Issiac Holt III (born October 4, 1962) 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 ...

player who was a

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 ...

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

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 ...

and

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 ...

. 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 ...

for the Alcorn State Braves. He won Super Bowl XXVII with the Cowboys.

Early life

Holt attended George Washington Carver High School. As a senior, he was named the area defensive back of the year. He accepted a

scholarship from Alcorn State University where he was named a starter at

as a freshman, registering 5

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...

s (tied for the team lead), 32 tackles and one fumble recovery. The next year, he led the team with 7 interceptions, recorded 38 tackles and 10 passes defensed. During his junior season, he led the team with 6 interceptions and had 36 tackles. As a senior, he helped the team win the

Southwestern Athletic Conference The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which is made up of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southern United St ...

and the Black college football national championship with a 9–0 overall record, while leading the team with six interceptions (one returned for a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

), registering 25 tackles and 7 passes defensed. In his last year, his game against Jerry Rice and the Mississippi Valley State University is remembered as one of his best, when he limited the future Hall of Famer to eight receptions for 134 yards and also returned an interception for a

. He finished his college eligibility with a school and a Division I-AA record of 24 career interceptions. He also had 38 passes defensed.

Professional career

Minnesota Vikings

Holt was selected by the

in the second round (30th overall) of the

1985 NFL draft The 1985 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. The NFL draft, draft was held April 30 and May 1, 1985 NFL season, 1985, at the Omni Park Central Hotel in New York City, New ...

. He also was selected third overall in the 1985 USFL Draft by the San Antonio Gunslingers. He was a backup as a rookie, tallying 25 tackles, one interception and 2 passes defensed. In his second season, he became the starter at left cornerback, registering 52 tackles, 15 passes defensed, 2 blocked punts, a team leading 8 interceptions and recovered a blocked punt for a touchdown. In

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

, he played in only nine games after suffering a knee injury in training camp. In the NFC Divisional playoff game, he faced Jerry Rice and helped contain him to 3 receptions. He posted 18 tackles, 2 interceptions and 4 passes defensed. In 1988, he started the first nine games before missing three of the next four contests with a bruised thigh. He was backup in the final three games of the regular season and in the playoffs. He made a last-minute game-saving interception in a 23–21 win against the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

. He registered 34 tackles, 2 interceptions, 20 passes defensed, one blocked punt and one safety. In

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

, he returned a 90-yard interception for a touchdown against 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 October 12, he was sent to the

as part of the

Herschel Walker trade The Herschel Walker trade was the largest player trade in the history of the National Football League (NFL). The deal, completed on October 12, 1989, centered on sending running back Herschel Walker from the Dallas Cowboys to the Minnesota Vikin ...

. He started one game out of 5, making 5 tackles, one interception and 2 passes defensed.

Dallas Cowboys

, he didn't start because there were conditional draft picks attached to the Vikings traded players and the

wanted the selections instead of keeping Holt and the others. Head coach Jimmy Johnson eventually had second thoughts on the February 1 deadline and traded three future draft choices (third-round and tenth-round in

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

and a third-round in

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

) to the Vikings for the right to retain the original full package of draft choices, plus Holt, Jesse Solomon and David Howard. He finished the season with 15 tackles and 2 passes defensed. In

, he was named the starter at left cornerback, collecting 53 tackles, 3 interceptions (tied for the team lead), 18 passes defensed (led the team) and 2 blocked punts. He missed the season opener against the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

with a groin injury. In

, he posted 53 tackles, 4 interceptions (led the team), 21 passes defensed (led the team) and one blocked punt. The next year, he registered 11 starts, 30 tackles, 2 interceptions, 9 passes defensed, one safety and one blocked punt, while been a part of the Super Bowl XXVII Championship team. From

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, Holt became one of the top players on the team's defense at left cornerback, posting a total of 9 interceptions. On April 30,

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 ...

, after Holt questioned the number of ''voluntary'' off-season workouts, he was released by Johnson, who was looking to send the team a message. He left as the Cowboys career leader with 4 blocked punts and was the last of the five players from the

still on the team.

Miami Dolphins

On June 10,

, Holt 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

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

. He was cut on August 23.

References

External links

Alcorn Top 50 Greatest Football Players
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holt, Issiac 1962 births Living people Players of American football from Birmingham, Alabama American football cornerbacks Alcorn State Braves football players Minnesota Vikings players Dallas Cowboys players