Quan Cosby
 Cosby in the 2011 NFL season. | |||||||||||
No. -- Free agent | |||||||||||
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| Wide receiver / Return specialist | |||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||
| Date of birth: December 23, 1982 | |||||||||||
| Place of birth: Mart, Texas | |||||||||||
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Career information | |||||||||||
| College: Texas | |||||||||||
| Undrafted in 2009 | |||||||||||
| Debuted in 2009 for the Cincinnati Bengals | |||||||||||
Career history
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Career NFL statistics as of Week 15, 2012 | |||||||||||
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Quantwan "Quan" Cosby (born December 23, 1982) is an American football wide receiver who is currently a free agent in the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted free agent in 2009. He played college football for the Texas Longhorns. He also played four years of professional baseball for the Anaheim Angels.
Cosby has also been a member of the Denver Broncos, Indianapolis Colts, and the Jacksonville Jaguars
Early years
Cosby was a stellar athlete for Mart High School, excelling in football, baseball, and track. In football he was a two time 2A All State selection at quarterback, where he was also selected to the second team all USA Today Team and named Offensive Player of the Year. He was also selected All State once at defensive back and kick returner. In baseball, he was mainly known for his speed, stealing 81 of 82 bases during his junior and senior years. He was effective with the bat as well, posting a .479 batting average his senior year with three home runs and 33 RBI. He won a total of three state titles in high school: one his junior year in football and two his senior year in track in the 100m and 200m dashes, with times of 10.46 and 21.31 respectively.
Baseball career
Cosby was drafted by the Anaheim Angels in the sixth round of the 2001 Major League Baseball Draft and left his commitment to the University of Texas to do so. He wound up playing for four years in the outfield for the Angels organization. He started his career in the Arizona League where he played 41 games, hitting .243 with eight RBI and eight stolen bases for the Angels. His second year he played for the Provo Angels of the Pioneer League where he recorded a .302 average with nine doubles, 29 RBI, and 22 stolen bases in a total of 76 games. He continued his career playing for the Class A Cedar Rapids Kernels. His first year with them he hit .249 with four doubles, 21 RBI, and 17 stolen bases in 104 games. The next year he attained a .249 batting average, again, with eight doubles, 12 triples, five home runs, and 24 stolen bases in 119 games. At that point he had a career average of .260 in 340 total games. Though his batting average had not improved greatly, his power numbers had. After playing four years in the Angels minor league system, Cosby decided to attend the University of Texas where he would go on to play football.
College career
Cosby attended The University of Texas at Austin and received a bachelor's degree in Social Work (BSW) in 2009.
2005
During his freshman campaign, Cosby caught 15 passes for 270 yards with two touchdowns. He played in all 13 games and started three. He played on special teams as well, returning six punts for 92 yards. He also had two catches for 16 yards in the 2006 Rose Bowl in which the Longhorns won the BCS National Championship.
2006
His sophomore season was a successful one in which he caught 33 passes for 525 yards and two touchdowns. He again saw action in all 13 games, starting eight. While he was still in the midst of becoming a great receiver, he was making an impact on special teams, returning 13 kickoffs for 334 yards and 2 punts for 64 yards. In the 2006 Alamo Bowl he caught seven passes for 59 yards in the Longhorns' victory over the University of Iowa.
2007
During his junior year he again played in all 13 games, starting 11 of them. He caught 60 passes for 680 yards and 5 touchdowns, earning him AP Big 12 Honorable Mention. He excelled on special teams, posting 1,017 yards from 42 kickoffs and also returning 19 punts for 178 yards. His return stats earned him second team AP All Big 12. During the 2007 Holiday Bowl, he had just one catch for 55 yards. He did, however, return one punt for 21 yards and four kickoffs for 73 yards in the Texas victory over Arizona State University.
2008
As a senior Cosby established himself as one of the elite wide receivers in the nation and became a favorite target for quarterback Colt McCoy. He had a career high in receiving yards with 154 against UTEP in the second game of the season. In Texas's upset over then number one ranked University of Oklahoma, Cosby caught nine passes for 122 yards, but was kept out of the endzone. During his college career, Cosby had a total of 212 receptions, 2,598 receiving yards, and a total of 19 receiving touchdowns. In the 2009 Fiesta Bowl, Cosby capped off an outstanding senior season as he scored the winning touchdown on a pass from Colt McCoy with 18 seconds left in the game.[1]
Professional career
Cincinnati Bengals
Cosby went undrafted but was quickly signed as a rookie free agent by the Cincinnati Bengals. For two seasons he played lower on the wide receiver depth chart, but was a featured punt returner and special teams player. He was released by the Bengals in September 2011.
Denver Broncos
Cosby was signed by the Denver Broncos as a punt returner on September 20, 2011. However, on December 27, 2011 Cosby was waived by the Denver Broncos.
Indianapolis Colts
Cosby was claimed off waivers by the Indianapolis Colts on December 28, 2011. He wore the number 12 during the 2011 season. When the Colts drafted Andrew Luck with the first pick of the draft, he changed his number to 14 so that Luck could wear 12, the number he wore at Stanford. He was released on August 29, 2012.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Cosby was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars on November 27, 2012. He was released on December 18.
Awards and honors
- Two time All-State selection at quarterback
- All State selection at defensive back
- All State selection at kick returner
- USA Today Offensive player of the Year in 2000
- AP Second Team All Big 12 as a kick returner
- AP Honorable Mention Big 12 as a wide receiver
Personal
Quan has stated that he is not related to comedian Bill Cosby. However, during the 2009 NFL Draft, Bill spent time with Quan while Quan waited to see if he would be drafted.
References
"Quan Cosby Stats, News, Photos".
"Quan Cosby Bio". USA Today.
Notes
- ↑ ESPN