James Allen Cottrell (born January 13, 1983) 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 a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

. He was originally signed by 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 it ...

as an

undrafted 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 ...

in 2006. He played college football at

New Mexico State New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's tw ...

Early life

Born the son of Jim Cottrell and Tammi Hausmen Jimmy attended and played at Douglas County High School in

Castle Rock, Colorado Castle Rock is a home rule town that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Douglas County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 73,158 at the 2020 United States Census, a 51.68% increase since the 2010 United St ...

. Jimmy was named to the All-State and All-Colorado teams by both the Rocky Mtn. News and the

Denver Post ''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in Denver, Colorado. As of June 2022, it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 ...

, as well as Conference Defensive MVP his senior season. He was named 1st Team All-Conference at linebacker during his Junior and Senior seasons, as well as 2nd Team All-Conference running back as a senior. Jimmy also wrestled for the Huskies, earning All-Conference honors as a Junior and Senior, and placed in the state tournament as a senior. Jimmy also earned a letter in baseball during his high school sports career.

College career

Jimmy played college football at

New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's ...

where he became the only player in school history to lead the team in tackles for 4 years. Jimmy started 45 of 46 games at middle linebacker for the Aggies during his college career. He racked up 463 total tackles, which places him 3rd all-time in school history, and he led the team in tackles all 4 of his playing seasons. Jimmy lead the nation in tackles as a senior with 179 total stops. Jimmy was named Honorable Mention All- Sun Belt Conference as a sophomore, 1st Team All-Sun Belt Conference as Junior, and 1st Team All-

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, and Texas. Due to mos ...

as a senior, as well as being named Honorable Mention All-American as a senior.

Professional career

Jimmy Cottrell signed as a free agent with the

in 2006, and spent the 2006 NFL season on the Raven's practice squad. Following the 2006 season he was allocated to the Frankfurt Galaxy of NFL Europe during the spring of 2007. During the 2007 NFL Europe season he suffered a serious shoulder injury. Jimmy spent all of the 2007 NFL season on the Baltimore Raven's Injured Reserve.

Kiowa Schools

From 2019 to 2021 Jimmy served as the Athletic Director and a Football Coach for Kiowa Schools, in his most recent season the Kiowa Indians went 1-3 for the season because of Covid.

External links

Baltimore Ravens bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cottrell, Jim 1983 births Living people People from Castle Rock, Colorado Players of American football from Douglas County, Colorado American football linebackers New Mexico State Aggies football players Baltimore Ravens players Frankfurt Galaxy players