Eric O. Bassey (born January 23, 1983 in

Garland, Texas Garland is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is located northeast of Dallas and is a part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is located within Dallas County, Texas, Dallas County except for small portions located in Collin County, Texa ...

) 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 ...

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 ...

. He was signed by the

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

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player 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 contract at present but who is a ...

in 2006. He played college football at Oklahoma.

Early years

Bassey Attended

North Garland High School North Garland High School is a public secondary school located in Garland, Texas (USA). North Garland High School enrolls students in grades 9- 12 and is a part of the Garland Independent School District. The school is known for the endorsemen ...

in Garland, Texas, where he played wide receiver and defensive back in addition to returning kicks. He also excelled in track as a member of a 4×100-meter relay team that finished second in the state championship meet and he won state championship in 400-meter event.

College career

Bassey played college football at Oklahoma. He played in 48 games totaling 112 tackles, two sacks, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and three interceptions. Had a fumble recovery returned for a touchdown against Alabama in the season opener at OU Memorial Stadium, and in 2004 returned an interception for a touchdown against

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

Professional career

Buffalo Bills

Bassey was originally signed by the

as an undrafted free agent in 2006 and spent the entire season on the practice squad.

St. Louis Rams

On September 12, 2007, he was signed by the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

to their practice squad and was then later signed to the active roster. During the 2007 season, he played in eight games recording 11 tackles. Bassey spent the first seven weeks of the 2008 season on the Rams' practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on October 22, 2008, after wide receiver

Eddie Kennison Eddie Joseph Kennison, III (born January 20, 1973) is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football at Louisiana State University and was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the first round of the 1996 NFL Draft. Kennison ...

was waived. On August 9, 2009, Bassey was waived/injured after suffering a torn ACL in a special teams drill.

Post-Retirement

Bassey is now the co-owner of the

Texas Outlaws The Texas Outlaws were an American indoor soccer team founded in 2008. The team was a charter member of the Professional Arena Soccer League (PASL-Pro), the first division of arena (indoor) soccer in North America. The team disbanded in 2010. Fi ...

of the new

Fall Experimental Football League The Fall Experimental Football League (FXFL) was a professional football minor league that played two seasons in 2014 and 2015. This league's stated goal was to become a professional feeder-system for the National Football League (NFL). The lea ...

along with fellow NFL alum

Tommie Harris Tommie Harris, Jr. (born April 29, 1983) is a former American football defensive tackle who played eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Oklahoma, and was recognized as a consens ...

External links

St. Louis Rams bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bassey, Eric 1983 births Living people People from Garland, Texas American football cornerbacks American football safeties Oklahoma Sooners football players Buffalo Bills players St. Louis Rams players