Jermaine Phillips (born March 27, 1979) 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

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

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(NFL). He played

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for the

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The offic ...

and was selected by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

in the fifth round of the

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. Phillips earned a

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with the Buccaneers in

Super Bowl XXXVII Super Bowl XXXVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Oakland Raiders and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champio ...

. He also played in the United Football League for the

Omaha Nighthawks The Omaha Nighthawks were a professional American football team based in Omaha, Nebraska, which played in the United Football League (2009–2012), United Football League, joining the league as an expansion team in 2010 UFL season, 2010. During ...

and

Sacramento Mountain Lions The Sacramento Mountain Lions were a professional American football team based in Sacramento, California that played in the United Football League (2009–2012), United Football League. The franchise originated as the California Redwoods, and pl ...

. Jermaine was the Defensive Coordinator at Roswell High School in

Roswell, Georgia Roswell is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia, United States. At the official 2020 census, the city had a population of 92,883, making Roswell the state's ninth largest city. A suburb of Atlanta, Roswell has an affluent National Registe ...

and helped coach the team to back-to-back GHSA State Finals appearances in 2015 and 2016. He is currently a coach for the Westchase Colts Pop Warner organization in Florida.

Early life

Phillips 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 Roswell High School in

. While there he played line backer, tight end and defensive back. In 1996, he was a first-team All-Area and Area Player of the Year and was named to the

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All-South second-team.

College career

Phillips played

for the

. From 1998–1999 he was one of Georgia's back up wide receivers. In 2000, he became a strong safety and was third on the team in total tackles with 85 and also had two interceptions. In 2001, Phillips was

All-Southeastern Conference The All-SEC football team is an annual Southeastern Conference (SEC) honor bestowed on the best players in the conference following every college football season. Seasons

Following is a list of all-conference teams in the history of the SEC: ...

first-team selection by the National Sports Bureau after leading his team with three interceptions, four forced fumbles, and second on the team with eighty tackles. He was invited to play in the 2002

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college all-star game. His major was

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and

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

Professional career

Phillips was selected by the

in the fifth round (157 overall) of the

. He took over the starting role when long time Buccaneer player John Lynch (who signed with the

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) was released because of

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issues before the start of the 2004 season. During the 2007 season he had a career-high four

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. An

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in the 2009 offseason, Phillips re-signed with the Buccaneers on March 5. Shortly after, it was reported the Buccaneers would experiment with moving Phillips from safety to weak-side

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 ...

. Phillips played in the United Football League for the

in 2010 and

in 2011.

NFL statistics

Key * GP: games played * COMB: combined tackles * TOTAL: total tackles * AST: assisted tackles * SACK: sacks * FF: forced fumbles * FR: fumble recoveries * INT: interceptions * IR YDS: interception return yards * AVG IR: average interception return * LNG: longest interception return * TD: interceptions returned for touchdown * PD: passes defensed

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Jermaine 1979 births Living people Players of American football from Roswell, Georgia American football safeties American football linebackers Georgia Bulldogs football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Omaha Nighthawks players Sacramento Mountain Lions players