Alterraun Verner
Age: 35
Alterraun Ennis Verner (born December 13, 1988) is an American football cornerback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL Draft.
High school career
Verner attended Mayfair High School in Lakewood, California, where he played wide receiver, defensive back, linebacker and special teams. As a senior, he made 50 receptions for 907 yards and 13 touchdowns. On defense, he made 56 tackles and four interceptions (one returned for a 102-yard touchdown). Verner earned second-team All-CIF Southern Section honors and was selected to play in Shrine All-Star Game. He played for legendary coach Andrew Slome.
He also lettered all four seasons in track & field for coach Josh Barker. Prior to high school, Verner won a silver medal in the 1500 metres at the 1997 California State Game, and placed fourth in the 4x100m relay at the 2000 USATF Youth Nationals. As a freshman at Mayfair, he was selected the Team's Most Valuable Performer, and was the league champ in both the 110m and 300m hurdle (45.0) events. As a sophomore, he was the league champ in 4x400 relay, second in 110m high hurdles and high jump (6-2). As a junior, he served as team co-captain, earning Suburban League Academic All-League honors. He was the league champ in the high jump (6-4) and 4x100m relay. As a senior, he had bests of 6-6 (1.98m) in the high jump, 20-10 (6.37m) in the long jump, 10.7 in the 100-meter dash and 39.70 in the 300m hurdles.
An excellent student, Verner held a 4.17 GPA and achieved a 1740 SAT score. He also served as a peer tutor to his high school football team in the subjects of math and history. Considered a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, Verner was listed as the No. 49 cornerback prospect in the nation. He chose UCLA over Boston College, Oregon, and Washington.
College career
In his true freshman year at UCLA, Verner finished fourth among Bruins with 59 tackles and third on the team with two interceptions, while leading the team with 123 interception yards and two touchdowns. He was named co-Freshman of the Year for the Pac-10 Conference (alongside Jairus Byrd and Taylor Mays), and was selected first-team Freshman All-America by College Football News and Scripps/FWAA, as well as second-team by The Sporting News, Scout.com, and Rivals.com.
As a sophomore, Verner appeared in all 13 games, while starting 10, and ranked fourth on the squad with 75 tackles. He finished with 15 passes broken up and four interceptions. In his junior year, Verner was a starter in all 12 games, and was second on the team in tackles with 73. He was selected to the second-team All-Pac-10 squad chosen by the league's coaches.
In November 2009, he was named one of the twelve semifinalists for the 2009 Jim Thorpe Award.
In his senior year, he started in all 13 games and finished with 72 tackles, 51 solo. He also had 5 interceptions and 158 interception return yards, with one of them resulting in a touchdown. He also had another defensive touchdown as a fumble recovery.
In 2011, Verner returned to UCLA during the NFL off-season to complete his Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics.
Professional career
2010 NFL Draft
Ht | Wt | 40-yd dash | 10-yd split | 20-yd split | 20-ss | 3-cone | Vert | Broad | BP | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
5 ft 10 in | 189 lb | 4.52 s | 1.55 s | 2.57 s | 4.12 s | 6.70 s | 32 in | 9 ft 8 in | 11 reps | ||||||||||
In the 2010 NFL Draft, Verner was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the 4th round, 142nd overall and 18th cornerback taken.
Tennessee Titans
On October 10, 2010, Verner had his first career interception against the Dallas Cowboys. It was a screen play thrown by Tony Romo. On October 18, 2010, he picked off Trent Edwards for his second career interception. On December 19, 2010, Verner intercepted Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub for his third pick of his rookie season. Verner played in all 16 games his rookie season, starting 12 of them, and finished with 101 tackles, 3 interceptions, and 1 forced fumble.
He was voted to his first Pro Bowl in 2013.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
On March 11, 2014, Verner signed a four-year, $26.5 million contract including $14 million guaranteed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
NFL stats
Year | Team | GP | COMB | TOTAL | AST | SACK | FF | FR | FR YDS | INT | IR YDS | AVG IR | LNG | TD | PD |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2010 | TEN | 16 | 101 | 85 | 16 | 0.0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 41 | 14 | 19 | 0 | 11 |
2011 | TEN | 16 | 49 | 43 | 6 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 |
2012 | TEN | 16 | 81 | 64 | 17 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | 72 | 2 | 11 | 6 | 11 | 0 | 9 |
2013 | TEN | 16 | 57 | 49 | 8 | 0.0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 68 | 14 | 34 | 1 | 22 |
2014 | TB | 14 | 76 | 58 | 18 | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 26 | 13 | 26 | 0 | 9 |
Career | 78 | 364 | 299 | 65 | 0.0 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 13 | 150 | 12 | 34 | 1 | 59 |
Key
- GP: games played
- COMB: combined tackles
- TOTAL: total tackles
- AST: assisted tackles
- SACK: sacks
- FF: forced fumbles
- FR: fumble recoveries
- FR YDS: fumble return yards
- INT: interceptions
- IR YDS: interception return yards
- AVG IR: average interception return
- LNG: longest interception return
- TD: interceptions returned for touchdown
- PD: passes defensed