Cortez Hankton (born January 20, 1981) is an American

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 ...

coach and former player who is the

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

s coach for the

LSU Tigers The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers (also known as the Fighting Tigers) are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in Division I of the National Collegiat ...

. He played professionally as a wide receiver 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). Hankton played collegiately for the

Texas Southern Tigers The Texas Southern Tigers represent Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas, in intercollegiate athletics. They field sixteen teams including men's and women's basketball, cross country, golf, and track and field; women's-only bowling, socce ...

. He was originally signed by the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

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 ...

in 2003.

Early life

Hankton attended St. Augustine High School in New Orleans. He lettered in football and track & field. He is a member of

Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911, at Indiana University Bloomington, it has n ...

fraternity.

College career

He is Texas Southern University's record holder for career receiving yards (3,400 yds) and season receiving yards (1,270 yds). He also holds the records for most consecutive games with a receiving touchdown (10 games) and the longest play from scrimmage (99 yd receiving TD) against

Texas State University Texas State University (TXST) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in San Marcos, Texas, United States, and another campus in Round Rock, Texas, Round Rock. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has ...

. He finished his college career with 175 receptions and 30 touchdowns.

Professional career

Jacksonville Jaguars

After graduating of Texas Southern in 2002, Hankton was signed as an undrafted free agent in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, by the

. He proceeded to play in all 16 games as a rookie. He would end up spending four years in Jacksonville, becoming a free agent after the 2006 season.

Minnesota Vikings

Hankton signed with the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

April 16, 2007. He was waived on September 1, 2007.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Hankton signed a reserve/future contract with the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

on January 1, 2008. He was placed on injured reserve on August 30, 2008, and spent the entire season there. He re-signed with the Buccaneers on March 5, 2009, and was released on September 5, 2009.

New York Sentinels

Hankton played in four games for the

New York Sentinels New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

of the United Football League in 2009, catching 11 passes for 144 yards.

Florida Tuskers/Virginia Destroyers

The following season he played for the

Florida Tuskers Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

under head coach

Jay Gruden Jay Michael Gruden (born March 4, 1967) is an American football coach and former quarterback. He previously served as the head coach of the Washington Redskins from 2014 to 2019 and as offensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals and Jackson ...

, and was nominated for the league's Offensive Player of the Year. He appeared in seven games, starting six, for the Tuskers in 2010, recording 23 receptions for 283 yards and two touchdowns. The Tuskers then moved to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

and became the Virginia Destroyers for the 2011 season. He played in four games, all starts, for the Destroyers during the 2011 season, totaling 12 catches for 151 yards.

Coaching career

Hankton was brought on to Georgia's coaching staff as pass game coordinator and wide receivers coach. Hankton was part of the Georgia staff when the Bulldogs won the National Championship that year over Alabama.

References

External links

Stats Crew profileFlorida Trend Student SpotlightUnited Football League Player of the Year VotingPlayer SpotlightMental Game of Football with Cortez HanktonBucs' Hankton Psyched About SchoolHankton Pursues MBA While Playing Football
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hankton, Cortez 1981 births Living people St. Augustine High School (New Orleans) alumni Players of American football from New Orleans American football wide receivers Texas Southern Tigers football players Jacksonville Jaguars players Minnesota Vikings players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players New York Sentinels players Florida Tuskers players Dartmouth Big Green football coaches Georgia Bulldogs football coaches Vanderbilt Commodores football coaches LSU Tigers football coaches Coaches of American football from Louisiana Virginia Destroyers players