Lee Anthony Heath Jr. (born September 11, 1987) is a professional

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create turnove ...

. Heath was signed by the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player 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 contract at present but who is a ...

in 2011 in the NFL, where he played for several years before playing

Canadian football Canadian football () is a sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's scoring area ( ...

for the final 3 years of his career. He played college football for

Jacksonville State University Jacksonville State University (JSU) is a public university in Jacksonville, Alabama. Founded in 1883, Jacksonville State offers programs of study in six academic schools leading to bachelor's, master's, education specialist, and doctorate degrees ...

. Heath previously played for the Jaguars, the

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

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 club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The club's home ...

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 ...

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

, and

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

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 ...

, as well as the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play their h ...

, and

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ...

(CFL).

College career

Heath played 3 years for

Jacksonville State Gamecocks football : ''For information on all Jacksonville State University sports, see Jacksonville State Gamecocks.'' The Jacksonville State Gamecocks football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Jacksonville State University (JSU) located ...

in Division I FCS. Over three years of on field play from 2007-2009, Heath played in 34 games, amassing 112 tackles, forced 3 fumbles, recovered 2 fumbles, and blocked 2 kicks. Heath also defended 29 passes, intercepting 8 of them; he managed to return two interceptions for touchdowns. During his junior season, Heath was a second team All-America selection.

Professional career

Jacksonville Jaguars

Heath was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars following the 2011 NFL draft, he was released by the Jaguars on July 31, 2012.

Cincinnati Bengals

He was signed by the Bengals on August 4, 2012, then released on August 31, 2012.

Buffalo Bills

Heath signed with the Buffalo Bills practice squad on September 3, 2012. Buffalo released him on August 31, 2013, prior to the start of the regular season.

Cleveland Browns

Heath signed with the

practice squad on December 4, 2013. The Browns released Heath on August 25, 2014.

Miami Dolphins

In November 2014, he was signed by the

to their practice squad and promoted to the active roster on December 13, 2014.

Carolina Panthers

Heath was signed on August 5, 2015 following the retirement of

Chris Houston Chris Houston may refer to: * Chris Houston (American football) (born 1984), American football cornerback * Chris Houston (musician), Canadian musician * Chris Houston (rugby league) (born 1985), who as of 2017 plays for Widnes Vikings {{hndis ...

. On September 5, 2015, he was released by the Panthers.

Atlanta Falcons

Heath was signed on November 16, 2015 to the practice squad of the Falcons. On December 8, 2015, he was released from the practice squad.

New York Giants

On December 30, 2015, the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

signed Heath to their practice squad.

Toronto Argonauts

Heath entered the Canadian Football League with the

for the 2016 season. He got off to a fast start, with 3 interceptions in his first 5 games. He played 10 games with the Argos, and was named player of the week following a two interception performance before being traded to the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Heath's trade to the Bombers involved two high draft picks and Heath, in exchange for quarterback

Drew Willy Drew Willy (born November 13, 1986) is a former American professional Canadian football quarterback. He was signed by the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2009. He played college football at Buffalo. Willy has also been a member o ...

. While Willy's stint with the Argos lasted only a few games, missing out on the playoffs, and being released after the following preseason, Heath picked up where he left off by recording an interception in back to back regular season games against the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first season ...

and helping Winnipeg reach the postseason; the Bombers lost a revenge game to the Lions in the Western semi-final. Despite playing a majority of his season in the Eastern Division, Heath's outstanding first year in the CFL culminated in his being named a West Division All-Star, having recorded a total of 51 defensive tackles, 5 special teams tackles, and 7 interceptions, leading the league along with Bombers teammate

Maurice Leggett Maurice Lamar Leggett (also known as Moe Leggett) (born October 2, 1986) is an American football cornerback who is currently a free agent. He was previously a member of the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League and the Winnipeg Blue ...

. Heath was further honored by being named to the League All-Star team. During the 2017 season, Heath continued his strong play for Winnipeg, playing in all 18 games and recording 64 defensive tackles and a sack. Heath had 5 more interceptions on the year, with 4 coming in the first 3 games of the season. Heath did not intercept another pass until week 17, but returned it for a touchdown. Following Winnipeg's playoff defeat, Heath was again named both a Divisional and League-wide All-Star.

Toronto Argonauts (II)

After being named the #8 available free agent for 2018, Heath returned to Toronto on a one year contract. However, much like his first sting with Toronto, Heath was traded to another team following a hot start to the year, with 24 tackles and 2 interceptions in Toronto's first 6 games.

Montreal Alouettes

Toronto traded Heath to the

in exchange for National lineman

Ryan Bomben Ryan Bomben (born May 16, 1987) is a professional Canadian football offensive guard who is currently a free agent. He most recently played for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He is a four-time East Division All-Star and ...

in early August, following a slew on injuries to Montreal's secondary, which forced Heath to make his Alouettes debut on only 3 days of practise. Heath did not learn about the move until he saw the news on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

. Playing in 12 games with Montreal meant that Heath's combined stats for the year were 18 games played, recording a career high 70 tackles and 3 interceptions. His one interception with Montreal came late in the year against the Argonauts. Heath did not sign with another team or an alternate league (such as the

AAF AAF may refer to: Aviation * Aigle Azur (ICAO code), a French airline * Apalachicola Regional Airport (IATA code), in Apalachicola, Florida Corporations * American Air Filter, today a part of HVAC-equipment-maker Daikin Military * Albanian Arm ...

or the XFL) following the 2018 season, and finished his CFL career with 185 defensive tackles, 5 special teams stops, one sack, one defensive touchdown, and 15 interceptions. Despite only three years of play in the CFL, he was named as eligible for the All-Decade Team.

References

External links

Cincinnati Bengals bioJacksonville Jaguars bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heath, T. J. 1987 births Living people American football cornerbacks Canadian football defensive backs American players of Canadian football Atlanta Falcons players Buffalo Bills players Carolina Panthers players Cincinnati Bengals players Cleveland Browns players Jacksonville Jaguars players Jacksonville State Gamecocks football players Miami Dolphins players New York Giants players Toronto Argonauts players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players People from Calhoun County, Alabama Players of American football from Alabama Montreal Alouettes players