Jason Heath Sehorn (born April 15, 1971) 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 ...

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 gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

from 1994 to 2002 and

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

in 2003. 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 ...

for the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans (also Southern California Trojans) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ...

Early life

Sehorn was born in

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

. He played only one year of

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

Mount Shasta High School Mt. Shasta High School is a public high school located in Mount Shasta, California in southern Siskiyou County. It is one of the five members of the Siskiyou Union High School District. Mt. Shasta High school's mascot is a bear and the rivaling ...

Mount Shasta, California Mount Shasta (also known as Mount Shasta City) is a city in Siskiyou County, California, United States, at about above sea level on the flanks of Mount Shasta, a prominent northern California landmark. The city is less than southwest of the s ...

. Sehorn was signed by the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

after just one season of playing

American Legion Baseball American Legion Baseball is a variety of amateur baseball played by 13-to-19-year-olds in fifty states in the U.S. and Canada. More than 3,500 teams participate each year. The American Legion Department of South Dakota established the program in 1 ...

following his senior year of high school. An outfielder, Sehorn failed to produce as a hitter, batting just .184 in 49 games in 1990 for the rookie league Huntington Cubs. Sehorn would then turn his focus to playing football.

College career

Sehorn played his first two years of college football at

Shasta College Shasta College is a public community college in Redding, California, with branch campuses in Burney, Weaverville, and Red Bluff. It was founded in 1950 and later moved to a much larger campus while the original campus became the new locatio ...

, a junior college in

Redding, California Redding is a city in and the county seat of Shasta County, California, and the economic and cultural capital of the Shasta Cascade region of Northern California. Redding lies along the Sacramento River, north of Sacramento, California, Sacrame ...

, where he was a standout wide receiver, kick returner and punt returner. He then played two years at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

, where he was moved to defense, playing safety and cornerback.

Professional career

Sehorn was drafted in the second round of the

1994 NFL draft The 1994 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 1994, at the Marriott Ma ...

by the

with the 59th overall pick. He spent most of his career playing

for them. After back-to-back successful seasons in 1996–97, Sehorn suffered a debilitating knee injury, tearing his anterior cruciate (ACL) and

medial collateral ligament The medial collateral ligament (MCL), also called the superficial medial collateral ligament (sMCL) or tibial collateral ligament (TCL), is one of the major ligaments of the knee. It is on the medial (inner) side of the knee joint and occurs in ...

s (MCL) while returning the opening kickoff in a 1998 preseason game against the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

. Though Sehorn returned the next season, his speed was diminished. Still, he started 73 games for the Giants at cornerback in six seasons played from 1996 to 2002. He represented the Giants in

Super Bowl XXXV Super Bowl XXXV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2000 Baltimore Ravens season, Baltimore Ravens and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2000 New York Giants season, New York Giant ...

. The Giants released Sehorn on March 7, 2003, and in May of that year, he signed with the

as a

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

. He missed the first six games of the season with a broken foot, but played in the last ten. The next year, his contract with the Rams was terminated after he failed a physical examination before the start of the 2004 season.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

In media

Sehorn participated in ABC's ''

Superstars A superstar is a widely acclaimed celebrity. Superstar or superstars may also refer to: People * "Superstar" Krishna (1943–2022), Indian film actor, director and producer in Telugu cinema * "Superstar" Mahesh Babu (born 1975), Indian actor * ...

'' competition during the NFL offseason. As a testament to his athleticism, he won the competition three consecutive years from 1998 to 2000. In 2005, Sehorn joined

Fox Sports Net Fox Sports Networks (FSN), formerly known as Fox Sports Net, was the collective name for a group of regional sports channels in the United States. Formed in 1996 by News Corporation, the networks were acquired by the Walt Disney Company on Mar ...

, where he was a panelist on their Sunday NFL pregame show. Sehorn is also a college football analyst for ESPNU. He joined the network in 2011 as the in-studio analyst for Thursday and Saturday night games on ESPNU. Sehorn is now the Director of Communications at the Hendrick Automotive Group in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

, an automotive retailer in the United States.

Personal life

Sehorn was briefly married to former

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

correspondent Whitney Casey from February 14, 1998, until their divorce in 1999. His marriage to actress

Angie Harmon Angela Michelle Harmon (born August 10, 1972) is an American actress and model. She won ''Seventeens modeling contest in 1987 at age 15, signed with IMG Models, and appeared on covers for magazines such as ''Cosmopolitan'' and ''Esquire''. ...

is well known due to his unusual and public proposal. During one of Harmon's appearances on ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the fourth and sixth installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Jay Leno, it aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009, replacing ''The Ton ...

'', Sehorn (with the assistance of host

Jay Leno James Douglas Muir Leno ( ; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, and writer. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Tonight Show'' from 1992 until 200 ...

) hid backstage and surprised Harmon by getting on one knee and asking for her hand in marriage in front of a live studio audience and millions more watching on television. They were married on June 9, 2001. They have three daughters: Finley, born October 14, 2003; Avery, born June 22, 2005; and Emery, born December 18, 2008. Both publicly support the Republican Party. The couple announced in November 2014 that they were separating after 13 years of marriage, and divorced in December 2015. Sehorn remarried, to fire equipment heiress Meghann Gunderman, in 2017. They have a daughter named Sage. On January 19, 1999, Sehorn's high school jersey #1 was retired by his alma mater,

Mt. Shasta High School Mt. Shasta High School is a public high school located in Mount Shasta, California in southern Siskiyou County. It is one of the five members of the Siskiyou Union High School District. Mt. Shasta High school's mascot is a bear and the rivaling ...

, in a ceremony hosted by his longtime friend, mentor, and former coach, Joe Blevins. The ceremony aired on local cable television.

References

External links

* * * *
Shasta County Sports Hall of Fame Electees
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sehorn, Jason 1971 births Living people American football cornerbacks American football safeties Huntington Cubs players New York Giants players St. Louis Rams players USC Trojans football players Shasta Knights football players People from Mount Shasta, California Players of American football from Teaneck, New Jersey Players of American football from Sacramento, California California Republicans Players of American football from Siskiyou County, California