Cobi Hamilton (born November 13, 1990) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

wide receiver. He played college football at

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the ...

. He was considered one of the top wide receiver prospects for the

2013 NFL Draft The 2013 NFL Draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall i ...

, and was drafted by the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The club's home ...

in the sixth round of the draft. Hamilton has also been a member of the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

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

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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Stee ...

, Houston Texans,

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, an ...

, and

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 club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 20 ...

Early years

Hamilton attended

Texas High School Texas High School (THS) is a public high school in Texarkana, Texas, United States. It is part of the Texarkana Independent School District and is classified as a 5A school by the University Interscholastic League. In 2015, it was rated "Met Sta ...

Texarkana, Texas Texarkana is a city in Bowie County, Texas, United States, in the Ark-La-Tex region. Located approximately from Dallas, Texarkana is a twin city with neighboring Texarkana, Arkansas. The Texas city's population was 36,193 at the 2020 census ...

, where he set the Tigers’ single-season receiving yardage record as a senior with 64 receptions for 1,071 yards and 14 touchdowns. He was all-district and all-area in his career and he was named the All-Northeast Texas Offensive Player of the Year. As a junior, he had 29 receptions for 726 yards and seven touchdowns. He was a high school teammate of former Arkansas

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Ryan Mallett Ryan Mallett (born June 5, 1988) is a former American football quarterback who is currently the head football coach at White Hall High School in White Hall, Arkansas. He played college football at Arkansas, and was drafted by the New England P ...

. Hamilton was also a standout athlete for the

track team. He finished fourth in the

200 meters The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

at the AAU National Junior Olympics, with a time of 21.41 seconds. He finished 4th in the

100 meters The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contest ...

at the 2009 Region II-4A Championships, with a career-best time of 10.60 seconds. He also ran for the

track team. He ran a personal best of 21.09 in the

200 meter The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

. Considered a three-star recruit by ''

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heck ...

'', he was rated the No.63 wide receiver in the nation. He accepted a scholarship offer from

over offers from

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

College career

Hamilton attended the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

from 2009 to 2012. As a senior, he was an All- SEC selection after recording 90 receptions for 1,335 yards and five touchdowns. The receptions and yards were school records. On September 22, 2012, he set an SEC record for receiving yards in a game with 303. He finished his career with 175 receptions for 2,854 yards and 18 touchdowns.

Professional career

Cincinnati Bengals

Hamilton was selected by the

in the sixth round (197th overall) of the

. On May 10, 2013, the Bengals signed him to a four-year, $2.25 million contract. Hamilton was on the Bengals' practice squad for the entirety of his rookie season. He started his second season on the Bengals' practice squad.

Philadelphia Eagles

On September 10, 2014, Hamilton was signed to the

practice squad. On October 6, 2014, the

released Hamilton.

Cincinnati Bengals (second stint)

On October 13, 2014, the

resigned Hamilton. On December 24, 2014, he was promoted to the 53-man roster. On July 30, 2015, he was waived by the Bengals.

Miami Dolphins

On August 1, 2015, Hamilton was claimed off waivers by the

. On September 5, 2015, he was released by the Dolphins.

Carolina Panthers

The

signed Hamilton to a

futures contract In finance, a futures contract (sometimes called a futures) is a standardized legal contract to buy or sell something at a predetermined price for delivery at a specified time in the future, between parties not yet known to each other. The asset ...

on January 12, 2016. On July 25, 2016, Hamilton was released by the Panthers.

Pittsburgh Steelers

On August 5, 2016, the

signed Hamilton to a one-year, $460,000 contract. On September 3, 2016, he was released by the Steelers as part of final roster cuts. The next day he was signed to the Steeler's practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on October 15, 2016, and a day later, caught a 23-yard touchdown pass from

Ben Roethlisberger Benjamin Todd Roethlisberger Sr. (; born March 2, 1982), nicknamed "Big Ben", is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college footbal ...

, his first in the NFL, during a 15-30 loss to the

. It was his first career start and he finished with two receptions for 36 receiving yards and a touchdown. The following week, he earned his second consecutive start and caught three passes for 36 receiving yards in a 16-27 loss to the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

. In the season finale against the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

, he caught the game-winning touchdown on a 26-yard pass from

Landry Jones Matthew Landry Jones (born April 4, 1989) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at Oklahoma, and was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fourth round (115th overall) of the 2013 NFL Draft. He also played f ...

to win in overtime and finished the game with three receptions for 54 receiving yards and a touchdown. Hamilton was the Pittsburgh Steeler's sixth wide receiver on their depth chart throughout the season, behind

Antonio Brown Antonio Tavaris Brown Sr. (born July 10, 1988), nicknamed "AB", is an American football wide receiver who is a free agent, and an American rapper. Raised in Liberty City, Miami, Brown attended Miami Norland High School. He played college ...

Markus Wheaton Markus Levonte Wheaton (born February 7, 1991) is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football for Oregon State University and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round (79th overall) of the 2013 NFL Draft ...

, Sammie Coates, Darrius Heyward-Bey, and Eli Rogers. He finished the season with 17 receptions, 234 receiving yards, and two touchdowns in 11 games. Hamilton also had five kick returns for 83-yards and made one tackle on kickoff coverage. On January 26, 2017, Hamilton was re-signed to a one-year deal by the Steelers. Hamilton entered training camp in competing with

Sammie Coates Sammie Coates Jr. (born March 31, 1993) is an American football wide receiver for the Edmonton Elks of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football at Auburn Tigers football, Auburn, where he played in the 2013 SEC Championship ...

JuJu Smith-Schuster John Sherman "JuJu" Smith-Schuster ( Smith; born November 22, 1996) is an American football wide receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at USC, and was drafted by the Pittsburgh ...

Justin Hunter Justin Parker Hunter (born May 20, 1991) is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football at Tennessee. Hunter was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He has also played for the Mia ...

, Marcus Tucker,

Eli Rogers Eli Lamar Rogers (born December 23, 1992) is an American football wide receiver for the Orlando Guardians of the XFL. He played college football for the Louisville Cardinals. He was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent i ...

, and

Darrius Heyward-Bey Darrius Ramar Heyward-Bey (born February 26, 1987) is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football at the University of Maryland, and was drafted by the Oakland Raiders seventh overall in the 2009 NFL Draft. He has also p ...

for a backup wide receiver position. On September 2, 2017, Hamilton was waived by the Steelers.

Houston Texans

On September 18, 2017, Hamilton was signed to the Houston Texans' practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on November 22, 2017. On March 21, 2018, Hamilton was waived by the Texans.

Arizona Cardinals

On March 22, 2018, Hamilton was claimed off waivers by the

. He was waived on June 14, 2018.

Indianapolis Colts

On August 20, 2018, Hamilton signed with the

. He was waived on September 1, 2018.

References

External links

Arkansas Razorbacks bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Cobi 1990 births Living people Texas High School alumni Players of American football from Texarkana, Texas American football wide receivers Arkansas Razorbacks football players Cincinnati Bengals players Miami Dolphins players Philadelphia Eagles players Carolina Panthers players Pittsburgh Steelers players Houston Texans players Arizona Cardinals players Indianapolis Colts players