Marquis Floyd (born March 17, 1980) 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 ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

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 ...

for the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

and

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 divisi ...

. He also was a member of the

Tennessee Valley Vipers Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

Rio Grande Valley Dorados The Rio Grande Valley Dorados were a professional arena football team. They began playing in 2004 as an expansion member of af2, the minor league to the Arena Football League. They played their home games at Obra Homes Field at Dodge Arena in ...

San Jose SaberCats The San Jose SaberCats were a professional arena football team based in San Jose, California. The SaberCats had been members of the Arena Football League (AFL) since 1995 (the year in which the team was founded); and until 2015, they belonged to ...

and

Arizona Rattlers The Arizona Rattlers are a professional indoor American football team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are currently members of the Indoor Football League (IFL). The Rattlers were founded in 1992 as an expansion team in the Arena Football League ...

in the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

. He was signed by the

as a

street 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 2004. 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 ...

at West Georgia.

Early years

Floyd attended

Monroe Area High School Monroe Area High School is located in Walton County, Georgia, Walton County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. It serves the city of Monroe, Georgia, Monroe. The school Monroe Area High School is a public, four-year comprehensive high ...

, where he was a four sport athlete. He played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

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 tea ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

. He was the

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

of the basketball team his

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

year and

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

years. He won the 'Best Sprinter' award from his track team and 'Best

Outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

' honor for baseball.

College career

Floyd accepted a football scholarship from the

University of West Georgia The University of West Georgia is a public university in Carrollton, Georgia. The university offers a satellite campus in Newnan, Georgia, select classes at its Douglasville Center, and off-campus Museum Studies classes at the Atlanta History Ce ...

, where he was a three-time

American Football Coaches Association The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) is an association of over 11,000 American football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "mainta ...

(AFCA) All-American. He led the Braves in

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 in each of his last three seasons and holds the school record for career interceptions with 19. Floyd recorded 231

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking up ...

, 164 solo during his four seasons. He holds the school's all-time

punt return In gridiron football, a punt is a kick performed by dropping the ball from the hands and then kicking the ball before it hits the ground. The most common use of this tactic is to punt the ball downfield to the opposing team, usually on the final d ...

yards record with 982 on 125 returns. Floyd ended his college career participating in the 2003

Cactus Bowl The Guaranteed Rate Bowl is an annual college football bowl game that has been played in the state of Arizona since 1989. Played as the Copper Bowl from inception through 1996, it was known as the Insight.com Bowl from 1997 through 2001, then ...

Division II all-star classic in

Kingsville, Texas Kingsville is a city in the southern region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Kleberg County. Located on the U.S. Route 77 corridor between Corpus Christi and Harlingen, Kingsville is the principal city of the Kingsville Micropo ...

. Floyd was named Team MVP his senior year.

Professional career

Tennessee Valley Vipers

Floyd began his professional career playing in 16 games with the

af2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football ru ...

in 2004. He led team with 17 passes defensed while posting 37.0 tackles, 27 solo and two

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful ...

recoveries. Floyd had 20

reception Reception is a noun form of ''receiving'', or ''to receive'' something, such as art, experience, information, people, products, or vehicles. It may refer to: Astrology * Reception (astrology), when a planet is located in a sign ruled by another p ...

s for 242 yards and three

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 Ameri ...

s and ran for seven yards and two touchdowns.

Rio Grande Valley Dorados

In 2005, Floyd played in all 16 games for the

earning af2 Ironman of the Year honors. He recorded a team-best 101 receptions for 1,452 yards and 29 touchdowns with 23 rush yards and four touchdowns on 20 carries. Floyd caught at least one touchdown pass in all 16 games. He placed fourth in the league with nine interceptions. Floyd added 47.0 tackles, 42 solo, 11 passes defensed and two forced fumbles. He earned league weekly recognition twice and was named player of the game seven times.

San Jose SaberCats

On October 10, 2005, Floyd signed with the

of the

. In

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, Floyd played in 13 games his

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

season. He finished second on team with 46.5 tackles and tied for second with three interceptions. Foyde returned his first career interception for a touchdown. He tied for third in the league with four forced fumbles. Floyd had 203 yards and a touchdown on 21 receptions and scored a rush touchdown on two attempts. He spent two games on

Injured Reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

with a

groin In human anatomy, the groin (the adjective is ''inguinal'', as in inguinal canal) is the junctional area (also known as the inguinal region) between the abdomen and the thigh on either side of the pubic bone. This is also known as the medial comp ...

injury. As a starting Wide receiver /

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 ...

, Floyd recorded seven catches for 43 yards with four tackles and a forced fumble in his AFL debut against the

Utah Blaze The Utah Blaze was a professional arena football team based in Salt Lake City, Utah and competed in the West Division (AFL), West Division of the Arena Football League. Home games were played at the EnergySolutions Arena. In 2013, the team did ...

. He scored his first career AFL touchdown on a 51-yard interception return, the second longest return in franchise history, and added his first career touchdown reception, along with a forced fumble and two tackles to win the Ironman of the Game at the

Grand Rapids Rampage The Grand Rapids Rampage was an arena football team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The team began play in 1998 in the Arena Football League as an expansion team. They were last coached by Steve Thonn. Their home arena was the Van Andel Arena. ...

