Joshua Payne Scobey (born December 11, 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 ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

and

kick returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

who played seven seasons 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). 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 ...

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public inst ...

and was selected by the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

in the sixth round of the

2002 NFL draft The 2002 NFL draft was the 67th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted ...

Early life

At Del City High School, Scobey finished with the best single season rushing total in Del City High School history, with 1,829 yards (1997). He rushed for 3,303 total rushing yards, trailing only Bennie Butler (

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

) in career rushing yards. He also finished only behind Butler in total rushing and receiving yards with 3,408.

College career

Scobey attended

Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College (NEO) is a Public college, public community college in Miami, Oklahoma. Established as the Miami School of Mines in 1919, NEO has an enrollment of approximately two thousand students. The Golden Norsemen is th ...

Miami, Oklahoma Miami ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ottawa County, Oklahoma, United States, founded in 1891. Lead and zinc mining were established by 1918, causing the area's economy to boom. This area was part of Indian Territory. Miami is the capit ...

. He then transferred to

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...

, where he started at running back and set a school record for rushing touchdowns.

Professional career

Scobey's NFL career began when he was selected by the

in the

. In 2003, Scobey led the National Football League in kick-off return yardage and was allowed to be voted for the Pro Bowl. He played for the Cardinals for three seasons before moving to the Seahawks. In Seattle, he earned an NFC championship ring and he was the Seahawks' kickoff returner in

Super Bowl XL Super Bowl XL was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2005 Seattle Seahawks season, Seattle Seahawks and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Pittsburgh S ...

against the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

, and served as a team captain for the game and coin toss. On May 3, 2007, Scobey signed with the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

, but he re-signed with the Seahawks on December 4, exactly one year after he was placed on injured reserve by the Seahawks in 2006.

Post-playing career

On June 25, 2022, Scobey was promoted to the director of college scouting by the

. On May 4, 2024, Scobey and the Cardinals organization parted ways.

Personal life

Scobey is a Buddhist. He practices

Nichiren Buddhism Nichiren Buddhism (), also known as ''Hokkeshū'' (, meaning ''Lotus Sect''), is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222–1282) and is one of the Kamakura period school ...

through the

Soka Gakkai International Soka Gakkai International (SGI) is an international Nichiren Buddhist organization founded in 1975 by Daisaku Ikeda, as an umbrella organization of Soka Gakkai. It is run by two vice-presidents, including Hiromasa Ikeda, son of the founder. It c ...

, and has been a practicing Buddhist since he was five years old.

References

External links

Stats Crew profileSeattle Seahawks bioUnited Football League bio
1979 births American Buddhists Living people Players of American football from Oklahoma City American football running backs American football return specialists Kansas State Wildcats football players Arizona Cardinals players Seattle Seahawks players Buffalo Bills players Las Vegas Locomotives players People from Del City, Oklahoma Northeastern Oklahoma A&M Golden Norsemen football players {{Oklahoma-sport-stub