Cody J. Pickett (born June 30, 1980) is a former professional

gridiron football Gridiron football,"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Ret ...

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 ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

and

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ...

. He was selected in the seventh round of the

2004 NFL Draft The 2004 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 2004 at the Theater a ...

by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

, and played college football at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seat ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

Early years

Born and raised in

Caldwell, Idaho Caldwell (locally CALL-dwel) is a city in and the county seat of Canyon County, Idaho. The population was 59,996 at the time of the 2020 United States census. Caldwell is considered part of the Boise metropolitan area. Caldwell is the location ...

, Pickett was a four-sport athlete at Caldwell High School and graduated in 1999. He lettered in football,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

, and rodeo, in which he was a national champion. Originally recruited by

Jim Lambright James Ralph Lambright (April 26, 1942 – March 29, 2020) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Washington for six seasons, from 1993 to 1998, compiling a record of Prior to becoming head coa ...

at Washington, Pickett accepted a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

from new head coach

Rick Neuheisel Richard Gerald Neuheisel Jr. (; born February 7, 1961) is an American football analyst, coach, former player, and attorney. He served as the head football coach at the University of Colorado Boulder from 1995 to 1999, at the University of Washi ...

to play for the Huskies. Pickett's family home was located off Chicken Dinner Road, near Caldwell.

College career

As a true freshman at Washington in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

, Pickett was the backup to starter

Marques Tuiasosopo Marques Tavita Tuiasosopo (born March 22, 1979) is an American football coach and former player. He played professionally as a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons with the Oakland Raiders and New York Jets. Tui ...

and saw limited action; he was granted a medical redshirt for an ailing back in the last half of the season. He was the backup again to Tuiasosopo in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

; the Huskies went won the Rose Bowl over

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

, and finished third in the final polls. Pickett was the starting quarterback at UW for three seasons from

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

– 03, where his primary target was wide receiver Reggie Williams. Rather than enter the

2003 NFL Draft The 2003 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League (NFL) teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936. ...

in the spring, Pickett chose to return to Washington for his senior season at age 23. His senior season saw a head coaching change, as Neuheisel was dismissed in the summer of 2003 and replaced with

Keith Gilbertson Keith Steven Gilbertson Jr. (born May 15, 1948) is a retired American football coach and player. He was the head coach at the University of Idaho (1986–1988), the University of California, Berkeley (1992–1995), and the University of Washingto ...

. He was considered a Heisman Trophy candidate and written up in ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twice ...

'', but a shoulder injury that year hurt his chances.

Awards and honors

* Honorable mention Academic All-

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

(2000) * Honorable mention All-Pac-10 (2001) * Huskies Offensive Most Valuable Player (2002) * Second-team All-Pac-10 (2002) * Honorable mention '' SI''

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n (2002) * Honorable mention CollegeFootballNews.com All-American (2002)

Statistics

Source

Professional career

Pickett was selected in the seventh round (217th overall) of the

by the

. Pickett started the

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

season as the fourth-string

, but became the starter after Tim Rattay was traded, and

Alex Smith Alexander Douglas Smith (born May 7, 1984) is an American former quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. He played college football at Utah, where he received first-team All-American honors and won the 20 ...

and

Ken Dorsey Kenneth Simon Dorsey (born April 22, 1981) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is the offensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Miam ...

were injured. Pickett played on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

most of the season, an unusual role for a quarterback. He also played

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition 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 There are two slightly di ...

and wide receiver during practice. Pickett QB slide

Pickett was traded on July 27, 2006 to the Houston Texans for a conditional draft pick in the 2007 NFL Draft. He was released by the Texans on September 1, 2006. Pickett was selected to the 2007 Rhein Fire

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

team as a free agent and was their starting quarterback. In July 2007, the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Ra ...

signed Pickett to a one-year contract, but released him on August 1. On September 18, 2007, Pickett was signed as a free agent by the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

of the CFL. Pickett made his first CFL game appearance on September 12, 2008 against the visiting

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play their h ...

Rogers Centre Rogers Centre (originally SkyDome) is a multi-purpose stadium, multi-purpose retractable roof stadium in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated at the base of the CN Tower near the northern shore of Lake Ontario. Opened in 1989 on the fo ...

in relief of starting quarterback

Kerry Joseph Kerry Tremaine Joseph (born October 4, 1973) is an American former gridiron football quarterback and current coach. He is the assistant quarterbacks coach for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He was born in New Iberia, ...

. He made his first CFL start on September 20, 2008, against the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third ...

McMahon Stadium McMahon Stadium is a Canadian football stadium in Calgary, Alberta. The stadium is owned by the University of Calgary and operated by the McMahon Stadium Society. The stadium is between the downtown core and the University of Calgary, north of ...

. On August 11, 2009, head coach

Bart Andrus Bart Andrus (born March 30, 1958) is an American football coach and a former collegiate player who is the head coach and general manager for the Philadelphia Stars of the United States Football League (USFL). He has served as head coach for the ...

named Cody Pickett as the starting quarterback for the team's next game, against the

B.C. Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first season ...

. On February 21, 2010, Pickett was released by the Argonauts. On March 8, 2010, Pickett was signed by the Montreal Alouettes. On June 7, 2010, Cody Pickett was released by the Montreal Alouettes. On June 15, 2010, Pickett was signed by the Calgary Stampeders. Following the 2010 CFL season, Pickett retired from pro football and returned to Idaho.

NFL statistics

''Source'':

Personal life

Pickett's father is Dee Pickett, a championship roper on professional rodeo circuit and the

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast As ...

World Champion Cowboy, inducted into the

ProRodeo Hall of Fame The ProRodeo Hall of Fame and Museum of the American Cowboy was opened in August 1979 as a museum designed to "preserve the legacy of the cowboy contests, the heritage and culture of those original competitions, and the champions of the past, p ...

in August 2003. Dee also played college football; a junior college transfer, he was the starting quarterback at

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It became a ...

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phil ...

and

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrati ...

. In the offseason, Pickett coached his younger sister's basketball team, Team 208, a travel team representing the Boise, Idaho area. He is the current head coach for the Eagle High School boys basketball team in Eagle, Idaho.

References

External links

* * * *
Toronto Argonauts profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pickett, Cody American football quarterbacks American players of Canadian football Canadian football quarterbacks University of Washington alumni Washington Huskies football players San Francisco 49ers players Houston Texans players Oakland Raiders players Rhein Fire players Toronto Argonauts players Players of American football from Idaho People from Caldwell, Idaho 1980 births Living people