Greg Briggs (born October 19, 1968) 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 ...

safety Safety is the state 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 The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

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) for the

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

and

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 ...

. He was also a member of the Frankfurt Galaxy in Frankfurt Galaxy the

World League of American Football NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of the Nati ...

(WLAF). He first enrolled at Copiah-Lincoln Community College before transferring to the

University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) is a Public University, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Founded in 1873, it is the second oldest public college or univer ...

and

Texas Southern University Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically Black university in Houston. The university is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund an ...

Early life

Briggs attended Franklin High School in

Meadville, Mississippi Meadville is a town in and the county seat of Franklin County, Mississippi, United States, in the southwest part of the state. The population was 449 at the 2010 census, down from 519 at the 2000 census. It is situated north of the Homochitto R ...

, where he focused on playing basketball. As a senior, he received All-district honors. He also practiced track. He accepted a

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

scholarship from the Copiah-Lincoln Community College. He decided to try out for the football team in his third year there. In 1989, he started all of the games at

free safety Safety (S), historically known as a safetyman, is a position in gridiron football on the American football positions#Defense, defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two var ...

, compiling 6 interceptions, while receiving All-JUCO and All-state honors. In 1990, he accepted a

scholarship from the

. The football coaching staff convinced him into changing sports. He played in the first two contests before being declared ineligible because of a class conflict. At the end of the season, the football program was suspended for 1991 by the NAIA, paving the way for Briggs and six of his teammates to

walk-on Walk On may refer to: Music Albums * ''Walk On'' (Boston album) or the title song, 1994 * ''Walk On'' (John Hiatt album) or the title song, 1995 * ''Walk On'' (Randy Johnston album) or the title song, 1992 *''Walk On'', by Kellie Coffey, 200 ...

, where the coach said he'd have to sleep on the floor because he didn't have an extra dorm room available. As a senior, he began playing mostly in the

nickel defense American football, a nickel defense (also known as a 4–2–5 or 3–3–5) is any defensive alignment that uses five defensive backs, of whom the fifth is known as a nickelback. The original and most common form of the nickel defense features ...

and 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 ...

. He became a starter at

outside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the lin ...

after the fourth game of the season, when a starter went down with an injury. He also combined the responsibilities of a

and received All-SWAC honors. He recorded 42 tackles, 3 passes defensed, 2 sacks, one fumble recovery, one interception and one blocked kick. He was a teammate of future hall of fame player

Michael Strahan Michael Anthony Strahan ( ; born November 21, 1971) is an American television host, journalist, and former professional American football, football player. He played his entire 15-year professional career as a defensive end for the New York Gian ...

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys (first stint)

Briggs was selected by the

in the fifth round (120th) of the

1992 NFL draft The 1992 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 26–27, 1992, at the Marriott M ...

, after impressing in the

NFL 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 Foot ...

. He was tried at

, before focusing on playing

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

. On August 25, he was placed on the physically unable to perform list with a right hip injury. The team would go on to win

Super Bowl XXVII Super Bowl XXVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Buffalo Bills and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the ...

. In

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

, he was switched to

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

, before being waived on August 24.

Cleveland Browns

On December 15,

, he was signed to the

practice squad. He was waived on July 21,

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

Frankfurt Galaxy

After being out of football for a year, he played for the Frankfurt Galaxy of the

in 1995, where he led his team in tackles and contributed to win

World Bowl '95 World Bowl '95 (also referred to as World Bowl III) was the third championship game of the World League of American Football (WLAF), and the final game of the 1995 WLAF season. It was the first World Bowl to be played since World Bowl '92, afte ...

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

On July 20,

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, he signed with the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

. He was released before the start of the season.

Dallas Cowboys (second stint)

Briggs was signed as a

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 ...

by the

. He was released on August 27. He was re-signed on September 21. He played in 11 games, registering 9

tackles and was 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 fo ...

winning team. He wasn't re-signed after the season.

Chicago Bears

On June 6,

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, he was signed by the

to play

and

, reuniting with head coach and former Cowboys defensive coordinator

Dave Wannstedt David Raymond Wannstedt (born May 21, 1952) is an American former college and professional football coach. He has been the head coach of the Chicago Bears and Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He was also the head coach of th ...

. He was waived on October 1. He was later re-signed on October 15.

Minnesota Vikings

In April

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, he signed with the

, as a

that was focused on playing

. He was cut on August 24,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

Personal life

After retiring from professional football, he traveled with

Reggie White Reginald Howard White (December 19, 1961 – December 26, 2004) was an American professional football defensive end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons. White played college football for the Tennessee Volunteers, ear ...

and spoke at churches. His nephew

Diyral Briggs Diyral Briggs (born October 31, 1985) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Bowling Green Falcons before being signed by the San Franci ...

also played in the

References

External links

Stats Crew profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Briggs, Gregg Living people 1968 births People from Meadville, Mississippi Players of American football from Mississippi American football safeties Canadian football defensive backs Junior college men's basketball players in the United States Copiah–Lincoln Wolves football players Arkansas–Pine Bluff Golden Lions football players Texas Southern Tigers football players Dallas Cowboys players Cleveland Browns players Frankfurt Galaxy players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Chicago Bears players American expatriate players of American football Minnesota Vikings players American men's basketball players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen American expatriate sportspeople in Germany