Stephen C. Gregory (born January 8, 1983) 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 signed by the

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 ...

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 2006. 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 ...

and coached at

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

. Gregory was also a member of the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

and

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

Early years

Gregory lived in

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

for most of his youth. He was a Jets fan growing up. He attended St. Margaret Mary Parochial Elementary school grades 6-8 then attended Monsignor Farrell High School before transferring to

Curtis High School Curtis High School, operated by the New York City Department of Education, is one of seven public high schools located in Staten Island, New York City, New York. It was founded on February 9, 1904, the first high school on Staten Island. Hist ...

. He played college football at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

Professional career

San Diego Chargers

The defender started his career as an

, and signed with the

as an undrafted free agent in 2006. He played for them until 2011. He started 31 of 85 games, recording 241 tackles, four

interceptions 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 ...

and two sacks.

New England Patriots

On March 15, 2012, Gregory signed with the

. On Thanksgiving Night—November 22, 2012—Gregory had a primary role in the Patriots' victory over his home-town team, the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

. In the game, Gregory had an interception, 2 recovered fumbles (one leading to a touchdown, during the now infamous

butt fumble The Butt Fumble was a notorious American football play from a National Football League (NFL) game played on Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 2012, between the New York Jets and New England Patriots. In front of the home crowd of over 79,000 fans ...

play), 5 tackles, and 1 pass deflection. At the end of the game, on the national NBC broadcast, Gregory was awarded the traditional Thanksgiving award, along with teammates Tom Brady and Vince Wilfork. Between 2012 and 2014, he started 23 games for the New England Patriots. Gregory was released by the Patriots on February 28, 2014.

Kansas City Chiefs and retirement

Gregory was signed by the

on July 31, 2014. Gregory announced his retirement from football on August 9, 2014. He cited the birth of his daughter with his wife Rosanne as giving him a new perspective on life, with plans to coach. He ended his career with 357 tackles, seven interceptions, 25 defensed passes, three sacks and two touchdowns, out of 111 NFL games.

Coaching career

On June 4, 2015, the Syracuse athletic department announced Gregory would return to his alma mater as a special teams quality control coach.

Detroit Lions

Two years after his year coaching at Syracuse, Gregory joined the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

as a defensive assistant. He was promoted to defensive backs coach in 2020, and he missed the team's week 16 game against the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

protocols.

Miami Dolphins

In 2021, Gregory joined the Dolphins as a defensive assistant, where he would reunite with Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, whom coached Gregory with the

where Flores was his Safeties coach. In 2022, he was retained by

Mike McDaniel Michael Lee McDaniel (born March 6, 1983) is an American football coach and the head coach of the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). A former long-time assistant to Mike and Kyle Shanahan, McDaniel began his NFL coaching caree ...

and was promoted to the Dolphins safeties coach. He was fired on January 19, 2023.

NFL career statistics

References

External links

New England Patriots bioSyracuse Orange bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gregory, Steve 1983 births Living people Sportspeople from Brooklyn Sportspeople from Staten Island Players of American football from New York City American football cornerbacks American football safeties Syracuse Orange football players San Diego Chargers players New England Patriots players Kansas City Chiefs players Curtis High School alumni Detroit Lions coaches Miami Dolphins coaches