Antone Chavez Exum Jr. (born February 27, 1991), also known mononymously as Exum, is a musician and 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 wi ...

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

. He played college football at

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...

, and was drafted by the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL Draft.

High school career

Exum attended Deep Run High School in

Glen Allen, Virginia Glen Allen is a census-designated place (CDP) in Henrico County, Virginia, United States. The population was 16,187 as of the 2020 Census, up from 14,774 at the 2010 census. Areas outside the CDP which use a "Glen Allen" mailing address include r ...

, where he participated in football, basketball and track. In 2008, he was named first-team All-region and was a first-team selection for the Richmond Times-Dispatch All-Metro defensive team. As a junior, he threw for 860 yards and rushed for 658 yards, scoring 25 total touchdowns, while also adding 20 tackles and three interceptions as a defensive back. He accounted for 2,357 all-purpose yards and 30 total

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

in his senior season, including six on returns. He also

lettered Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

and track at Deep Run. In 2009, he earned first-place finishes in both 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 contes ...

(11.50s) and 200 meters (23.53s) at the Douglas Freeman Meet. He also posted a personal-best time of 23.16 seconds in the

200-meter dash The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

at the district meet, where he placed sixth. Considered a three-star recruit by

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

, Exum was listed as the 38th best athlete prospect of his class and the No. 14 player in the state. He was rated the No. 16 prospect in Virginia by

The Roanoke Times ''The Roanoke Times'' is the primary newspaper in Southwestern Virginia and is based in Roanoke, Virginia, United States. It is published by Lee Enterprises. In addition to its headquarters in Roanoke, it maintains a bureau in Christiansburg, ...

. He was rated the No. 42 athlete prospect nationally by both

ESPN.com ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN. It is owned by ESPN Internet Ventures, a division of ESPN Inc. History Since launching in April 1995 as ESPNET.SportsZone.com (ESPNET SportsZone), the website has developed numerous sections including ...

and

Scouts Inc Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpack ...

. He was also ranked the No. 69

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

prospect in the nation by

Scout.com Scout Media is an integrated sports publishing company that produces Internet content covering hundreds of professional and college teams across America. The company was founded in 2001 and was acquired by Fox Sports in 2005. In 2013, Fox Sports ...

College career

Exum attended

from 2009 to 2013. In 2009, he

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

as a true freshman. In 2010, Exum played in all 14 games, starting five. He played at free safety but moved around a lot in the Hokies nickel defense. He recorded 45 tackles and had a team-high nine pass breakups for the season. In 2011, he was an honorable mention All-

ACC ACC most often refers to: * Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US *American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...

selection at safety, after he led the team with 89 tackles, while adding five tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and an interception on the season. He also had 10 pass breakups, two quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. In 2012, Exum was moved to cornerback in spring practice. He started all 13 games, recording 48 tackles, including 1.5 for loss and led the team with five interceptions. He also had 16 pass break-ups, 21 Passes Defended two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. He capped off his season with an MVP performance in the

2012 Russell Athletic Bowl The 2012 Russell Athletic Bowl was a postseason American college football bowl game held on December 28, 2012, at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida in the United States. This was the first under the Russell Athletic moniker after eight game un ...

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and w ...

, and was also named second-team All-ACC. In January 2013, Exum suffered a torn ACL and lateral meniscus of his right knee during a pick-up basketball game. Before his injury, he was widely considered to be one of the shutdown players of the season. Especially considering he had 5 interceptions and 16 pass break-ups and his 21passes defended as his first year at the Cornerback position. He missed the team's spring practice and fall camp due to the injury, but was cleared to play on October 1, 2013, by surgeon

Dr. James Andrews James Andrews (born May 2, 1942) is an American orthopedic surgeon. He is a surgeon for knee, elbow, and shoulder injuries and is a specialist in repairing damaged ligaments. Practicing in Gulf Breeze, Florida, Andrews has become one of the bes ...

