| No. 98 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Linebacker | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1974-08-04)August 4, 1974 (age 51) Amityville, New York, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||
| Weight | 250 lb (113 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Farmingdale(Farmingdale, New York) | ||||||||
| College | West Virginia | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1997: 6th round, 176th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
Playing | |||||||||
Coaching | |||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Canute J. Curtis (born August 4, 1974) is an American former professionalfootball player who was alinebacker for six seasons with theCincinnati Bengals of theNational Football League (NFL). He playedcollege football for theWest Virginia Mountaineers, earning consensusAll-American honors in 1996. He was selected by theCincinnati Bengals in the sixth round of the1997 NFL draft.
After his playing career, he became a coach for multiple college programs.
Curtis was born inAmityville, New York.[1] He attended Farmingdale High School inFarmingdale, New York,[2] where he played for the Farmingdalehigh school football team.
Curtis attended West Virginia University, where he played for theWest Virginia Mountaineers football team from 1993 to 1996. As a senior in 1996, Curtis led the nation's top-ranked defense by setting the Mountaineers' single-season record for quarterback sacks with 16.5, and also made 11 tackles for a loss. He totaled 67 tackles, forced two fumbles, and had an interception. Curtis was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American, and was named theBig East Conference Defensive Player of the Year. He was also among the finalists for theDick Butkus Award for best college linebacker and for theBronko Nagurski Award for best college defensive player. Curtis finished his career as WVU's all-time sack leader with 33.5 sacks.
He also became a member ofAlpha Phi Alpha fraternity.
In 2011, Curtis was inducted into the West Virginia University Sports Hall of Fame.[3]
The Cincinnati Bengals selected Curtis in the sixth round (176th pick overall) of the1997 NFL draft.[4] He played for the Bengals from1997 to2002.[1] During his six-season pro career, he played in 70 regular season games, started 15 of them, and compiled 87 tackles.[5]
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Comb | Solo | Ast | Sck | Int | Yds | TD | Lng | FF | FR | Yds | TD | ||
| 1997 | CIN | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1998 | CIN | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1999 | CIN | 15 | 0 | 18 | 15 | 3 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2000 | CIN | 15 | 0 | 16 | 14 | 2 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2001 | CIN | 16 | 4 | 29 | 15 | 14 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 2002 | CIN | 16 | 11 | 51 | 42 | 9 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 70 | 15 | 118 | 89 | 29 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | |
In 2004, Curtis became the linebackers coach atTowson University. In 2005, he became the linebackers coach andspecial teams coordinator atTennessee State University. In 2007, he became thedefensive ends coach as well as remained the special teams coordinator. In 2008, he was named thedefensive line coach atHampton University.[6] From 2009–2012 he was named the defensive line coach at Hampton.[7]
As of 2009, Curtis was married to his wife LaToya and the couple have two children.[7]