Eric Ulyssee Frampton (born February 6, 1984) 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 ...

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 ...

(NFL) for 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) North Division. The team play their home games at For ...

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

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...

, and

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

. He was drafted by 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 ...

in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washingto ...

Early years

Frampton attended Oak Grove High School in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

, where he was an All-league selection as a junior, after rushing for 17

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Americ ...

. As a senior, he missed 5 games with a broken collar bone and had 30 tackles in the remaining 6 contests. He accepted a football scholarship from

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant uni ...

. As a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

freshman, he played mainly 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 ...

, registering 8 defensive tackles in 12 games. As a sophomore, he appeared in 11 games, making 24 tackles and 3 pass breakups. He received the Washington State Ironman Award in 2004. DeSeanJackson

As a junior, he became a starter at safety, registering 87 tackles (led the team), one sack, 5.5 tackles for loss, one quarterback pressure, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, 8 pass deflections and returned one interception for a 36-yard touchdown. He made 13 tackles against USC and

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in t ...

. As a senior, he was the Cougars' leading tackler (100) and played both the free and strong safety position. He also tallied 4 tackles for loss, one sack 13 pass breakups (led the team), 2 forced fumbles and 5 interceptions (led the team) with one returned for a touchdown. He made 11 tackles against USC and 16 against the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

. He finished his college career with 23-of-46 starts, 219 tackles (9.5 for loss), 6 interceptions, 2 sacks, 2 quarterback pressures and 2 touchdowns.

Professional career

Frampton was timed at 4.61 seconds in the

40-yard dash The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed and acceleration of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL Draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time can have a he ...

at the 2007

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Footba ...

, but improved it to 4.51 in the 40 at his College Pro Day.

Oakland Raiders

He was selected by the

in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He was waived before the season started on September 1, 2007.

Detroit Lions

On September 2, 2007, the

claimed him off waivers. He played in 5 games and had 7 special teams tackles. He was released on October 21.

Minnesota Vikings

On October 22, 2007, the

claimed him off waivers and became a

' standout with 14 tackles (fourth on the team). In 2008, he was second on the team with 21 special teams tackles. In 2009, he was fourth on the team with 18 special teams tackles. In 2010, he was third on the team with 10 special teams tackles. In 2011, he was voted the Vikings'

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 ...

MVP by his teammates, after leading the team with a career-best 22 tackles. On August 31, 2012, he was released before the season started.

Dallas Cowboys

On September 25,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, Frampton was signed by the

to add depth to a defense depleted by injuries. Although he played in only 13 games, he led the team in

tackles (21) and was used in the team's defensive sub-packages, before being named the starter at

strong safety Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their duti ...

for the last 2 games of the season. He finished the year with a career-high 21 tackles, 3 pass breakups and 2 starts on defense. He also had 25

tackles (led the team), 2 passes defensed and one fumble recovery. He was re-signed on June 4,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

. He injured his groin during

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

and was placed on the

injured reserve list 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 th ...

on September 3. He was released with an injury settlement on September 9.

New Orleans Saints

On December 17, 2013, he was signed as a

by the

, reuniting with

Rob Ryan Robert Allen Ryan (born December 13, 1962) is an American football coach who is currently the senior defensive assistant for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). Ryan has served as a defensive coordinator or assistant co ...

who was his defensive coordinator with the Cowboys. The Saints assigned him uniform number 37, previously worn by Saints special teams star

Steve Gleason Stephen Michael "Steve" Gleason (born March 19, 1977) is a former professional American football safety with the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). Originally signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agen ...

, who also attended Washington State. On January 1, 2014, he was released to make room for linebacker Kyle Knox.

References

External links

Washington State bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frampton, Eric 1984 births Living people American football safeties Washington State Cougars football players Oakland Raiders players Detroit Lions players Minnesota Vikings players Dallas Cowboys players New Orleans Saints players Players of American football from San Jose, California Oak Grove High School (San Jose, California) alumni