Tab Wilson Perry (born January 20, 1982) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

. He was selected by 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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

in the sixth round of the 2005 NFL draft. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

. Perry was also a member of the Miami Dolphins and

Las Vegas Locomotives The Las Vegas Locomotives (called the Locos for short) were a professional American football team based in Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas, Nevada that played in the United Football League (2009–2012), United Football League. The team played their ...

Early life

Perry played wide receiver and safety at Milpitas High School wearing the jersey number 3.

College career

During his first three seasons at UCLA, played wide receiver and wore the jersey number 1 (because number 3 was already taken). He worked hard over the summer, attending classes at three small schools in between his junior and senior year, to remain eligible to play football at UCLA. Once it was vacated, he wore the number 3 for his senior year.

Professional career

Cincinnati Bengals

Perry was expected to go somewhere around the third to fifth round of the 2005 NFL draft, but fell to the Bengals in the sixth round. Most teams saw him primarily as a kick returner, because that was his specialty at UCLA (where he set numerous records). He wore the number 12 during preseason for the Bengals and during a short minicamp due to the late graduation date of UCLA. Perry was used primarily as a kick returner for his first year with the Bengals. He earned special teams player of the week in a victory over the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

due in part to a long kick return that set up the game clinching

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

. He was listed from as high as the third down to the fifth receiver for Cincinnati. Perry finished the 2005 season with a franchise record 1,562 kickoff return yards, and 2 touchdowns on offense, assisting the team to an 11–5 record and their first playoff appearance in over a decade. Perry was also the starting returner for the Bengals in 2006, but he suffered a season-ending injury in the second game of the year.

Miami Dolphins

On March 15, 2008, Perry signed a one-year deal worth just under $1 million with the Miami Dolphins. On May 24, he suffered a torn

Achilles' tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris muscle, plantaris, gastrocnemius muscle, gastrocnemius (calf ...

. He was waived/injured by the Dolphins four days later and subsequently placed on injured reserve.

Las Vegas Locomotives

Perry was signed by the

of the United Football League on August 31, 2009.

References

External links

UCLA Bruins bio

Stats Crew profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Tab 1982 births Living people Players of American football from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania American football wide receivers American football return specialists UCLA Bruins football players Cincinnati Bengals players Miami Dolphins players Las Vegas Locomotives players