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| Born | February 26, 1975 Jacksonville, Florida |
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| Career information | |||
| Year(s) | 1998–2005 | ||
| NFL Draft | 1998 / Round: 2 / Pick: 39 | ||
| College | Florida State | ||
| Professional teams | |||
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| Career stats | |||
| Tackles | 715 | ||
| Sacks | 12.5 | ||
| Interceptions | 4 | ||
| Stats at NFL.com | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
Samuel Cowart, III (February 26, 1975 in Jacksonville, Florida) is a former American football linebacker who primarily played for the Buffalo Bills, New York Jets, and Minnesota Vikings of the NFL.[1] Cowart is a one time Pro Bowler, being selected in 2000 while playing for the Bills.
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Cowart attended Mandarin High School in Jacksonville, Florida, and as a senior football player, he was a Super Prep All-American selection, a USA Today All-America Honorable Mention selection, named the Jacksonville Defensive Player of the Year, and won first team All-State honors, and heleped lead his team to the District Title.
Cowart played for Florida State University from 1993 through 1997, where he was a reserve linebacker on the FSU's 1993 national championship team. In 1995, he led FSU in tackles in with 115 (76 solo), finishing sixth in the Atlantic Coast Conference 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 All-America honors, leading the team with 116 tackles. He also set an FSU record with three fumbles returned or recovered for touchdowns. He was a finalist for the Butkus Award and Bronko Nagurski Trophy and winner of the ACC's Brian Piccolo Award to the conference's "Most Courageous Player".
Cowart was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the second round of the 1998 NFL Draft. He played for the Bills for four seasons and received a trip to the Pro Bowl in the 2000 season.
After the 2001 season, Cowart went to the New York Jets. He played as a starting linebacker for them in thirty of thirty-one games of the first two seasons. His third season he played nine games and only started two.
Cowart was indirectly involved in the Minnesota/Oakland trade that sent Randy Moss to the Oakland Raiders 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 Minnesota Vikings 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.
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 took over the middle linebacker duties and was so impressive that he was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. 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.
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