Marcus L. Demps (born August 19, 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 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 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 ...

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

. He is the younger brother of safety

Will Demps William Henry Demps, Jr. (born November 7, 1979) is a former American football safety who was signed by the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2002. He played college football at San Diego State. Demps also played for the New York G ...

High school career

Demps attended Highland High School in

Palmdale, California Palmdale is a city in northern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. The city lies in the Antelope Valley region of Southern California. The San Gabriel Mountains separate Palmdale from the Los Angeles Basin to the south. On Aug ...

. He was a two-year starter at

strong 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 ...

. Demps was also a two-time all-Golden League selection. He was also named to the ''

Antelope Valley Press The ''Antelope Valley Press'', colloquially referred to as the ''Valley Press'' or ''AV Press'' by its staff and Antelope Valley residents, is the largest-circulation daily newspaper in Palmdale, California, United States. It had been a family-ow ...

'' second-team as a

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

and first-team as a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

, despite missing three games with a foot injury. Demps was also selected to the all-Valley team by the ''

Los Angeles Daily News The ''Los Angeles Daily News'' is the second-largest-circulating paid daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California. It is the flagship of the Southern California News Group, a branch of Colorado-based Digital First Media. The offices of the ''Dai ...

''. He earned a pair of varsity letters in

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

College career

Demps attended San Diego State, where he majored in criminal justice.

Freshman (2001)

As a freshman in 2001, Demps was in the contention for playing time in the secondary before suffering a broken

finger A finger is a limb of the body and a type of digit, an organ of manipulation and sensation found in the hands of most of the Tetrapods, so also with humans and other primates. Most land vertebrates have five fingers ( Pentadactyly). Chambers ...

that required surgery early in the season. He ended up redshirting that season.

Red-shirt Freshman (2002)

In 2002, Demps played in nine games, primarily on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

and at safety. He ended the season with 24 tackles, including a career-high 12 at

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

when he had his first game his first career start against the Air Force. He had six tackles against

Colorado State Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

and two tackles against

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

Red-shirt Sophomore (2003)

In 2003, Demps started the season as a backup, but was promoted to the

starting lineup In sports, a starting lineup is an official list of the set of players who will participate in the event when the game begins. The players in the starting lineup are commonly referred to as ''starters'', whereas the others are ''substitutes'' o ...

when

mononucleosis Infectious mononucleosis (IM, mono), also known as glandular fever, is an infection usually caused by the Epstein–Barr virus (EBV). Most people are infected by the virus as children, when the disease produces few or no symptoms. In young adult ...

sidelined then starter Josh Dean. He however, returned to the sidelines due to an

ankle The ankle, or the talocrural region, or the jumping bone (informal) is the area where the foot and the leg meet. The ankle includes three joints: the ankle joint proper or talocrural joint, the subtalar joint, and the inferior tibiofibular join ...

injury that caused him to miss three games. For the season Demps was in the starting lineup in five games. Demps had a 13-tackle game at

UTEP The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stude ...

and eight tackles at

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 St ...

. Despite missing three games, Demps finished fifth on the team with 39 tackles, (24 solo). He had a sack against Air Force and another tackle for a loss against UCLA. He recovered a fumble against UTEP. He was credited with a blocked punt against

Eastern Washington Eastern Washington is the region of the U.S. state of Washington located east of the Cascade Range. It contains the city of Spokane (the second largest city in the state), the Tri-Cities, the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam, the Hanfor ...

Red-shirt Junior (2004)

In 2004, after two years at safety, Demps became a starting

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 ...

as a junior. He finished eighth on the team with 35 tackles. He broke up eight passes, caused a pair of fumbles (

Idaho State , mottoeng = "The truth will set you free" , established = , former_names = Academy of Idaho(1901–1915)Idaho Technical Institute(1915–1927)University of Idaho—Southern Branch(1927–1947)Idaho State ...

and Utah) ranking him second on the team in that category. He had an interception and a pass broken up against #17

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. Demps broke up three passes against

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. He had a season-high six tackles against Nevada and #9 Utah. Against Utah, Demps, also recorded a forced fumble. He finished 10th among

Mountain West The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations o ...

secondary players with nine passes defended. Thirty of his tackles were solo. However, he was slowed late in the year by a sprained

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

but did not miss a game.

Red-shirt Senior (2005)

In 2005, Demps finished the season with 72 tackles, two sacks, four interceptions and one touchdown. Demps opened the season with five tackles against UCLA, (three solo). The next game at Air Force, he recorded eight tackles (two solo, one for loss) and one forced fumble. During the third game of the season in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

against

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

, Demps recorded nine tackles. In the next game, home against

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

he recorded two tackles (two solo, one for loss), his first interception of the season, and two passes defensed. Against

BYU Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...

, Demps recorded two tackles (two solo, one for loss) and his second interceptions on the season. The next week at

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...

, he recorded six tackles (two solo, one for loss). During the next game at Utah, Demps recorded 10 tackles (four solo). The next week against

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

, Demps recorded a season-high of 12 tackles (10 solo). Against

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples ...

he recorded seven tackles (four solo, one for loss). In the game at Colorado State, Demps recorded seven tackles (three solo), one interception, and one passed defensed. In the game against

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

he recorded one tackle (one solo, one for loss), one interception, and one punt return. In the season, and his college finale, against

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, Demps recorded five tackles (two solo) and one pass defensed.

Professional career

Demps went unselected in the

2006 NFL Draft The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with ad ...

, however he was signed by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

as an undrafted free agent May 8, 2006,New York Times Transactions
/ref> after participating in the rookie mini-camp as a tryout player. He was however released on September 2, 2006. He was then signed to the Lions

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

the next day.Detroit Lions Transactions for 2006
/ref> However, he was placed on the reserved/injury list on September 21, 2006 with a knee injury.

Personal life

Demps is the son of Kye and William Demps and the younger brother of free agent safety

Notes

External links

Detroit Lions bio

ESPN.com bio

Profile
at

NCAA.org 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 an ...

San Diego State Aztecs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Demps, Marcus 1983 births African-American players of American football American football safeties American people of Korean descent Detroit Lions players San Diego State Aztecs football players Living people Sportspeople from Minot, North Dakota Sportspeople from California Players of American football from North Dakota 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people