Martin "MJ" Emerson Jr. (born September 27, 2000) 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 ...

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 ...

for the

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 ( ...

of 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 ...

at Mississippi State.

Early life and high school

Emerson grew up in

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ...

and attended Pine Forest High School. As a senior, he had 91 tackles and two tackles for loss with four passes broken up, one interception, one forced fumble, and two fumble recoveries. Emerson was rated a three-star recruit and committed to play college football at Mississippi State over offers from Miami, Oregon and Ole Miss.

College career

Emerson played in all 13 of Mississippi State's games with five starts in his freshman season. As a sophomore, he had 72 total tackles and

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

-high 11 pass breakups. Pro Football Focus rated Emerson the seventh-best cornerback in coverage in the nation and named him an honorable mention All-American.

Professional career

Emerson was selected by the

with the 68th overall pick in the third round of the

2022 NFL Draft The 2022 NFL Draft was the 87th edition of the National Football League's annual draft and was held from April 28–30, 2022, at the Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The first round was held on Thursday, April 28, and w ...

NFL career statistics

References

External links

Cleveland Browns bioMississippi State Bulldogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Emerson, Martin 2000 births Living people Players of American football from Pensacola, Florida American football cornerbacks Mississippi State Bulldogs football players Cleveland Browns players