Malik Terrell Jefferson (born November 15, 1996) is an American 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 ...

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 ...

. 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 ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. As a senior at Poteet High School in

Mesquite, Texas Mesquite is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Dallas County, Texas, Dallas County with portions extending into Kaufman County, Texas, Kaufman County. The population was 150,108 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, and maki ...

, Jefferson won the 2014

Butkus Award The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, is given annually to the top linebackers at the high school, collegiate and professional levels of football. The award, named in honor of College Football Hall of Fame ...

given to the best linebacker in

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

. He has been a member of the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

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 ...

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC W ...

, and

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

of 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).

Early life

A native of

, Jefferson attended Poteet High School where he played football and baseball and competed in track and field. Playing defensive back as a sophomore in 2012, Jefferson registered 105 tackles, 24 tackles for loss, seven sacks, five forced fumbles, and four blocked kicks. Helping Poteet to an 11–3 record, including a 5–2 district mark and a UIL playoff berth, Jefferson was named Sophomore of the Year in District 10–4A and earned first-team All-Area honors by the ''

Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation in 2022 of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885, by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ' ...

''. Poteet advanced to the 4A Division 2 quarterfinals, where they lost 21–13 to

Daeshon Hall Daeshon Hall (born June 14, 1995) is an American football defensive end who is a free agent. He played college football at Texas A&M. Early life Hall attended Garfield High School in Seattle, Washington and Lancaster High School in Lancaster, ...

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

. In his junior year, Jefferson mostly played linebacker and was part of a defense that held nine opponents to 20 points or fewer. He tallied 93 tackles, 18 tackles for loss, 14 sacks, three forced fumbles, and three fumble recoveries, and was chosen Defensive MVP and first-team All-District 10–4A. Jefferson was also an honorable mention on the 4A All-State team by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

and Texas Sports Writers Association. Poteet finished the season with a 12–2 record, including a 6–1 district mark and an appearance in the 4A Division 2 quarterfinals, where they lost 43–14 to Terence Williams'

Ennis Ennis ( , meaning 'island' or 'river meadow') is the county town of County Clare, in the mid-west of Ireland. The town lies on the River Fergus, north of where the river widens and enters the Shannon Estuary. Ennis is the largest town in Cou ...

. ''

MaxPreps MaxPreps is an American website that specializes in coverage of American high school sports. The site is currently owned by PlayOn. Founded on August 1, 2002, the company has covered up to 29 sports, including boys, girls, and co-ed sports. ...

'' named Jefferson to their 2013 Junior All-American team. After participating in Nike's 2014 ''The Opening'' in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

, Jefferson started his senior season as preseason Defensive Player of the Year by

Dave Campbell's Texas Football ''Dave Campbell's Texas Football'' is a biannual magazine previewing American football teams in the state of Texas. It previews football teams in Texas at all levels, from the NFL's Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans, college football, to the ...

. He was credited with 81 tackles on the season, including six sacks and 16 tackles for loss, along with two forced fumbles and four blocked kicks, despite missing more than two games due to injury, along with three other second halves where the starters were removed. Poteet went undefeated 7–0 through its district schedule and finished the season 10–2, but was upset 27–24 in the 5A Division 2 area playoffs by The Colony. Jefferson was named first-team All-American by ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety ...

'' and ''

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'', and also won the High School Butkus Award for the nation's top linebacker. After season, he participated in the 2015

Under Armour All-America Game The Under Armour High School All-America Game is a high school football all-star game typically held in early January in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Florida created to spotlight the nation’s top high school seniors. The game wa ...

. Regarded as a five-star recruit by both Rivals.com and Scout.com, either recruiting service also ranked him the No. 1 outside linebacker prospect of his class. With offers from every major program in the country, Jefferson narrowed his selection down to Baylor, Louisiana State,

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

, and

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

. On December 19, 2014, he committed to play football at University of Texas at Austin, and was labelled as

Charlie Strong Charles Rene Strong (born August 2, 1960) is an American football coach who is the current defensive line coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He recently served as the Head coach, assistant head coach and Li ...

's “signature recruit.” He was an early enrollee arriving on campus in January 2015.

