Cory Lamont Fleming (born March 19, 1971) is a former professional American football wide receiver in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys. He also was a member of the Nashville Kats, Carolina Cobras and Orlando Predators in the Arena Football League. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the University of Tennessee.

Early years

Fleming attended Stratford High School, where he was the starting quarterback. As a senior, he passed for 860 yards and 6 touchdowns, while rushing for 400 yards and 11 touchdowns. He received All-state honors at the end of the season. He was the starting power forward in basketball, earning honorable-mention All-state honors as a junior, when he led the state in rebounding with better than 15 boards per contest. He also practiced the

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

(6-10 1/2) in track.

College career

Fleming accepted a football scholarship from the University of Tennessee and was converted to wide receiver. As a sophomore, he scored five touchdowns out of just 14 receptions, contributing to the team winning the SEC championship. After being the backup to Carl Pickens, he became a starter as a junior, registering 40 receptions for 490 yards (leading the team) and two touchdowns. In his last year, he posted 39 receptions for 596 yards and 11 touchdowns. Fleming finished his college career with 94 receptions for 1,266 yards, and at the time school records, with 18 touchdown receptions, 11 single-season touchdown receptions, and six consecutive games with a touchdown reception.

Professional career

San Francisco 49ers

Fleming was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the third round (87th overall) of the

1994 NFL Draft The 1994 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, 1994, at the Marriott Mar ...

. On July 21, the team rescinded his rights because of salary cap reasons, making him a free agent without ever signing a contract or attending a practice.

Dallas Cowboys

On August 3,

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, he was signed by the Dallas Cowboys. He was declared inactive in 11 games. The next year, he competed to replace Alvin Harper in the starting lineup, but lost out to Kevin Williams and was named the team's third wide receiver, making him a part of the

Super Bowl XXX Super Bowl XXX was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

winning team. On February 6,

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, he was suspended for a year by the

NFL 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 major ...

after failing a third drug test and was also waived by the Cowboys.

Arena Football League

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, he was signed by the Nashville Kats of the Arena Football League, after being contacted by then offensive coordinator Jay Gruden. In 10 seasons, he was a five-time All-Arena, a four-time All–Ironman and an Ironman of the Year selection. In 2013, Fleming was inducted into the Arena Football Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Fleming owns an insurance agency and also organizes football camps for kids in the offseason. In August 2013, he was arrested in

Davidson County, Tennessee Davidson County is a county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is located in the heart of Middle Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 715,884, making it the second most populous county in Tennessee. Its county seat is Nashville ...

, for

driving under the influence Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...

of alcohol.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fleming, Cory 1971 births Living people Players of American football from Nashville, Tennessee American football wide receivers Tennessee Volunteers football players Dallas Cowboys players Nashville Kats players Carolina Cobras players Orlando Predators players