Lynn Scott (born June 23, 1977) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

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 ...

. 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 ...

at Northwestern Oklahoma State University.

Early years

Scott attended Turpin High School, where he helped his team win the 1995 Class 1A state title. He accepted a football scholarship from Northwestern Oklahoma State University, where he was a three-time NAIA

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

and helped his team win the 1999 NAIA national championship. As a freshman, he was named a starter at

, recording 90 tackles, 2 interceptions, while returning 17 punts for 208 yards (12.2-yard average). As a sophomore, he registered 49 tackles, 2 interceptions, 4 passes defensed, while returning 12 punts for 337 yards (28.1-yard average) and 2

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 ...

s. As a junior, he collected 87 tackles, 5 interceptions, 5 passes defensed, while returning 16 punts for 197 yards (12.3-yard average) and one

. As a senior, he posted 72 tackles, 4 interceptions, 9 passes defensed, while returning 26 punts for a school record 595 yards (22.9-yard average) and 4

s. He finished his college career with 298 tackles and the school record for most punt return yards in a season (595) and in a career (1,337). In 2009, he was named NAIA Defensive Player of the Decade. In 2012, he was inducted into the Northwestern Sports Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Scott was signed as an

undrafted 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

after the

2001 NFL draft The 2001 NFL draft was the 66th draft annual of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at the Th ...

. He finished with 15

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 ...

tackles (third on the team), 5 defensive tackles and 2 fumble recoveries. In

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, he tallied 15 tackles, 2 passes defensed, one quarterback pressure and 8

tackles. In

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, he had 3 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 8

tackles. In

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, he started 9 games at

strong safety Safety (S), historically known as a safetyman, 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 sa ...

alongside Roy Williams, after Darren Woodson was lost for the season with a herniated disk in his lower back. He finished with 46 tackles, one sack, one interception, 3 passes defensed, one fumble recovered and 11

tackles. He was waived on September 3,

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, but was later re-signed on November 1. He appeared in 6 games, making 3

tackles. He wasn't re-signed at the end of the season.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Lynn 1977 births Living people People from Beaver County, Oklahoma Players of American football from Oklahoma American football safeties Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers football players Dallas Cowboys players