College career

Jefferson played as a

true freshman The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see '' Glossary of Canadian football''. 0–9 ...

at Texas, and was named a

Freshman All-American Underclass All-American is an honorific for high school and college athletes for excellence in competition. The athletes recognized with this title are considered the best players of a specific season in their sport that are members of a given cla ...

by ''

Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

'', and ''

''. Jefferson was also awarded as The Big 12 Conference Freshman Defensive Player of the Year for the 2015 season. On December 31, 2017, Jefferson declared his intentions to enter the

2018 NFL draft The 2018 NFL draft was the 83rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2018 NFL season. The draft was held on April 26–28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington southwest of Dallas; it was ...

Professional career

Pre-draft

On December 31, 2017, Jefferson released a statement through

The Players' Tribune ''The Players' Tribune'' is a new media platform that produces daily sports conversation and publishes first-person stories from professional athletes. The platform was founded by former professional Major League Baseball player Derek Jeter in ...

announcing his decision to forgo his remaining eligibility and enter the 2018 NFL draft. Jefferson ignored recommendations from the College Advisory Board to return to college and chose to enter the draft instead. He attended the

NFL Scouting 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 ...

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

and completed the majority of drills, but opted to skip the three-cone drill and short shuttle. On March 28, 2018, he participated at Texas'

pro day The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

and performed the vertical jump (37"), short shuttle, and three-cone drill. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Jefferson was projected to be a second-round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked the second-best inside linebacker prospect in the draft by DraftScouts.com and was ranked the eighth-best linebacker by

Scouts Inc. Scouts Inc. is a partner of ESPN Inc., that specializes in scouting and evaluating current and future players and teams in professional, college and high school sports. The content is provided on the ESPN television networks, ESPN Radio and ESPN ...

and ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

''.

Cincinnati Bengals

The

selected Jefferson in the third round (78th overall) of the 2018 NFL draft. Jefferson was the 11th linebacker drafted in 2018. On June 21, 2018, the Bengals signed Jefferson to a four-year, $3.59 million contract that includes a

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

of $923,728. He played in 10 games before being placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

on December 18, 2018 with a foot injury. Jefferson was waived during final roster cuts on August 31, 2019.

Cleveland Browns

Jefferson was claimed off waivers by the

on September 1, 2019. On November 12, 2019, Jefferson was waived by the Browns.

Los Angeles Chargers (first stint)

On November 25, 2019, Jefferson was signed to the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

of the

. He signed a

futures contract In finance, a futures contract (sometimes called futures) is a standardized legal contract to buy or sell something at a predetermined price for delivery at a specified time in the future, between parties not yet known to each other. The item tr ...

with the Chargers on December 30, 2019. On September 5, 2020, Jefferson was waived by the Chargers.

Tennessee Titans

On September 9, 2020, Jefferson was signed to the

practice squad, but was released five days later.

Los Angeles Chargers (second stint)

On September 16, 2020, Jefferson was signed to the Chargers practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on September 26, 2020. On January 1, 2021, Jefferson was placed on injured reserve. He was waived after the season on March 12, 2021.

Indianapolis Colts

On May 5, 2021, Jefferson signed with the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

. He was waived on August 31, 2021 and re-signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on December 15. He was waived on January 4, 2022. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 10, 2022. He was released on May 10, 2022.

Dallas Cowboys

On July 14, 2022, Jefferson signed with 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 ...

. On August 30, he was waived and signed to the practice squad the next day. On December 14, the Cowboys released him. On December 20, he was signed to the practice squad. On January 30, 2023, he was released. On February 8, 2023, the Cowboys signed him to a reserve/future contract. He was waived on August 29, 2023 and re-signed to the practice squad. He was not signed to a reserve/future contract after the season and thus became a free agent when his practice squad contract expired.

Detroit Lions

On July 27, 2024, Jefferson signed with 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 August 20, he was placed on injured reserve and later released.

References

External links

*
Texas Longhorns bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jefferson, Malik 1996 births Living people American football linebackers Cincinnati Bengals players Cleveland Browns players Dallas Cowboys players Indianapolis Colts players Los Angeles Chargers players Players of American football from Mesquite, Texas Players of American football from Dallas County, Texas Tennessee Titans players Texas Longhorns football players 21st-century African-American sportsmen Under Armour All-American football players