Samuel Cowart III (born February 26, 1975) is a former American college and professional football player who was a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, pl ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL) for eight seasons. He played college football for Florida State University and was recognized as an All-American. A second-round pick in the

1998 NFL Draft The 1998 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 18–19, 1998, at the Theater at ...

, he played professionally for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division ...

, New York Jets, and

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansio ...

of the NFL. Cowart was a

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

selection in 2000.

Early years

Cowart was born in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

. He attended Mandarin High School in Jacksonville, and played for the Mandarin Mustangs

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, partl ...

team. As a senior football player, he was a Super Prep high school All-American selection and a ''USA Today'' All-America honorable mention, named the Jacksonville Defensive Player of the Year, and won first-team all-state honors, and helped lead the Mustangs to the district championship in the state playoffs.

College career

Cowart attended Florida State University, where he played for coach

Bobby Bowden Robert Cleckler Bowden (; November 8, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was an American college football coach. Bowden coached the Florida State Seminoles of Florida State University (FSU) from 1976 to 2009 and is considered one of the greatest colle ...

Florida State Seminoles football The Florida State Seminoles football team represents Florida State University (variously Florida State or FSU) in the sport of American football. The Seminoles compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Col ...

team from 1993 through 1997. He was a reserve linebacker on the Seminoles' 1993 national championship team. In 1995, he led FSU in tackles in with 115 (76 solo), finishing sixth in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in that category. The same year, Cowart had three quarterback sacks and 13 tackles in the FSU-Florida game (at Florida) to earn ABC player of the game honors. Returning in 1997 after a knee injury that kept him out of the 1996 season, Cowart earned consensus first-team All-American recognition, leading the team with 116 tackles. He also set an FSU team record with three fumbles returned or recovered for touchdowns. He was a finalist for the

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 Fam ...

and

Bronko Nagurski Trophy The Bronko Nagurski Trophy has been awarded annually since 1993 to the collegiate American football defensive player adjudged by the membership of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) to be the best in the National Collegiate Athle ...

and winner of the ACC's

Brian Piccolo Louis Brian Piccolo (October 31, 1943 – June 16, 1970) was an American professional football player, a halfback for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) for four years. He died at age 26 from embryonal cell carcinoma, an ...

Award for the conference's "Most Courageous Player."

Professional career

Buffalo Bills

Cowart was drafted by the

in the second round of the

. He played for the Bills for four seasons and received a trip to the

in the 2000 season. Before he was cut down by injuries, Cowart, was a sideline-to-sideline force on a playmaking par with

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

linebacker

Ray Lewis Raymond Anthony Lewis Jr. (born May 15, 1975) is an American former professional football player who played as a middle linebacker with the Baltimore Ravens for his entire 17-year career in the National Football League (NFL). He played col ...

. Cowart was the Pro Bowl heart of Buffalo's defense until he was chopped down by

Frank Middleton Frank Middleton Jr. (born October 25, 1974) is a former American college and professional football player who was an offensive guard for eight seasons in the NFL during the 1990s and early 2000s. Middleton played college football for the Fort S ...

, a

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

guard, resulting in a severe ankle injury that ended his 2000 season after 12 games. Cowart also suffered a season-ending Achilles' tendon tear in Buffalo's 2001 season opener. "He and Ray Lewis were the best linebackers in the league before Sam suffered that Achilles' injury," said

Ted Cottrell Theodore John Cottrell (born June 13, 1947) is an American football coach and former player. He was formerly the defensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills, New York Jets, Minnesota Vikings, and the San Diego Chargers in the National Football Le ...

, Cowart’s defensive coordinator for the Bills from 1998 to 2000.

New York Jets

After the 2001 year, Cowart went to the New York Jets. He played as a starting linebacker for them in one of thirty-one games of the first two seasons. His third season he played nine games and only started two.

Minnesota Vikings

Cowart was indirectly involved in the Minnesota/Oakland trade that sent

Randy Moss Randy Gene Moss (born February 13, 1977) is an American former professional football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, Tennessee T ...

to the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Ra ...

in exchange for linebacker Napoleon Harris, a 1st round pick (7th overall) and a 7th round pick. Cowart was then traded by the New York Jets, to the

in exchange for the 7th round pick that was received from Oakland. He only played one season for the Vikings starting fourteen of fifteen games he played in.

Houston Texans

After the 2005 season the Vikings released Cowart. Cowart signed with the Houston Texans to become their starting middle linebacker until he was injured and was to miss the whole season. While injured, rookie

DeMeco Ryans DeMeco Ryans (; born July 28, 1984) is an American football coach and former linebacker who is the defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). Ryans played college football at the University of Alaba ...

took over the middle linebacker duties and was so impressive that he was named

NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Various entities present a National Football League Rookie of the Year Award each season to the top rookie(s) in the National Football League (NFL). The NFL considers the (rookie) of the year awards by the Associated Press (AP) to be its official ...

. After the Texans made Ryans their full-time starter they felt that they did not need Cowart any more so he was released after the 2006 season.

NFL statistics

Regular season

Postseason

Post NFL career

Cowart now lives in the Jacksonville, FL area and works at the financial firm Northwestern Mutual.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowart, Sam 1975 births Living people All-American college football players American Conference Pro Bowl players American football linebackers Buffalo Bills players Florida State Seminoles football players Minnesota Vikings players New York Jets players Players of American football from Jacksonville, Florida Mandarin High School alumni