Michael Basnight (born September 3, 1977) 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 ...
running back
A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...
who played one season with 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 ...
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 ...
. 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
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (also known as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, N.C. A&T, or simply A&T) is a public, historically black land-grant research university in Greensboro, North Caro ...
and attended
Booker T. Washington High School in
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...
.
College career
Basnight played for the
North Carolina A&T Aggies, rushing for a career total of 2,544 yards. He won the
Jake Gaither
Alonzo Smith "Jake" Gaither (April 11, 1903 – February 18, 1994) was an American football coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Florida A&M University (FAMU) for 25 years, from 1945 to 1969, compili ...
Award, given to the nation's best player from a historically black college, his senior season in 1998. He graduated with a
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
in Art Design.
Professional career
Cincinnati Bengals
Basnight signed with the Cincinnati Bengals after going undrafted in the
1999 NFL Draft
The 1999 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 17–18, 1999, at the Theater at M ...
.
He played in thirteen games, starting one, for the Bengals during the
1999 season.
He was released by the Bengals on August 27, 2001.
Houston Texans
Basnight signed with the Houston Texans on December 29, 2001. He was released by the Texans on April 23, 2002.
References
External links
Just Sports Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Basnight, Michael
1977 births
Living people
Players of American football from Norfolk, Virginia
American football running backs
African-American players of American football
North Carolina A&T Aggies football players
Cincinnati Bengals players
21st-century African-American sportspeople
20th-century African-American sportspeople