Steven Nelson (born January 22, 1993) 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

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

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 ...

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

, and was drafted in the third round of the

2015 NFL Draft The 2015 NFL Draft was the 80th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. It took place in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre and in Grant Park, from April 30 to May 2. The previous ...

by the

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 ...

. He has also played for the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

and

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

Early years

Nelson attended Northside High School in

Warner Robins, Georgia Warner Robins (typically ) is a city in the U.S. state of Georgia, located in Houston and Peach counties in the central part of the state. It is currently Georgia's eleventh-largest incorporated city, with an estimated population of 80,308 in th ...

. As a senior, he had seven

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 ...

on defense and seven punt return

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

. Also a

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 ...

star at Warner Robins, Nelson had a best of 11.15 seconds in the

100 meters The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contest ...

and was part of the 4x100 relay team that finished in first place in the county.

College career

Nelson attended the

College of the Sequoias College of the Sequoias (COS) is a public two-year community college in Visalia, California. The college is named for the Giant Sequoia trees native to the nearby Sierra Nevada mountain range. History College of the Sequoias was originally esta ...

for two years, where he had 71 tackles and six interceptions. He was originally going to transfer to the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

but changed to

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...

. Nelson entered his first season at Oregon State as the nickel corner, eventually becoming a starter and starting the final nine games. For the season he had 62 tackles and six interceptions. As a senior in 2014, Nelson recorded 60 tackles and two interceptions.

Professional career

On November 30, 2014, it was announced that Nelson had accepted his invitation to play in the 2015 Senior Bowl. On January 24, 2015, Nelson appeared in the 2015 Senior Bowl and recorded four tackles as part of Tennessee Titans' head coach Ken Whisenhunt's North team that defeated the South 34–13. Nelson attended the

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Footb ...

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

and completed all of the combine and positional drills. On March 13, 2015, Nelson participated at Oregon State's pro day and chose to run the 40-yard dash (4.46s), 20-yard dash (2.57s), 10-yard dash (1.57s), and also positional and pass coverage drills. He attended pre-draft visits with the

and

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 ...

and was considered one of the most underrated prospects in the upcoming draft. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Nelson was projected to be a third round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked as the 12th-best cornerback prospect in the draft by DraftScout.com and was ranked as the 13th-best cornerback by

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

Kansas City Chiefs

2015

The

selected Nelson in the third round (98th overall) of the

. Nelson was the 14th cornerback drafted overall and was the second cornerback drafted by the Chiefs in 2015. On May 15, 2015, the Kansas City Chiefs signed Nelson to a four-year, $2.91 million

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

that includes a

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

of $581,952. Throughout training camp, Nelson competed for a backup cornerback spot against

Jamell Fleming Jamell Fleming (born May 5, 1989) is a former American football cornerback in the National Football League. Originally drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the third round of the 2012 NFL Draft, he also played for the Jacksonville Jaguars and the ...

and

Marcus Cooper Marcus Cooper Sr. (born February 1, 1990) is a former American football cornerback. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the seventh round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He played college football for Rutgers University. Cooper has also ...

. Head coach

Andy Reid Andrew Walter Reid (born March 19, 1958) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). Reid was previously head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1999 to 2012. From 200 ...

named Nelson the sixth cornerback on the Chiefs' depth chart to begin the regular season, behind Sean Smith,

Phillip Gaines Phillip Gaines (born April 4, 1991) is an American football cornerback who is a free agent. He was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the third round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He played college football at Rice Owls football, Rice. High school c ...

Marcus Peters Marcus Peters (born January 9, 1993) is an American football cornerback who is a free agent. He was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft and was also a member of the Los Angeles Rams and the Baltimore Raven ...

, Jamell Fleming, and Marcus Cooper. Nelson was inactive as a healthy scratch for the first four regular season games of his rookie season (Weeks 1–4). On October 11, 2015, Nelson made his professional regular season debut in the Kansas City Chiefs' 36–21 loss at 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 ...

in Week 4. In Week 12, he collected a season-high three solo tackles in the Chiefs' 30–22 victory against the

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

. Nelson finished his rookie season with eight solo tackles in 12 games, appearing primarily on special teams. The Kansas City Chiefs finished second in the

AFC West The American Football Conference – Western Division or AFC West is one of the four divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The division comprises the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Las ...

with an 11–5 record and earned a playoff berth as a wildcard. On January 9, 2016, Nelson appeared in his first career playoff game and broke up a pass during a 30-0 victory at the

in the AFC Wildcard Game. The following week, the Chiefs were eliminated from the playoffs after a 27-20 loss at 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 ...

in the AFC Divisional Round.

2016

Throughout training camp, Nelson competed to be a starting cornerback after Sean Smith departed for the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

in free agency. Nelson competed against Jamell Fleming, Phillip Gaines, and rookie

KeiVarae Russell KeiVarae Russell (born October 19, 1993) is an American football cornerback who is a free agent. He was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He played college football at Notre Dame. High school career Ru ...

