Charles Washington (born March 10, 1993) 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 ...

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 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 ...

at Fresno State and signed with the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

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 ...

after the

2016 NFL draft The 2016 NFL draft was the 81st annual draft of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

Early life

Washington played

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 ...

at Crespi Carmelite High School in

Encino, California Encino is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. History Etymology The name Encino is the misspelling in masculine of Encina, the Spanish language, Spanish word for "holm oak” (Quercus ilex). The Spanis ...

. He recorded 57 solo tackles, 29 tackle assists, 5 interceptions, 7 rushing attempts, 123 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns his senior year in 2010, earning league defensive MVP honors.

College career

Washington played for the

Fresno State Bulldogs The Fresno State Bulldogs are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent California State University, Fresno (commonly referred to as Fresno State). The university is a member of NCAA Division I's Mountain West Conference (MW). It was a ...

of Fresno State University from 2012 to 2015. He was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

in 2011. He played in 12 games in 2012, recording 8 solo tackles, 5 tackle assists, 2 pass breakups and 1 fumble recovery. Washington also returned a blocked extra point attempt for two points. He earned Mountain West (MW) All-Academic honors in 2012. He started all 13 games in 2013, totaling 50 solo tackles, 21 tackle assists, 2 sacks, 1 interception, 2 pass breakups and 1 forced fumble. Washington started the first 11 games of the season at

strong safety Safety (S), historically known as a safetyman, is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free sa ...

and the final 2 at

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 ...

. He garnered MW All-Academic recognition. He started all 14 games in 2014, recording 61 solo tackles, 17 tackle assists, half a sack, 2 interceptions, 7 pass breakups and 1 fumble recovery. Washington started seven games at cornerback, six at safety and one at

nickelback Nickelback is a Canadian Rock music, rock band formed in 1995 in Hanna, Alberta, Hanna, Alberta. Throughout its history, it has consisted of lead guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, rhythm guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist Ryan ...

. He earned MW All-Academic honors in 2014. He played in 11 games, all starts, in 2015, totaling 31 solo tackles, 9 tackle assists, 1 sack and 6 pass breakups. Washington's first four starts of 2015 were at cornerback while his last seven were at strong safety. He missed one game due to injury. He garnered MW All-Academic recognition in 2015. Washington played in 50 games, starting 38, during his college career, recording 202 total tackles and 3 interceptions. He participated in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl in January 2016. He majored in criminology corrections at Fresno State.

Professional career

Washington was rated the 64th best cornerback in the

by NFLDraftScout.com.

Detroit Lions

After going undrafted, Washington signed with the

on May 6, 2016. He was waived by the Lions on September 3 and signed to the team's practice squad on September 4. He was released on October 12 and signed to the Lions' practice squad on October 17, 2016. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Lions on January 9, 2017. In 2018, Washington played in 13 games before being placed on injured reserve on December 22, 2018. On August 31, 2019, Washington was waived by the Lions.

Arizona Cardinals

On September 1, 2019, Washington 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 ...

. On March 27, 2020, Washington was re-signed by the Cardinals. On March 29, 2021, Washington re-signed with the Cardinals on a one-year contract. He was placed on injured reserve on September 29, 2021 with a hamstring injury. He was activated on December 18. On May 2, 2022, Washington re-signed with the Cardinals. He was placed on injured reserve on September 1, 2022. He was activated on November 12.

References

External links

College stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington, Charles Living people 1993 births American football cornerbacks American football safeties Arizona Cardinals players Detroit Lions players Fresno State Bulldogs football players Players of American football from Inglewood, California Players of American football from Colorado 21st-century African-American sportsmen