Samari Rolle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Baltimore Ravens — No. 22 | |
| Cornerback | |
| Date of birth: August 10, 1976 | |
| Place of birth: Miami, Florida | |
| Height: 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | Weight: 175 lb (79 kg) |
| National Football League debut | |
|---|---|
| 1998 for the Tennessee Oilers | |
| Career history | |
| College: Florida State | |
| NFL Draft: 1998 / Round: 2 / Pick: 46 | |
Teams:
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| Career highlights and awards | |
| Stats at NFL.com | |
Samari Toure Rolle (pronounced /rolle/) (born August 10, 1976 in Miami, Florida) is an American football cornerback for the Baltimore Ravens. He played collegiate football at Florida State University. One of his nicknames is "Sushi Man", because his name sounds like the type of sushi, Samurai Roll.
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[edit] High School Career
Samari Rolle attended Miami Beach High School in Miami Beach, Florida, where he was named Super Prep Dixie Defensive Player of the Year and was a Dream Team selection by Blue Chip Illustrated. As as senior, he tallied 62 tackles, 6 INTs, threw for 1,217 yards and 8 TDs at quarterback, rushed for 402 yards and returned 3 punts for TDs. He also played in the Super 24 Florida-Georgia All-Star Game.
[edit] College
Rolle studied political science at Florida State University. He played in 38 games with 24 starts and making 12 interceptions and 111 tackles in his four year career. In his senior season he was named First-Team All-ACC and Football News Third-Team All-America. Four of his 12 career interceptions came against rival Miami Hurricanes. He majored in political science.
[edit] Professional career
[edit] Tennessee Oilers/Titans
Rolle was selected by the Tennessee Oilersin the second round (46th overall) in the 1998 NFL Draft. In his rookie season he played in 15 games and finished the campaign with 30 tackles. The following year, he recorded 69 tackles, three sacks and four interceptions. He shares the franchise record with three interceptions in one game in 1999 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was selected to the 2000 Pro Bowl after recording a seven interception season, one of which he returned for a touchdown. In 2001, he made 56 tackles and three interceptions. The following season he started in every game and finished the season with 48 tackles and two interceptions. In 2003, he only played in 13 games after dislocating his elbow, but finished the season with 31 tackles and six interceptions. He was released by Tennessee at the end of the 2004 season for salary cap reasons and finished the campaign with 28 tackles.
[edit] Baltimore Ravens
Rolle signed for the Baltimore Ravens as an unrestricted free agent on March 7 2005. His first year in Baltimore was decent as he recorded 41 tackles, 2 forced fumbles, 1 interception and 11 pass deflections. However, in 2006 he struggled against the deep ball in several early games, most notably in week 6 against the Panthers where Rolle gave up two long touchdowns to Drew Carter and Steve Smith.[1] Some backers of Rolle have said that there were several instances during the year in which safety Ed Reed failed to roll over and help Rolle in coverage. This was proved to be true especially on Steve Smith's long touchdown, Ed Reed blew his assignment.[2] However Rolle rebounded and played relatively well in the second half of the season[1]; in the Ravens' last game in the playoffs against the Colts he did a successful job of limiting Reggie Wayne and preventing the long ball. He finished the season with 52 tackles and three interceptions. Last year he only played in six games and ended the campaign with 22 tackles and one interception.[3]
[edit] Epilepsy
Through week 10 of the 2007 NFL season, Samari Rolle has missed 5 games due to an undisclosed illness. On 11/14/2007, talk show hosts filling in on the Anita Marks show on Baltimore ESPN Radio 1300AM mentioned that Samari was being treated for seizures, but no further elaboration was provided. On November 21, 2007, Rolle disclosed that the illness was epilepsy.[4]
[edit] Airplane incident
On June 13, 2007 Rolle was in South Africa on board a small commuter airplane returning from a safari when the door at the back of the plane flew off.[5] Rolle was on the plane with his wife along with Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Lito Sheppard, Jacksonville Jaguars running back Fred Taylor, their respective wives and three other people.[6] However, no one was seriously hurt and the flight landed safely.
[edit] Referee Controversy
Following a December 3, 2007 Monday Night Football game against the 11-0 New England Patriots, Rolle alleged that head linesman Phil McKinnely repeatedly referred to him as a boy. Rolle said that he was making plans to call his agent and file a complaint with the NFL.[7]
[edit] Trivia
- He is the cousin of Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson and former Carolina Panthers wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson.
- Rolle wears the number #22 as a tribute to his high school teammate and former Ravens cornerback Duane Starks.[8]
- His name "Samari" means strength.
