

Kwamie Lassiter
biography from

(archived from 2004) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lassiter, Kwamie 1969 births 2019 deaths American sports radio personalities Arizona Cardinals players American football safeties Butler Grizzlies football players Kansas Jayhawks football players Place of death missing Las Vegas Locomotives coaches Players of American football from Hampton, Virginia Players of American football from Newport News, Virginia St. Louis Rams players San Diego Chargers players Coaches of American football from Virginia Mesa Thunderbirds football