Neiko Thorpe

Neiko Thorpe (born February 1, 1990) is a former American football cornerback and current coach. He is a defensive assistant for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He signed with the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in 2012. He played college football at Auburn and was a member of the 2010 BCS National Championship team.

Early years

Thorpe attended Tucker High School in Tucker, Georgia, where he was selected Under Armour All-America team in his senior season. He registered 18 sacks as a junior, earning an honorable mention all-county. He had 64 tackles including six tackles for loss, 11 pass breakups, three interceptions, and forced a fumble as a senior. Thorpe also ran track at Tucker, posting personal-best times of 14.18 seconds in the 110m hurdles and 38.35 seconds in the 300m hurdles.

Considered a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, Thorpe was listed as the No. 35 safety in the nation in 2008. He was rated as the 11th best cornerback in the nation by Scout.com and was ranked as the 53rd best player in Georgia by SuperPrep.

College career

Thorpe played college football at Auburn. Thorpe played as a true freshman, contributing on special teams and at corner in 11 games with 29 total tackles. He was selected to the Coaches’ All SEC-Freshmen Team. In his first college game, he led the Tigers with seven tackles including five solo against Louisiana-Monroe. In his first career start, Thorpe recorded his first career interception and returned it 59 yards against Arkansas. He finished his freshman season tied for ninth-most tackles on the team—20 of them being solo stops. Neiko also tied for the second-most interceptions with two and most return interception yardage with 101 yards.

In 2009, Thorpe started all 13 games and had a total of 84 tackles, 56 of them being solo. With this breakout season, he was named Phil Steele’s Third-team Midseason All-SEC. In the first game of his sophomore season, he started at cornerback against Louisiana Tech. He continued to show contribution to the team when he totaled seven tackles, five of them being solo, in a victory against Mississippi State along with an interception against West Virginia that ended a scoring threat at the AU 25-yard line. Against Arkansas, he set a career-high of 11 tackles, 8 being solo tackles. Thorpe broke up two passes against UK, one against LSU, and one against Ole Miss which is credited to his speed and ability to make plays on the ball. Thorpe finished the year with a performance in the Outback Bowl vs. Northwestern. He had a career and team high of 14 tackles (13 solo) and also an interception. The last tackle came on the last play of the game, that prevented the game-winning touchdown on a fake field goal in overtime when he made a tackle just short of the goal line.

As a junior, Thorpe made the Coaches’ Second-team Preseason SEC and proved his preseason rank throughout the season by appearing and starting in 13 of 14 games. Halfway through the season, Thorpe almost tied his career high with 10 tackles—all were solo stops—and had one pass breakup. A few games later he beat his career high of tackles with 12 against Alabama and also had a tackle for loss for minus 1 yard and two PBUs. Thorpe and his team continued on to the SEC championship game vs. South Carolina and contributed four tackles. After the SEC Championship belonged to the Tigers, they took on Oregon in the BCS National Championship Game where Thorpe had a pair of tackles and one PBU, but he also gave up an 81-yard reception to Jeff Maehl. Thorpe finished college with a total of 279 tackles, 7 interceptions, 34 pass deflections, 2 forced fumbles and one touchdown.

Professional career

Kansas City Chiefs

On April 30, 2012, Thorpe signed with the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent. On August 31, 2012, he was released on the day of roster cuts. On September 1, 2012, he was signed to the practice squad. On October 6, 2012, he was promoted from practice squad to the active roster after the team released center Bryan Mattison. On October 9, 2012, he was released after the team re-signed offensive lineman Bryan Mattison. On November 11, 2012, he was promoted from the practice squad to the active roster after the team placed defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey on injured reserve. During his time on the active roster, Thorpe played in nine games and totaled five solo tackles for the season. On August 25, 2013, he was cut by the Chiefs.

Toronto Argonauts

On September 6, 2013, Thorpe signed a practice roster agreement with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. He was activated on October 14 and started in the team's final five games including the East Final loss to Hamilton. He asked to be released by the Argonauts on January 14, 2014 as he continued to pursue NFL opportunities.

Oakland Raiders

Thorpe was signed by the Oakland Raiders as a reserve/future free agent, January 13, 2014. He impressed the Raiders during training camp and preseason and made the team after the final cuts to the 53-man roster on August 30, 2014. On September 3, 2016, Thorpe was waived by the team as part of final roster cuts.

Indianapolis Colts

One day after his release from the Raiders, Thorpe was claimed off waivers by the Indianapolis Colts on September 4, 2016. He was released by the Colts on September 6, 2016.

Seattle Seahawks

On September 13, 2016, Thorpe was signed by the Seattle Seahawks. On March 14, 2017, Thorpe re-signed with the Seahawks. Since signing with the team Thorpe has been a permanent fixture on Seattle’s special teams unit where he has been regarded as one of the best gunners in the league. Neiko Thorpe was special teams captain for the Seahawks.

On March 23, 2019, Thorpe re-signed with the Seahawks. On December 6, 2019, Thorpe underwent season-ending sports hernia surgery. He was placed on injured reserve on December 11, 2019.

Thorpe re-signed with the Seahawks on April 13, 2020. He was placed on injured reserve on October 7, 2020, with a hip injury. He was activated on November 14, 2020, but was placed back on injured reserve four days later with a groin injury.

References

External links

Auburn Tigers bioKansas City Chiefs bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorpe, Neiko
1990 births
Living people
African-American players of American football
African-American players of Canadian football
Sportspeople from Southfield, Michigan
Players of American football from Oakland County, Michigan
American football safeties
Tucker High School alumni
Auburn Tigers football players
Canadian football defensive backs
Toronto Argonauts players
Kansas City Chiefs players
Oakland Raiders players
Indianapolis Colts players
Seattle Seahawks players
21st-century African-American sportspeople