Demetrious Cox (born April 20, 1994) 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 ...

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 ...

who is a

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 ...

. 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 ...

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

, and signed with 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 ...

as an undrafted free agent in 2017.

Early years

Cox played

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 ...

at Jeannette Senior High School in

Jeannette, Pennsylvania Jeannette is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. Jeannette was founded in 1888. The city got its name from one of the original city fathers, who wished to honor his wife, Jeannette McLaughlin, by giving the new town her fi ...

and was a three-year starter. He completed 55 of 88 passes for 698 yards and 4 touchdowns while also rushing for 621 yards and 12 touchdowns his junior year in 2010. He also recorded 55 tackles and 3 interceptions in 2010. Cox completed 62 of 106 passes for 910 yards and 9 touchdowns while also rushing for 1,263 yards and 22 touchdowns his senior year in 2011. He also recorded 63 tackles and 3 interceptions, including one that was returned for a touchdown, in 2011. Jeannette had a 12–1 record and advanced to the state championship game in 2011. He was named an All-American by

SuperPrep ''Super Prep'' is a sports magazine based in Laguna Beach, California, published in since 1985. It was founded and is published by Allen Wallace, a lawyer. Its main focus is to provide recruiting information on high school football players. In 19 ...

MaxPreps MaxPreps is an American website that specializes in coverage of American high school sports. The site is owned by Paramount Global and is a division of CBS Sports. Founded on August 1, 2002, the company has covered up to 29 sports, including b ...

and

PrepStar ''PrepStar College Recruiting'', known also as ''PrepStar'', is an online magazine at www.prepstar.com, which was established in 1982. It provides information on the top football and basketball prospects in the United States. The online magazin ...

. Cox also played basketball at Jeannette and scored over 1,000 career points. He averaged 18 points per game his junior season, earning All-Conference honors.

College career

Cox was a four-year

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

for the

Michigan State Spartans The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the school colors are green and wh ...

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

from 2013 to 2016. He was

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 ...

in 2012. He played in 14 games in 2013, recording 3 solo tackles and 3 tackle assists. He played in 13 games, starting 1, in 2014, totaling 19 solo tackles, 7 tackle assists, 1 sack, 2 pass breakups, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery. His one start was at

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 ...

. Cox played in 14 games, all starts, in 2015, recording 48 solo tackles, 31 tackle assists, 7 pass breakups, 3 interceptions and 1 fumble recovery which was returned for a touchdown. He started eight games at cornerback and six at safety. He was named Third-team All-

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

by the coaches and Honorable Mention All-Big Ten by the media. Cox played in ten games, all starts at

free safety Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...

, in 2016, totaling 21 solo tackles, 34 tackle assists, 5 pass breakups and 1 interception which was returned for a touchdown. He was one of three team captains in 2016. He played in 51 games, starting 25, during his college career, recording 91 solo tackles, 75 tackle assists, 1 sack, 14 pass breakups, 4 interceptions, 1 forced fumbled, 2 fumble recoveries and 2 touchdowns. He graduated from Michigan State in May 2016 with a bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies in social science.

Professional career

Cox was rated the 12th best free safety in the

2017 NFL Draft The 2017 NFL Draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia f ...

by NFLDraftScout.com.

Cincinnati Bengals

Cox signed with the

as an undrafted free agent on May 5, 2017. He was waived on September 2, 2017.

Carolina Panthers

On September 3, 2017, Cox was claimed off waivers by the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

. He was placed on injured reserve on October 24, 2017, with an ankle injury. On August 31, 2018, Cox was waived by the Panthers.

Arizona Cardinals

On September 3, 2018, Cox was signed to the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

' practice squad. He was released on October 2, 2018.

Cincinnati Bengals (second stint)

On October 10, 2018, Cox was signed to the Cincinnati Bengals practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Bengals on December 31, 2018. He was waived during final roster cuts on August 30, 2019.

New York Guardians

Cox was drafted in the 5th round during phase four in the

2020 XFL Draft The 2020 XFL Draft was the inaugural player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams of the 2020 reboot of the XFL. The draft was held on October 15–16, 2019, via conference call, with results released through the XFL's social m ...

by the

New York Guardians The Orlando Guardians are a professional American football team based in Orlando, Florida. The team was founded by Vince McMahon's Alpha Entertainment and is an owned-and-operated member of the XFL. The Guardians played their home games at MetLi ...

. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Cox signed with the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

of the CFL on January 15, 2021. He was released on June 18, 2021.

References

External links

College stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, Demetrious Living people 1994 births African-American players of American football People from Jeannette, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania Sportspeople from the Pittsburgh metropolitan area American football safeties American football cornerbacks Michigan State Spartans football players Cincinnati Bengals players Carolina Panthers players Arizona Cardinals players New York Guardians players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players 21st-century African-American sportspeople