. Head coach Andy Reid named Nelson a starting cornerback to start the regular season, alongside Marcus Peters. He started in the Kansas City Chiefs' season-opener against 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 ...

and collected a season-high nine solo tackles in their 33–27 victory. In Week 9, he recorded two combined tackles and made a season-high three pass deflections during a 19–14 victory against the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

. Nelson was inactive for the Chiefs' Week 12 victory at the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

due to a neck injury. He finished the season with 65 combined tackles (59 solo) and 16 pass deflections in 15 games and 15 starts. The

finished first in the AFC West with a 12–4 record and earned a first round bye. On January 25, 2017, Nelson started his first career playoff game in the AFC Divisional Round against the

and made five combined tackles as the Chiefs lost 18–16.

2017

Nelson entered training camp slated as a starting cornerback but saw competition for the role from Phillip Gaines. On September 3, 2017, the Kansas City Chiefs placed Nelson on injured reserve/designated to return in order for him to undergo core muscle surgery. On October 30, 2017, the Kansas City Chiefs activated Nelson off injured reserve for the team's Week 8 matchup against the Broncos. He returned to his starting role in Week 9 and was named the starting cornerback, along with Marcus Peters, for the remainder of the season. In Week 13, he collected a season-high nine combined tackles during a 38–31 loss at 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 ...

. He finished the 2017 season with 41 combined tackles (33 solo) and four pass deflections in nine games and seven starts. He received an overall grade of 76.8 from

Pro Football Focus Pro Football Focus (also written as ProFootballFocus, and often referred to by its initials, PFF) is a sports analytics company that focuses on thorough analysis of the National Football League (NFL) and NCAA Division-I football in the United Sta ...

in 2017. The

finished first in the AFC West with a 10–6 record, but were eliminated from the playoffs after a 22–21 upset loss to 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 ...

in the AFC wild card game. He finished the game with three combined tackles and a pass deflection.

2018

Nelson entered training camp slated as the No. 1 starting cornerback on the Chiefs' depth chart after the team traded Marcus Peters to the Los Angeles Rams. Head coach Andy Reid named Nelson and

Kendall Fuller Kendall Christopher Fuller (born February 13, 1995) is an American football cornerback for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Virginia Tech and was drafted by the Washington Commanders ...

the starting cornerback tandem to begin the regular season in 2018. He started in the Kansas City Chiefs' season-opener at the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

and collected eight combined tackles and broke up a pass in their 38–28 victory. On October 7, 2018, Nelson recorded three combined tackles, deflected two passes, and made his first career interception during a 30–14 victory against the

in Week 5. He made his first career interception off a pass attempt by quarterback

Blake Bortles Robby Blake Bortles (born April 28, 1992) 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 ...

after Bortles' pass ricocheted off the helmet of a Jaguars' offensive lineman and was caught by Nelson in the end zone with less than 12 seconds remaining in the second quarter. He started all 16 games in 2018, recording 68 combined tackles, 15 passes defensed, and four interceptions.

Pittsburgh Steelers

2019

On March 14, 2019, the

signed Nelson to a three-year, $25.5 million contract that includes a

of $7.50 million. Head coach

Mike Tomlin Michael Pettaway Tomlin (born March 15, 1972) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). Since joining the Steelers in 2007, he has led the team to ten playoff runs, se ...

named Nelson and Joe Haden the starting cornerback duo to begin the regular season. Steelers vs Browns 17

Nelson made his debut with the Steelers in Week 1 against the

. In the game, Nelson made 3 tackles in the 33-3 loss. Nelson was inactive for the Steelers’ Week 6 victory at the

due to a groin injury. In Week 8 against the

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 ...

, Nelson recovered a fumble forced by teammate

Mike Hilton Michael Hilton Jr. (born March 9, 1994) is an American football cornerback for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ole Miss and signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free ...

on Mark Walton in the 27-14 win. In Week 15 against the

on Sunday Night Football, Nelson intercepted a pass thrown by

Josh Allen Josh or Joshua Allen may refer to: * Josh Allen (offensive lineman) (born 1991), former American football player * Josh Allen (quarterback) (born 1996), American football quarterback in the NFL for the Buffalo Bills since 2018 * Josh Allen (defensi ...

and returned it for 33 yards as the Steelers lost 17–10.

2020

In Week 5 against the

, Nelson recorded his first two interceptions off of passes thrown by

Carson Wentz Carson James Wentz (born December 30, 1992) is an American football quarterback for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). Wentz played college football at North Dakota State, where he won two consecutive NCAA FCS nat ...

during the 38–29 win. On March 23, 2021, the Steelers, at Nelson's request, terminated his contract.

Philadelphia Eagles

On July 25, 2021, Nelson agreed to terms on a one-year contract with the

. He started 16 games in 2021, recording 50 tackles, seven passes defensed, and one interception.

Houston Texans

On April 14, 2022, Nelson signed with the

NFL career statistics

References

External links

Oregon State Beavers bio

Kansas City Chiefs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Steven 1993 births Living people American football cornerbacks College of the Sequoias Giants football players Houston Texans players Kansas City Chiefs players Oregon State Beavers football players People from Warner Robins, Georgia Philadelphia Eagles players Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state)