Lance A. Schulters (born May 27, 1975) is 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 ...

coach and a former

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 drafted 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

1998 NFL Draft The 1998 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 18–19, 1998, at the Theater at M ...

. 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 ...

Hofstra Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of New ...

. A

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

selection with the 49ers 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 shootin ...

, Schulters also played for the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

and

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 ...

College career

Schulters attended

Canarsie High School Canarsie High School, which opened in 1964, is a defunct public high school in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Canarsie in New York City. Closed in 2011, the building currently operates as Canarsie Educational Campus, housing several smaller high sch ...

, where he played football under coach Mike Camardese. Schulters moved on to Nassau Community College in

Garden City, New York Garden City is a village located on Long Island in Nassau County New York. It is the Greater Garden City area's anchor community. The population was 23,272 at the 2020 census. The Incorporated Village of Garden City is primarily located within ...

, becoming a two-year starter before transferring to Hofstra in 1996. He played two seasons for the Flying Dutchmen, becoming a two-time All-America selection and the 1997 I-AA Independent Defensive Player of the Year. He was inducted into the Hofstra Athletics Hall of Fame in 2013.

Professional career

San Francisco 49ers

Schulters played the first four seasons of his career with the

. After winning the starting free safety job in the first week of the 1999–2000 season from aging Pro Bowl safety

Merton Hanks Merton Edward Hanks (born March 12, 1968) is a former American football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons during the 1990s. He is currently a Senior Associate Commissioner for the Pac-12. College care ...

, Schulters played a major role in the 49ers' first win of the season, in Week 2 against the

at home, intercepting a pass from

Billy Joe Hobert Billy Joe Hobert (born January 8, 1971) is a former professional American football quarterback. He played nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with four teams, primarily as a reserve. College career While at the University of Wash ...

and returning it 64 yards for a dramatic touchdown that broke a 21–21 tie with 1:31 left in the game. Schulters finished the season with six interceptions returned for 121 yards while starting in 13 games for the 49ers, earning himself a trip to the Pro Bowl. Schulters played in San Francisco for two more seasons, and was part of a playoff team with a regular-season record of 12–4 in his last year before signing with the

after the 2001–02 season.

Tennessee Titans

Schulters played three seasons with the Tennessee Titans. He was cut by the Titans prior to the 2005 season.

First stint with Dolphins

In 2005, Schulters signed with the

, recording four

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 b ...

s and 77 tackles on the season.

Atlanta Falcons

He signed with the

on November 8, 2006, as a backup to replace injured

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

Kevin Mathis Kevin Bryant Mathis (born April 29, 1974) is a former American football cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, New Orleans Saints, and Atlanta Falcons. He played college football at Texas A&M University–Commer ...

Second stint with Dolphins

On October 24, 2007, the Dolphins resigned Schulters after suffering several injuries in their secondary.

New Orleans Saints

On August 18, 2008, Schulters signed with the

. He was released by the team on August 29.

NFL statistics

Coaching career

Schulters became the defensive backs coach at Bryant University in 2011. He joined the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship and landed a job with the Seattle Seahawks.

Atlanta Falcons

Schulters joined the Atlanta Falcons as a special teams intern in 2015 and eventually became a defensive assistant.

Los Angeles Rams

Schulters followed

Raheem Morris Raheem Morris (born September 3, 1976) is an American football coach who is the defensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as head coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2009 to 2 ...

, the Falcons' former interim head coach and Schulters' former teammate at Hofstra, to the Los Angeles Rams as a coaching fellow in 2021. The Rams won the

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

in his first season on their staff. He was promoted to a role as a defensive assistant in 2022. He was fired on January 18, 2023. Schulters' son, K-Shawn, is a defensive back at Villanova.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schulters, Lance 1975 births Living people American football safeties Hofstra Pride football players San Francisco 49ers players Tennessee Titans players Miami Dolphins players Atlanta Falcons players New Orleans Saints players National Conference Pro Bowl players People from Canarsie, Brooklyn Players of American football from New York (state) Guyanese emigrants to the United States Guyanese players of American football Afro-Guyanese people Canarsie High School alumni Los Angeles Rams coaches Ed Block Courage Award recipients