Alfonzo Dennard (born September 9, 1989) 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 ...

for the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

of 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). 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

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding t ...

, and was selected by the

in the

2012 NFL draft The 2012 NFL draft was the 77th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players for their rosters. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held ...

Early life

Dennard excelled on both sides of the ball at

Wilcox County High School Wilcox County High School is a public high school in Rochelle, Georgia. United States. It is part of the Wilcox County School District. Student culture Historically, students organized separate parties classified as proms; black and white stu ...

, and was Nebraska's first scholarship player from

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

since 2001. As a junior, Dennard caught 45 passes for 840 yards and 12 touchdowns, while rushing 24 times for 240 yards and six touchdowns. On defense, he made 60 tackles and had six interceptions. In his senior season, Dennard played a leading role in helping Wilcox County and Coach Mark Ledford to a 13–2 record and state runner-up finish in Class A. Dennard made 53

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

, while picking off five passes as a

. Offensively, Dennard caught 39 passes for 780 yards and scored 14

touchdowns 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 also used his speed to help on special teams, returning two kickoffs and one punt for touchdowns. Dennard received first-team Class A all-state honors from the Georgia Sportswriters Association. Dennard played in the GACA North-South All-Star game. Regarded as a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, Dennard chose Nebraska over

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

and

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

, among others. Dennard was also a contributor in track and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

. He played

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

in basketball and used his speed in

sprint Sprint may refer to: Aerospace * Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automobiles *Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint, a rebadged v ...

events in track. In 2008, he placed second in the regional meet in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

after posting a personal-best leap of 6.68 meters (21 feet, 9 inches), and finished sixth in the state with a leap of 6.50 meters (21 feet, 3 inches).

College career

As a junior in 2010, Dennard started 13 of 14 games and had 31 tackles and four

interceptions In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team bu ...

. He was a second-team all-

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

selection. In his senior year in 2011, Dennard was an all-Big Ten first-team selection and earned the Big Ten's

Tatum-Woodson Defensive Back of the Year Coaches and media of the Big Ten Conference award the following individual honors at the end of each football season. In addition, the ''Chicago Tribune'' awards the Chicago Tribune Silver Football to the most valuable football player of the confer ...

award. In his final game as a Cornhusker during the Capital One Bowl game, Dennard was ejected at the end of the first half for fighting with South Carolina wide receiver

Alshon Jeffery Alshon Jeffery (born February 14, 1990) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the South Carolina Gamecocks, earning first-team All-Americ ...

Professional career

Pre-draft

Coming out of Nebraska, Dennard was projected to go as high as the first round, but was typically considered to be a second to fourth-round pick by the majority of NFL draft experts and scouts. Prior to the Senior Bowl, Dennard was ranked the third best cornerback prospect by NFL analyst

Mike Mayock Michael Francis Mayock Sr. (born August 14, 1958) is an American former professional football executive and player in the National Football League (NFL). He played as a safety with the New York Giants. After his playing career, he was a draft ...

. He received an invitation to the

Reese's Senior Bowl The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game played annually in late January or early February in Mobile, Alabama, which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those players who have completed their college eligibility. Pr ...

and had a lackluster week of practice due to an injury that prevented him from completing the full week of practices. According to multiple sources, Dennard was exposed while attempting to cover lower rank wide receivers on multiple occasions and was beaten by

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

receiver

Marvin McNutt Marvin McNutt, Jr. (born July 4, 1989) is an American former professional football wide receiver and current wide receivers coach at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He played college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes, where he became the all-tim ...

during practice. Many draft analysts thought he blew any possible chance of being a first-round pick and that his draft stock was immensely affected by questions over his ability to cover wide receivers at the highest level. He attended the NFL combine, and was unable to perform the bench press, three-cone drill, and short shuttle due to a hip and shoulder injury. On March 8, 2012, Dennard opted to participate at Nebraska's pro day, along with Jared Crick,

Lavonte David Lavonte Lamar David (born January 23, 1990) is an American professional football linebacker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, twice earning All-American ...

Jermarcus Hardrick Jermarcus "Yoshi" Hardrick (born May 30, 1990) is an American professional football offensive lineman for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He is a Grey Cup champion as a member of the 107th Grey Cup champions an ...

and Marcel Jones. He was ranked the 11th-best cornerback prospect in the draft by NFL analyst Mike Mayock and was ranked the 12th-best cornerback by NFLDraftScout.com. On April 21, 2012, Dennard was arrested for suspicion of third-degree assault on an officer and another third-degree assault charge only seven days before the

after he allegedly punched a police officer outside a bar in

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The city covers and had a population of 291,082 as of the 2020 census. It is the state's List of cities in Nebraska, second-most populous city a ...

. This further affected his draft stock and multiple teams removed him from their draft boards. According to Lincoln police, the incident transpired after Dennard was fighting with another man outside a bar at 2:15 a.m. Lincoln police officers responded to the call and attempted to break it up. Dennard then allegedly shoved an officer and then punched him in the face. Lincoln police stated it took four officers to finally restrain Dennard.

New England Patriots

2012

The

selected Dennard in the seventh round (224th overall) of the

. He was the 29th cornerback selected in the 2012 NFL draft. On May 17, 2012, the Patriots signed Dennard to a four-year, $2.15 million contract that includes a

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

of $14,462. He competed with

Devin McCourty Devin McCourty (born August 13, 1987) is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the New England Patriots. He played college football for the Rutgers Scarlet Kni ...

Kyle Arrington Kyle Chandler Arrington Sr. (born August 12, 1986) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Hofstra Pride football, Hofst ...

, Ras-I Dowling, Will Allen, and

Sterling Moore Sterling Moore (born February 3, 1990) is an American former professional football cornerback and coach who is a defensive assistant for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Southern Methodi ...

throughout training camp for the job as the starting cornerback while Aqib Talib served his four-game suspension to begin the season. Dennard suffered a hamstring injury and missed a bulk of training camp, but returned for the last preseason game. Head coach

Bill Belichick William Stephen Belichick ( ; born April 16, 1952) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the North Carolina Tar Heels. Widely regarded as one of the greatest head coaches of all time, he holds numerous coaching records, inc ...

named Dennard the fifth cornerback on the Patriots' depth chart to begin the season, behind McCourty, Arrington, Dowling, and Moore. On October 7, 2012, Dennard made his professional regular-season debut after missing the first four games with a hamstring injury. He made one tackle and deflected a pass as the Patriots defeated the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

, 31–21. On October 21, 2012, he earned his first career start and recorded two solo tackles, defended a pass, and made his first career interception on a pass attempt by

Mark Sanchez Mark Travis John Sanchez (born November 11, 1986) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. He played college football for the USC Trojans ...

, as the Patriots won, 29–26. The following week, Dennard made five solo tackles, deflected a pass, and intercepted a pass attempt by St. Louis Rams' quarterback

Sam Bradford Samuel Jacob Bradford (born November 8, 1987) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Bradford attended Putnam City North High School, where he starred ...

, as the Patriots routed them 45–7. On November 18, 2012, Dennard collected four solo tackles and two pass deflections, and intercepted a pass from

Andrew Luck Andrew Austen Luck (born September 12, 1989) is an American football executive and former professional quarterback who is the general manager of the Stanford Cardinal. He previously played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons ...

during a 59–24 victory over the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

. He returned the interception for an 87-yard touchdown, marking the first and only one of his career. Dennard missed Weeks 16–17 with a hamstring injury after starting seven of the last eight games. He finished his rookie season with 35 combined tackles (34 solo), eight pass deflections, three interceptions, and a touchdown in ten games and seven starts. The

finished first atop the

AFC East The American Football Conference – Eastern Division or AFC East is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). There are currently four teams that reside in th ...

with a 12–4 record and received a playoff berth. On January 13, 2013, Dennard started his first career playoff game and recorded three combined tackles and a forced fumble during the 41–28 victory over the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

. The following week, he started in the

AFC Championship The AFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the American Football Conference (AFC) and one of the two semifinal playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football league in the wo ...

against the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

and made two tackles in their 28-13 loss.

2013

Dennard returned to the New England Patriots' training camp and competed with Ras-I Dowling, Kyle Arrington, and

Logan Ryan Logan Daniel Ryan (born February 9, 1991) is an American former professional football defensive back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons. He played college football for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights as a cornerback ...

for the starting cornerback role. He was named the starting cornerback, opposite Aqib Talib, to begin the regular season. He started the New England Patriots' season-opener against the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

and collected three solo tackles and a pass deflection in their 23-21 victory. The next game, Dennard recorded a tackle, a pass deflection, and intercepted a pass attempt by

Geno Smith Eugene Cyril "Geno" Smith III (born October 10, 1990) is an American professional football quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the West Virginia Mountaineers, leading them ...

, as the Patriots defeated 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 ...

13-10. On October 27, 2013, Dennard earned a season-high nine solo tackles during a 27-17 win against the

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

. He missed Week 11 with a knee injury and had

meniscus Meniscus may refer to: *Meniscus (anatomy), crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure that partly divides a joint cavity *Meniscus (liquid) In physics (particularly liquid statics), the meniscus (: menisci, ) is the curve in the upper sur ...

arthroscopy Arthroscopy (also called arthroscopic or keyhole surgery) is a minimally invasive surgical procedure on a joint in which an examination and sometimes treatment of damage is performed using an arthroscope, an endoscope that is inserted into the j ...

a few days after. Dennard recovered in time to play in their Week 12 victory over the

. He finished the 2013 season with a career-high 40 combined tackles (34 solo), eight pass deflections, and an interception. Dennard started nine games and was limited to 13 games after sustaining multiple injuries throughout the season. The

finished first in the AFC East with a 12-4 record. On January 11, 2014, Dennard started in the Patriots' AFC divisional game and recorded two solo tackles, defended four pass, and had two key interceptions off of passes from Indianapolis Colts' quarterback

during the Patriots' 43-22 victory. The following game, he collected three solo tackles as the Patriots' were eliminated from the playoffs after losing 26-16 to the

in the AFC Championship.

