Cedric Oglesby (born July 26, 1977) 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

placekicker In gridiron football, the placekicker (PK), or simply kicker (K), is the player responsible for attempts at scoring Field goal (football), field goals and extra points. In most cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist ...

for one season 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

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 ...

. 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 South Carolina State Bulldogs and also had stints in the NFL with the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

and

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

. He was one of the first African-American kickers in the NFL.

Early life and education

Oglesby was born on July 26, 1977, in

Decatur, Georgia Decatur () is a city and the county seat of DeKalb County, Georgia, DeKalb County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. With a population of 24,928 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, th ...

. He grew up in

Stone Mountain Stone Mountain is a quartz monzonite dome Inselberg, monadnock and the site of Stone Mountain Park, east of Atlanta, Georgia. Outside the park is the city of Stone Mountain, Georgia. The park is the most visited tourist site in the state of Ge ...

and attended

Southwest DeKalb High School Southwest DeKalb High School (SWD) is a high school located in unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. It is a part of the DeKalb County School System. It houses one of the two High Achievers Magnet Programs in DeKalb County, the ...

, where he played

and

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

. After graduating from Southwest DeKalb, Oglesby was convinced by coach Buck Godfrey to attend

South Carolina State University South Carolina State University (SCSU or SC State) is a public, historically black, land-grant university in Orangeburg, South Carolina. It is the only public, historically black land-grant research university in South Carolina, is a member o ...

. In his first year at the school, he was named second-team All-

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC ) is a List of NCAA conferences, collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and the Mid-A ...

while playing both

and punter for the South Carolina State Bulldogs. Oglesby earned his second consecutive all-conference selection as a

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...

in 1997, being named first-team All-MEAC as a punter after recording 69 punts averaging 39.3 yards each. He also went 8-of-13 on

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. Consequently, ...

s and converted all but three of his 31 extra point attempts. He finished with a team-leading 52 total points in 11 games. In the annual

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

Heritage Bowl The Heritage Bowl was an NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) bowl game held by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The bowl pitted a team from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) against a team from the South ...

, a loss against the

Southern Jaguars The Southern Jaguars and Lady Jaguars represent Southern University in NCAA intercollegiate athletics. Southern University's 13 athletic teams participate in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) which is a part of the NCAA Division I. Footb ...

, Oglesby tied the bowl game's record for best punt average, recording 43.6 yards per punt on seven attempts. Oglesby's head coach,

Willie Jeffries Willie E. Jeffries (born January 4, 1937) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at South Carolina State University for 19 seasons in two stints, five seasons at Wichita State University, and five s ...

, described him as "just a good athlete. He can do a two-step punt, a one-step punt and a no-step punt." In the 1998 season, Oglesby set the school record for most field goals made, with 11, and also broke the team record for longest field goal, successfully attempting a 52-yarder. He spent his final season at South Carolina State in 1999.

Professional career

After going unselected in the

2000 NFL draft The 2000 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur U.S. college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 15– 16, 2000, at the Theat ...

, Oglesby was signed by the

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. He was released on April 30. The following year, he spent time with the

, but was not able to make the final roster, despite making all of his field goal attempts in preseason, including a game-winning 33-yarder 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 ...

in overtime. While a free agent in , Oglesby worked as a substitute teacher. He was practicing kicking in December, near the end of the NFL season, when he got a call from the

. The Cardinals' previous kicker,

Bill Gramatica Guillermo C. "Bill" Gramatica (born 10 July 1978) is a former American football placekicker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Arizona Cardinals and Miami Dolphins. He also was a member of the Tampa Bay Storm in the Arena Football Leag ...

, had injured himself celebrating, and so Oglesby was signed as a replacement for the final three games of the season, beating Vitaly Pisetsky for the job. He made his NFL debut in week 15 against the

, making a 34-yard field goal and two extra points, but missing a 35-yard attempt. It made him one of the first African-American kickers in league history. Oglesby performed better in his second match, making all three of his field goal attempts, each of his three extra points, and a tackle in the 30–7 win over the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

. He played his final game against the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

in week 17, making two field goals and two extra points in the 17–20 loss. He became a free agent after the season and did not sign another NFL contract.

Personal life

Oglesby became a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

while at South Carolina State. He operated a kicking camp after his playing career. In 2008, he was named to

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

's all-time black college football team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oglesby, Cedric 1977 births Living people American football punters American football placekickers Players of American football from Decatur, Georgia South Carolina State Bulldogs football players Dallas Cowboys players San Diego Chargers players Arizona Cardinals players