Marcus Lavon Trufant (born December 25, 1980) 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 ...

player who was a

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

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 ...

(NFL) for ten seasons. He played college football for

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant uni ...

, and was chosen by the Seattle Seahawks 11th overall in the

2003 NFL Draft The 2003 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League (NFL) teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936. T ...

. From 2010 to 2012, Trufant helped mentor the young Seahawks secondary that became known as the Legion of Boom.

Early years

A native of

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Pa ...

, Trufant attended McCarver Elementary School and Truman Middle School. While attending Wilson High School in Tacoma, Trufant

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 ...

in three varsity sports: football,

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, capturing ninth at the State track meet in

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

, with a leap of 14.50 meters. He was the

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

for two teams as a senior. As a junior, was Offensive Player of the Year in football and Mr. Defense in basketball. As a senior, he was named All-State by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

, the ''

Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington, United States. The newspaper was f ...

'' and Washington Prep Report. Named Washington AAAA player of the year by ''

The News Tribune ''The News Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Tacoma, Washington. It is the second-largest daily newspaper in the state of Washington with a weekday circulation of 30,945 in 2020. With origins dating back to 1883, the newspaper w ...

'' as well as the ''Seattle PI'' and ''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington ...

'' All-League, All-Area and All-State teams. Lost the State AAAA championship as a senior and scored 30 TD and rushed for 1,800 yards on offense while recording 48 tackles and 8 interceptions on defense.

College career

Trufant attended

after being recruited by then- Washington State Cougars football

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Mike Price. He started for all four years for the Cougars and was a member of the

2003 Rose Bowl The 2003 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 2003. It was the 89th Rose Bowl game. It was a match-up between the Oklahoma Sooners and the Washington State Cougars. Oklahoma led 27–0 in the fourth quarter and won, 34– ...

team that lost to the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early participants in the Land Ru ...

in his 2002 senior year. He did not allow a single touchdown against him for his last two years there. As a freshman in 1999, he was a freshman All- Pac-10 selection.

Awards and honors

* Pac-10 All-Freshman (1999) * Honorable mention All-Pac-10 (2001) * First-team All-Pac-10 (2002) * Second-team AP

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n (2002)

Professional career

2003 NFL Combine

Seattle Seahawks

Trufant was selected by the Seattle Seahawks with the 11th overall pick in the

. Coming from Tacoma and graduating from Washington State University, Trufant is considered a hometown favorite. In 2007 Trufant played a big part in the Seahawks defense, intercepting a career-high 7 passes and returning one for an 84-yard touchdown. He also deflected 15 passes and made 85 tackles, and was voted into the

2008 Pro Bowl The 2008 Pro Bowl was the National Football League's all-star game for the 2007 season. It was played at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii on February 10, 2008. The game was televised in the United States by Fox and began shortly after 11:40a ...

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 state ...

. On February 21, 2008 the Seahawks placed their

franchise tag In the National Football League (NFL), the franchise tag is a designation a team may apply to a player scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent. The tag binds the player to the team for one year if certain conditions are met. Each team has on ...

on Trufant, tendering him with a one-year $9.465 million deal. On March 26, 2008 the Seahawks signed Trufant to a new six-year, $50.2 million deal with a $10 million signing bonus. On October 17, 2011, Trufant was placed on injured reserve with a bruised sacrum, ending his season. The Seahawks released Trufant on March 8, 2012, but re-signed him one month and one day later on April 9, 2012 to a one-year contract.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On May 7, 2013, Trufant signed a contract with the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...

, reuniting him with his former defensive coordinator

Gus Bradley Paul Casey "Gus" Bradley (born July 5, 1966) is an American football coach who is the defensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He came to prominence as the defensive coordinator for the Seattle S ...

. Trufant,

Matt Hasselbeck Matthew Michael Hasselbeck (born September 25, 1975) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Boston College and was drafted in the sixth ro ...

and

Leroy Hill Leroy Hill Jr. (born September 14, 1982) is a former American football linebacker. He played high school football in Milledgeville, Georgia for the Baldwin High School Braves. He was selected with the 34th pick of the third round of the 2005 NFL ...

were the last remaining players from the Seahawks' 2005 NFC championship season. He was released on August 30, 2013.

Retirement

On April 23, 2014, Trufant signed a one-day contract so that he could retire as a Seattle Seahawk.

Career statistics

Key * GP: games played * COMB: combined tackles * TOTAL: total tackles * AST: assisted tackles * SACK: sacks * FF: forced fumbles * FR: fumble recoveries * FR YDS: fumble return yards * INT: interceptions * IR YDS: interception return yards * AVG IR: average interception return * LNG: longest interception return * TD: interceptions returned for touchdown * PD: passes defensed

Personal life

Trufant's younger brother, Isaiah Trufant, has also played in the NFL. His youngest brother, Desmond, was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the

2013 NFL Draft The 2013 NFL Draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall ...

. He started at the cornerback position as a true freshman for the University of Washington in 2009 and remained a starter through his senior year in 2012, and currently plays for the

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West div ...

References

External links

Seattle Seahawks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trufant, Marcus 1980 births Living people American football cornerbacks Jacksonville Jaguars players Seattle Seahawks players Washington State Cougars football players National Conference Pro Bowl players Players of American football from Tacoma, Washington African-American players of American football 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American sportspeople