, just under nine months since his initial diagnosis. Despite being cleared to play, Exum opted not to dress the next two games, but returned to start the next three games before spraining his ankle which caused him to miss the rest of the season, including the Sun Bowl vs.

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

Exum and his highly touted NFL prospect teammate, Kyle Fuller, also missed the Sun Bowl.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Minnesota Vikings

After trading down twice from 148th and 168th, the

drafted Exum in the sixth round (182nd overall) of the 2014 NFL Draft. Many analysts stated that, had he stayed healthy all year, he most likely would have been a 1st–2nd round pick. Exum became the first safety drafted by the Vikings since the club selected Harrison Smith 29th overall in the 2012 NFL Draft. He was also the highest selected defensive back of the 3 picked by the Vikings in the 2014 NFL Draft.

2014 season

Exum played in 15 games (the 2nd most by a Vikings rookie behind DT

Shamar Stephen Shamar Irvin Stephen ( ; born February 25, 1991) is an American football defensive end who is a free agent. He played college football at UConn. He was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the seventh round, 220th overall, of the 2014 NFL Draft. ...

) with no starts during his rookie campaign, contributing heavily on special teams. He was tied for 5th on the team with 7 special teams tackles, compiling 3 of them in the final 4 games of the season. He finished the season with 6

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 ...

(4 solo).

2015 season

Exum was one of just two Vikings defenders to play every snap (64) in the 20–10 win over the Atlanta Falcons in Week 12, and he had a strong day in his first career start (Harrison Smith was inactive with a knee injury) as the Vikings contained wide receiver

Julio Jones Quintorris Lopez "Julio" Jones Jr. (; born February 8, 1989) is an American football wide receiver for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Alabama, and was drafted by the Atlanta Falco ...

and the Falcons' fifth-ranked pass offense. Exum gave up only 16 yards in two passes targeted for him, knifed in to stop

Tevin Coleman Tevin Ford Coleman (born April 16, 1993) is an American football running back for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the third round of the 2015 NFL Draft. He played college fo ...

for a four-yard loss at the goal line and recovered Anthony Barr's forced fumble on Coleman's 46-yard run. Exum ended the game with three tackles (one for loss) and a fumble recovery. In Minnesota's Week 13 loss against the Seattle Seahawks Exum tackled Seahawks running back Thomas Rawls to force his first career fumble in the NFL.

2016 season

Exum was waived/injured by the Vikings on August 30, 2016. He was then placed on injured reserve after clearing waivers.

2017 season

After an injury in mini-camp, Exum went into the 2017 training camp healthy, and spent the first week of practice as a nickel corner after spending his first few seasons as a safety. He was waived by the Vikings on September 16, 2017.

San Francisco 49ers

On November 7, 2017, Exum signed with the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

2018 season

On June 6, 2018, Exum re-signed with the 49ers. He was released on September 1, 2018, and was re-signed again on September 3, 2018. In Week 4 against

Philip Rivers Philip Michael Rivers (born December 8, 1981) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons, primarily with the Chargers franchise. He played college football at NC State and was se ...

and 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 ...

, Exum recorded his first career interception and touchdown. On March 14, 2019, Exum re-signed with the 49ers.

2019 season

On August 31, 2019, Exum was released but re-signed the next day. He was released on October 2, 2019. He was re-signed on December 4, 2019. On January 1, 2020, Exum was waived by the 49ers.

Career statistics

Music career

After an injury ended his 2016 season with the Minnesota Vikings, Exum started recording songs. He began collaborating with Norwegian producer Erik Samkopf in 2018. Exum's music is described as "surreal pop" by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''. His track ''Arrest The Dancer'' debuted on the Matt Wilkinson Show on May 6, 2021.

References

External links

San Francisco 49ers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Exum, Antone Living people 1991 births Players of American football from Richmond, Virginia American football cornerbacks American football safeties Virginia Tech Hokies football players Minnesota Vikings players San Francisco 49ers players 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportspeople