Chad Cota (born August 8, 1971) is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL). He attended Ashland High School and played college football for the Oregon Ducks. He was selected by the Carolina Panthers in the 1995 NFL draft and went on to play for the New Orleans Saints, Indianapolis Colts, and the St. Louis Rams over eight seasons, retiring in 2003.[2]
Cota was named to the Carolina Panthers 10-year anniversary team as a safety. His interception in the end zone versus Pittsburgh on the Steelers final possession to preserve victory and clinch the NFC West division title is named as the #10 most memorable play in Carolina Panthers history.[3] He and Pat Terrell both had 49-yard interception returns against Dallas in the first round of the 1996 playoffs, thereby tying each other for the career, season, and single-game Panthers' franchise records for post-season interception return yards.
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Comb | Solo | Ast | Sck | Int | Yds | TD | Lng | FF | FR | Yds | TD | ||
| 1995 | CAR | 16 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1996 | CAR | 16 | 2 | 42 | 31 | 11 | 1.0 | 5 | 63 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1997 | CAR | 16 | 16 | 117 | 86 | 31 | 1.0 | 2 | 28 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1998 | NOR | 16 | 16 | 96 | 71 | 25 | 2.0 | 4 | 16 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1999 | IND | 15 | 15 | 87 | 65 | 22 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 25 | 1 |
| 2000 | IND | 16 | 16 | 87 | 67 | 20 | 0.0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2001 | IND | 16 | 16 | 94 | 73 | 21 | 0.0 | 2 | 21 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0 |
| 2002 | STL | 14 | 1 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 125 | 82 | 538 | 407 | 131 | 4.0 | 15 | 131 | 0 | 35 | 2 | 6 | 34 | 1 | |
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Comb | Solo | Ast | Sck | Int | Yds | TD | Lng | FF | FR | Yds | TD | ||
| 1996 | CAR | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 49 | 0 | 49 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1999 | IND | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2000 | IND | 1 | 1 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 0.0 | 2 | 23 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 4 | 2 | 17 | 12 | 5 | 0.0 | 3 | 72 | 0 | 49 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
He is the father of New York Giants wide receiver Chase Cota and the uncle of Houston Texans safety Brady Breeze[4][5]
 | This biographical article relating to an American football defensive back born in the 1970s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
