Dominique Taishaun Hatfield (born December 13, 1994) 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 ...

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 ...

who played for the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

of 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). 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 ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

and signed with the Rams 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 2017.

Early life

Hatfield attended and 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 Crenshaw High School in

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, California. He recorded 33 receptions, 586 receiving yards, four receiving touchdowns, nine rushing attempts and 100 rushing yards his junior year in 2011. He also totaled 25 tackles and three pass breakups while averaging 29.8 yards on five punt returns. Hatfield recorded eight interceptions his senior year in 2012 while playing both

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 ...

and

. He also earned MaxPreps First-team Division I All-State, Los Angeles City Section Defensive Player of the Year and Coliseum League Player of the Year honors in 2012.

College career

Hatfield played for the

Utah Utes The Utah Utes are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Utah, located in Salt Lake City. The athletic department is named after the Ute tribe of Native Americans in the Unite ...

of the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

from 2013 to 2016. He began his college career as a receiver. He played in 11 games in 2013, catching 4 passes for 84 yards while also returning seven kick returns for 116 yards and recording 7 solo special teams tackles. After a season-ending injury to cornerback Reginald Porter in August 2014, Hatfield began to see time at cornerback. Hatfield played the first game of the 2014 season as a receiver but converted to cornerback full-time by the second game. He played in 13 games, starting 10, recording 32 solo tackles, 6 tackle assists, 9 pass breakups and 1 interception which was also returned for a touchdown. In July 2015, he was suspended indefinitely and later dismissed from the football team after being charged with robbery. He was arrested for aggravated robbery in July 2015 when he allegedly held a man at knifepoint for $180. As a result, head coach Kyle Whittingham dismissed Hatfield from the program for one whole month. The charges were later dropped. In August, he was charged with misdemeanor assault stemming from a fight at a party. After missing the first game of the 2015 season, Hatfield was reinstated by the team. He played in 12 games, starting 11, in 2015, recording 27 solo tackles, 6 tackle assists, 2 pass breakups and 4 interceptions, including 1 that was returned for a touchdown. He missed the first three games of the 2016 season due to injury. He then played in 9 games, starting 6, totaling 24 solo tackles, 6 tackle assists, 4 pass breakups and 1 interception. Hatfield was a team captain in 2016. He did not play in the 2016 Foster Farms Bowl due to an unspecified violation of team rules. Head coach Kyle Whittingham said the violation was not an academic or legal issue and that it "would've merited a one-game suspension in the regular season".

Professional career

Los Angeles Rams

Hatfield was rated the 77th best cornerback in the 2017 NFL draft by NFLDraftScout.com. He signed with the

as an undrafted free agent on May 16, 2017. He played in 11 games after making the Rams final roster, but was waived on December 9, 2017, and was re-signed to the practice squad two days later. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Rams on January 8, 2018. On September 1, 2018, Hatfield was waived by the Rams and was signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on September 26, 2018. He was placed on injured reserve on December 11, 2018, after suffering an ankle injury in Week 14. Without Hatfield, the Rams reached Super Bowl LIII where they lost 13–3 to the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

. Hatfield was waived/injured during final roster cuts on August 31, 2019, and reverted to the team's

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

list the next day. He was waived from injured reserve with an injury settlement on September 10.

Carolina Panthers

On December 18, 2019, Hatfield was signed to the

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Panthers on December 30, 2019. He was waived on April 30, 2020. Hatfield had a tryout 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 ...

on August 13, 2020.

Ottawa Redblacks

Hatfield signed with the

Ottawa Redblacks The Ottawa Redblacks (officially stylized as REDBLACKS) (Canadian French, French: ) are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL ...

of the CFL on January 6, 2021. He was released on July 29, 2021.

References

External links

Utah Utes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hatfield, Dominique Living people 1994 births Players of American football from Los Angeles American football cornerbacks Utah Utes football players American football wide receivers Los Angeles Rams players Carolina Panthers players Crenshaw High School alumni Ottawa Redblacks players 21st-century African-American sportsmen Players of Canadian football from Los Angeles Canadian football defensive backs