Timothy Drew Atchison (born September 27, 1987) 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 ...

. 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 ...

for the

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

. He also played briefly 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 ...

for the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

in 2011, but was released early in the season after a hamstring injury.

Early years

Atchison was born in 1987 in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. He attended Copperas Cove High School in

Copperas Cove, Texas Copperas Cove ( ) is a city located in central Texas at the southern corner of Coryell County, Texas, Coryell County with smaller portions in Lampasas County, Texas, Lampasas and Bell County, Texas, Bell counties. Founded in 1879 as a small ranch ...

. He returned three interceptions for touchdowns, returned a blocked kick for another touchdown, and helped the 2005 Copperas Cove team to a 13-1 record.

College career

In February 2006, after being heavily recruited by multiple schools, Atchison signed a letter of intent to play college football at

. He played for the

Baylor Bears football The Baylor Bears football team represents Baylor University in Division I (NCAA)#Football Bowl Subdivision, Division I FBS college football. They are a member of the Big 12 Conference. After 64 seasons at the off-campus Baylor Stadium, renamed F ...

team from 2006 to 2010. He was true freshman in 2006 and a redshirt freshman in 2007. As a sophomore in 2008, he played in 11 of 12 games, starting in three, and totaled 31 tackles (21 solo) and three pass breakups. As a junior in 2009, he was moved from safety to cornerback. He started all 12 games at left cornerback. He sustained a broken hand in the fourth game and wore a club-like cast to protect the arm for the remaining games. He continued to start every game and totaled 42 tackles (29 solo), two tackles for loss, one interception and five passes broken up on the season. As a senior in 2010, he returned to the safety position where he had played prior to the 2009 season. At the time, he noted: "I have been playing safety most of my life. I like the fact that free safety is kind of the leader of the defense. It is my job to make sure everybody is lined up right and to get us in the right defense." Baylor coach

Art Briles Arthur Ray Briles (born December 3, 1955) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach for the Guelfi Firenze in the Italian Football League. Briles was the head coach of the Houston Cougars from 2002 to 2007 and the Baylor B ...

described free safety as a more natural position for Atchison. Atchison started all 13 games at free safety in 2020, totaling 72 tackles (58 solo) and a team-high nine pass breakups. On October 1, 2010, he returned an interception for a touchdown, helping Baylor to its biggest conference win ever, a 55-7 blowout over Kansas. After the 2010 season, he played in the 2011 Eastham Energy All-Star Game.

Professional career

Atchison was signed by the Rams as an undrafted free agent in September 2011. On September 19, 2011, in the fourth quarter of his first NFL game, a nationally-televised loss to the New York Giants, Atchison suffered a grade 2 strain to his hamstring. He was released on September 26, 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atchison, Tim 1987 births Living people American football safeties Baylor Bears football players St. Louis Rams players Players of American football from Houston