2014

He entered training camp in and faced stiff competition from

Darrelle Revis Darrelle Shavar Revis (born July 14, 1985) is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). A member of the New York Jets for most of his career, Revis is considered o ...

, Kyle Arrington,

Brandon Browner Brandon Kemar Browner (born August 2, 1984) is an American former professional football player who played as a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots, and New Orleans Saints, and in the C ...

, and Logan Ryan for the vacant starting cornerback job left after the departure of Aqib Talib. Head coach

named him the starting cornerback, along with Darrelle Revis, to start the regular season. Dennard started the New England Patriots' season-opener at the

and recorded two solo tackles, deflected a pass, and intercepted a pass attempt by

Ryan Tannehill Ryan Timothy Tannehill III (born July 27, 1988) is an American professional football quarterback. He played college football for the Texas A&M Aggies, playing wide receiver until his junior year, and was selected eighth overall by the Miami Dol ...

, as the Patriots lost 20-33. He went on to miss Weeks 2-4 after sustaining a shoulder injury. On October 12, 2014, he recorded a season-high five solo tackles during the Patriots' 37-22 victory over the

. The following week, Dennard collected five combined tackles in a 27-25 victory against the

. A knee injury kept Dennard from playing in Week 8-9 and 11. After having minimal playing time is Weeks 12-13, Dennard missed the remainder of the season with a hamstring injury, including the playoffs and

Super Bowl XLIX Super Bowl XLIX was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2014 NFL season, 2014 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2014 New England Patriots season, New Eng ...

. He finished the season with 15 combined tackles (13 solo), one pass deflection, and an interception in six games and four starts. The

finished the 2014 season atop the AFC East with a 12–4 record and went on to defeat the

45–7 and then had a 28–24 win over the defending

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

champion

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

. On May 5, 2015, Dennard was waived by the Patriots. They opted to waive Dennard even though they lost Darrelle Revis, Brandon Browner, and Kyle Arrington in free agency. Multiple off-the-field incidents and injuries during his time with the Patriots were the main factors of his release.

Arizona Cardinals

On May 6, 2015, Dennard was claimed off waivers by the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

. The Cardinals released him on July 29, 2015.

Baltimore Brigade

On January 16, 2017, it was announced that Dennard was among the first five players signed to the

Baltimore Brigade The Baltimore Brigade was a professional arena football team based in Baltimore, Maryland, that played in the Arena Football League (AFL) from 2017 to 2019. The team's home arena was the Royal Farms Arena. The franchise was owned by Ted Leonsi ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

Saskatchewan Roughriders

Dennard signed with the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

on April 25, 2017. He was released by the Roughriders on June 12, 2017.

NFL career statistics

Personal life

Dennard's last name is pronounced as DENN-erd. His

second cousin A cousin is a relative who is the child of a parent's sibling; this is more specifically referred to as a first cousin. A parent of a first cousin is an aunt or uncle. More generally, in the kinship system used in the English-speaking world, ...

Darqueze Dennard was also an NFL cornerback, although Darqueze pronounces his last name de-NARD, due to a family dispute between his parents.

Legal troubles

On April 21, 2012, Dennard was arrested for felony suspicion of assault on a police officer and felony assault in Lincoln, Nebraska. On February 20, 2013, he was convicted of felony assault on a police officer. On April 11, 2013, he received his sentence for the assault and was sentenced to 30 days in jail beginning on March 1, 2014, and two years of probation. On July 11, 2013, Dennard was arrested on suspicion of a DUI and admitted to this probation violation at a later court hearing. He was scheduled for a sentencing hearing on December 5, 2013. On December 5, 2013, he attended his sentencing hearing for the probation violation in connection with the DUI and was sentenced to an additional 30 days in jail, was, required to perform 100 hours of community service, received an additional year of probation, and was given a "no alcohol" condition. On March 1, 2014, Dennard reported to the Lancaster County Adult Detention Facility in Nebraska to begin serving his 60-day jail term. He served the minimum 35 days and was released after given credit for good behavior and time already served. On December 15, 2015, it was reported that Dennard had spent five days in Lancaster County Jail after violating the terms of his probation the week prior. He violated the terms after failing tests for alcohol three times in a single month and failed to appear for another drug test. Dennard was arrested again in Lincoln, NE on February 9, 2022, for alleged third degree assault and domestic violence.

References

External links

NFL Combine bioNebraska Cornhuskers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dennard, Alfonzo 1989 births Living people American football cornerbacks Canadian football defensive backs Players of Canadian football from Georgia (U.S. state) Arizona Cardinals players Baltimore Brigade players Saskatchewan Roughriders players Nebraska Cornhuskers football players New England Patriots players People from Rochelle, Georgia Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state)