. Floyd is credited with three tackles and a forced fumble that resulted in a

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 ...

, at the

Tampa Bay Storm The Tampa Bay Storm were a professional arena football team based in Tampa, Florida, US. It played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Originally the team was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and operated as the Pittsburgh Gladiators. The f ...

, after missing the previous three games. He had a 2-yard touchdown on his first career rush attempt against the Gladiators. Floyd recorded his second interception of the season, against the Crush. He recorded his third interception of the year against the

Columbus Destroyers The Columbus Destroyers were an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in Columbus, Ohio, with home games in Nationwide Arena. The team was founded in as the Buffalo Destroyers, based in Buffalo, New York, and relocated to Columbus in . They fold ...

. Floyd played in both postseason games. He had 10 receptions for 116 yards and a touchdown with 4.5 tackles and a forced fumble against the

Chicago Rush The Chicago Rush were a professional arena football team based in Rosemont, Illinois Rosemont is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Located immediately northwest of Chicago, as of the 2010 census it had a population of 4,20 ...

. In

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, Floyd started all 16 games at defensive back. He was second on the team with six interceptions, third with 16 passes defensed and fourth with 56.0 tackles. He was the first player with two multi-interception games in the same season since Clevan Thomas in 2003. Floyd moved into seventh place on team's career interception list with nine. He tied for 10th in the league with 22 passes defensed. Floyd recorded his 100th career tackle. He had his second career interception return touchdown, 46 yards, along with a career-high seven tackles against the Storm. Floyd had the first two passes defensed of his career against the Crush. He registered his 55th career solo tackle, against the

New Orleans VooDoo Louisiana Voodoo (french: Vaudou louisianais, es, Vudú de Luisiana), also known as New Orleans Voodoo, is an African diasporic religion which originated in Louisiana, now in the southern United States. It arose through a process of syncretis ...

. Floyd made his second interception of the season, fifth career, against the Blaze. He had his first career two-interception game, against the Gladiators, to become the 12th player in franchise history with a multi-interception game. Floyd had his second two-interception game and moved into seventh on the franchise's career list with nine, also returned an onside kick 10-yards for a touchdown, at the

Nashville Kats The Nashville Kats were an Arena Football League team, located in Nashville, Tennessee. They were last coached by Pat Sperduto, who coached the team's original incarnation to two ArenaBowl appearances prior to the original franchise's move to A ...

, his fifth career touchdown. He established a new career-high with three passes defensed against the

. Floyd matched his career-best with three passes defended at the

Gladiators A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...

. In the 2007 postseason, he started all three games at defensive back. Floyd tied a team playoff record with two interceptions against the Rush. He had seven tackles and a playoff career-high tying two passes defensed in

ArenaBowl XXI ArenaBowl XXI was the 2007 championship game of the Arena Football League and was played at the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana on Sunday, July 29, 2007. It was the third-ever neutral site title game in league's history and the first h ...

against the Destroyers. On August 14, 2007, Floyd was re-signed by the SaberCats. During the week one loss of the, Floyd recorded three tackles, one tackle for loss. During the week two win over the Rampage, Floyd had one missed field goal return for a loss of six yards, three 3.5 tackles. He also recovered an onside kick at the 11-yard line and returned it eight yards. During the week three win over the Rattlers, he had six tackles, one interception returned 43 yards. During the week four loss to the

Dallas Desperados The Dallas Desperados were a professional arena football team based in Dallas, Texas. The Desperados played in the Eastern Division of the Arena Football League from 2002 to 2008. The franchise began play in as an expansion team, and have post ...

, Floyd had, 5.5 tackles, on kick return for no yards, he was also involved in a helmet-to-helmet collision, that resulted in Desperados Wide receiver /

Will Pettis Will Pettis (born December 11, 1977) is a former wide receiver and defensive back in the Arena Football League for the Dallas Desperados and Dallas Vigilantes. He was a four-time member of the AFL's All-Ironman team, a three-time member of the A ...

receiving a concussion. During the week five win over the Brigade, Floyd had one tackle, and one interception for no yards.

Seattle Seahawks

On August 12, 2008, Floyd was signed by the

. On August 30, he was waived by the team during final cuts and was later re-signed to the team's

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

. On September 5, 2009, he was released during final cuts.

Cleveland Browns

On September 6, 2009, Floyd was claimed off of waivers and signed to the active roster. He was waived on September 22. He was signed back onto the Cleveland Browns practice squad on September 24, after the team waived practice squad receiver Lance Leggett.

Dallas Cowboys

On November 30, 2009, Floyd was signed to the

' practice squad. On January 18, 2010, Floyd signed a future contract with Dallas. He was waived on June 22.

Arizona Rattlers

In 2011, Floyd signed with the

. Floyd has been a part of the Rattlers back-to-back-to-back ArenaBowl Championships in 2012, 2013 and 2014. On June 21, 2016, Floyd was placed on recallable reassignment.

References

External links

Seattle Seahawks bioCleveland Browns bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Floyd, Marquis 1980 births Living people People from Monroe, Georgia Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) American football return specialists American football wide receivers American football cornerbacks West Georgia Wolves football players Tennessee Valley Vipers players Rio Grande Valley Dorados players San Jose SaberCats players Seattle Seahawks players Cleveland Browns players Dallas Cowboys players Arizona Rattlers players