Dewayne Washington

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Dewayne Washington
Date of birth	December 27, 1972 (age 34)
Place of birth	Durham, North Carolina
Position(s)	Cornerback
College	North Carolina State
NFL Draft	1994 / Round 1 / Pick 18
Statistics	DatabaseFootball
Team(s)
1994-1997 1998-2003 2004 2005	Minnesota Vikings Pittsburgh Steelers Jacksonville Jaguars Kansas City Chiefs

Dewayne Neron Washington (born December 27, 1972 in Durham, North Carolina) is a former American football cornerback in the NFL. He played for the Minnesota Vikings (1994-1997), Pittsburgh Steelers (1998-2003), Jacksonville Jaguars(2004), and Kansas City Chiefs(2005) . He was a first-round pick , 18th overall, in the 1994 NFL Draft from North Carolina State University.

When Dewayne Washington was in college, he led North Carolina State with 4 interceptions his senior year while recording 66 tackles, 51 solo tackles as a co-captain. His junior year he had 3 interceptions. At Northern Durham High School, he earned All-American honors from "The Sporting News", "Super Prep", and "USA Today" as a prep star in 1989.

Dewayne Washington played in all 16 games as a rookie in 1994. Dewayne became a starter in his first year as a pro, recording 75 tackles, 69 of them being solo. He also recorded 3 interceptions for 135 yards and 2 touchdowns as a rookie. Dewayne Washington was named defensive rookie of the year by College and Pro Football Newsweekly and earned All-Rookie honors from Pro Football Weekly and Pro Football Writers of America.

In 1995, Dewayne played in only 15 games, recording 62 total tackles, 57 being solo. Along with that, he had 1 interception for 25 yards. For the next 10 NFL seasons, he did not miss a game. During his career, he played in a total of 191/192 possible regular season games.

In 1996, Dewayne recorded 75 tackles, 72 of them being solo. he had 2 interceptions for 27 yards and a touchdown that year.

In 1997, he had 84 tackles, 74 were solo. He had 4 interceptions that year for 71 yards, but no interceptions.

On February 25, 1998, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Dewayne Washington as an unrestricted free agent. 1998 proved to be Dewayne's best season in the NFL. In his first season with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Dewayne had 93 tackles, 82 of them were solo. He had 5 interceptions for 178 yards and 2 touchdowns that year. He never returned another interception for a touchdown in his career after these 2.

In 1999, Dewayne had a career low up to that point 52 tackles, 50 being solo. However, he did manage to record 4 interceptions for only 1 yard. This was because in 1998 he was a top corner, thus in 1999 teams did not throw in his direction as much.

In 2000, Dewayne had 78 tackles, 70 solo. He matched his career high 5 interceptions, returning them for 59 yards. On July 19, 2001, the Pittsburgh Steelers re-signed Dewayne Washington to a multi-year contract.

In 2001, he had 77 tackles for 73 yards, but only 1 interception for 15 yards.

In 2002 he had only 54 tackles, and a career low to that point 46 solo tackles.

2003 Dewayne began to show his age. That year, he had only 55 tackles, 51 being solo. He had only 1 interception for the second consecutive year, returning this one for only 7 yards. This would be the end of Dewayne's 6 season career in Pittsburgh. After the 2003 season, Dewayne Washington's career in Pittsburgh was in question, saying Pittsburgh wouldn't pay Dewayne the big money to sit on the bench.

On February 27, 2004, the Pittsburgh Steelers officially cut Dewayne Washington, making him a free agent eligible to sign with any team. On March 9, 2004, the Jacksonville Jaguars signed Dewayne Washington to be a nickel back, however he proved he could still play. In 2004, Dewayne put up his old stats again recording 77 tackles, 72 being solo. He recorded 2 interceptions, however gained 0 yards on returns. In the training camp before the 2005 season, the Kansas City Chiefs signed Dewayne Washington to a one year-contract. The signing of Washington was pushed aside by many people due to the possibility of signing Ty Law before he signed with the New York Jets. Dewayne played almost always on special teams, recording 10 tackles, 9 being solo. For the first time in his career, Dewayne Washington went without an interception. Washington has started all 8 playoff games he has appeared in.

Dewayne is married and currently has two children.