Collie Antonio Langham (born July 31, 1972) is an American former 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 ...

player who was a

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 ...

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 majo ...

(NFL) for seven 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 in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

for the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publ ...

, and was recognized as an All-American. Selected by the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conferenc ...

in the first round of the

1994 NFL Draft The 1994 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 24–25, 1994, at the Marriott Ma ...

, Langham also played professionally for the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

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 Nationa ...

, and

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 ...

of the NFL.

Early years

Langham was born in

Town Creek, Alabama Town Creek is a town in Lawrence County, Alabama, United States, and is included in the Decatur Metropolitan Area, as well as the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. It incorporated in March 1875. As of the 2010 census, the population ...

. He graduated from Hazlewood High School in Town Creek.

College career

Langham attended the University of Alabama, where he played for the

Alabama Crimson Tide football The Alabama Crimson Tide football program represents the University of Alabama (variously Alabama, UA, or Bama) in the sport of American football. The team competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Ass ...

team as 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 ...

from 1990 to 1993. On the eventual 1992 national championship team Langham, in his sophomore year, he returned an interception for a touchdown late in the 4th quarter of the

1992 SEC Championship Game The 1992 SEC Championship Game was played on December 5, 1992, at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. The Southeastern Conference (SEC) was the first conference in NCAA Division I college football to host a post-season conference championship g ...

. As a junior in 1993, he was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American and would win the

Jim Thorpe Award The Jim Thorpe Award, named in memory of multi-sport athlete Jim Thorpe, has been awarded to the top defensive back in college football since 1986. It is voted on by the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. In 2017, the award became sponsored by Payco ...

as the nation's top defensive back. Later, however, he caused the Crimson Tide to forfeit most of its

1993 season File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The White House (Moscow), Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Cze ...

and suffer

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

sanctions by signing with an agent during the previous offseason. Langham also signed and submitted an application to enter the

1993 NFL Draft The 1993 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 25–26, 1993, at the Marriot M ...

, rendering him ineligible under NCAA rules, regardless of whether he had signed with an agent or not. The Crimson Tide's head coach,

Gene Stallings Eugene Clifton Stallings Jr. (born March 2, 1935) is a retired American football player and coach. He played college football at Texas A&M University (1954–1956), where he was one of the "Junction Boys", and later served as the head coach at ...

, failed to inform both the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC) and the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA) of Langham's draft application, or to declare Langham ineligible as required by NCAA rules. His ineligibility was revealed in late November 1993 and the University of Alabama eventually had to forfeit eight wins and a tie from the 1993 season. He still holds the Crimson Tide's team record for career interceptions with 19.

Professional career

The Cleveland Browns selected Langham in the first round (ninth pick overall) of the 1994 NFL Draft, and he played for the Browns during the and seasons. He is one of only two players to have played for the Cleveland Browns before they became the Baltimore Ravens and return to the Browns after the expansion team formed in 1999; the other player is Orlando Brown. His best year as a pro came during the 1996 season as a member of the

when he intercepted 5 passes for 59 yards.

NFL career statistics

Personal life

Langham is a cousin of former NFL players Kerry Goode and Chris Goode.Tide football a family tradition http://www.decaturdaily.com/detail/49870.html?print=1

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Langham, Antonio 1972 births Living people Alabama Crimson Tide football players All-American college football players American football cornerbacks Baltimore Ravens players Cleveland Browns players New England Patriots players People from Town Creek, Alabama Players of American football from Alabama San Francisco 49ers players