Coronta "Tay" Cody (born October 6, 1977) is a former American college and professional

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 ...

who was a

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 ...

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 ...

(NFL) and

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL) for six seasons. 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 ...

for

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

, and was a consensus All-American. He was picked 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 ...

in the third round of the

2001 NFL Draft The 2001 NFL Draft was the 66th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting," was held at the ...

, and he also played professionally for the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

and

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

of the CFL.

Early years

Cody was born in

Colquitt, Georgia Colquitt is a city in Miller County, in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. The population was 1,992 at the 2010 census. Colquitt is the county seat of Miller County, a role it has held since just after Miller County was create ...

. He attended Early County High School in

Blakely, Georgia Blakely is a city and the county seat of Early County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 5,068. It is located approximately halfway between Columbus and Tallahassee, Florida on U.S. Route 27. History Blakel ...

, and he played for the Early County

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

team. He was listed among the ''

Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...

s "Super Southern 100" as a senior defensive back. He was regarded as one of Georgia's top 50 prospects and received one of the higher grades from Jeff Whitaker's Deep South Football. He was considered the 12th-best defensive back in the country by Super Prep. He recorded 10

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 over his final two seasons. He totaled 70

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 u ...

as a senior.

College career

Cody attended

, and played for coach

Bobby Bowden Robert Cleckler Bowden (; November 8, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was an American college football coach. Bowden coached the Florida State Seminoles of Florida State University (FSU) from 1976 to 2009 and is considered one of the greatest college ...

Florida State Seminoles football The Florida State Seminoles football team represents Florida State University (variously Florida State or FSU) in the sport of American football. The Seminoles compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Colle ...

team from 1996 to 2000. He was redshirted as a true freshman in 1996. He appeared in seven of the Seminoles' 11 games during their BCS National Championship season in 1999, and earned honorable mention All-

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

honors. As a senior in 2000, he was a first-team All-ACC selection and was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American as a defensive back.''2011 NCAA Football Records Book''
Award Winners
National Collegiate Athletic Association, Indianapolis, Indiana, p. 11 (2011). Retrieved June 24, 2012.

Professional career

The San Diego Chargers selected Cody in the third round (67th overall pick) of the

. He played three seasons for the Chargers (2001–2003). He joined the CFL's

for one season (2005). He finished his career with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2006–2008). Cody coached football at Bay High School in Panama City, Florida until 2012. He was the defensive coordinator and defensive-backs coach.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cody, Tay 1977 births Living people All-American college football players American football cornerbacks American players of Canadian football Canadian football defensive backs Edmonton Elks players Florida State Seminoles football players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players People from Colquitt, Georgia Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) San Diego Chargers players People from Blakely, Georgia