Reggie Nelson

Reggie Lee Nelson (born September 21, 1983) is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL).

He played college football for the Florida Gators, winning a national championship and earning consensus All-American honors.

Nelson was born in Melbourne, Florida in 1983.

He attended Palm Bay High School in Melbourne, and was a standout high school football player for the Palm Bay Pirates.

He was teammates with Joe Cohen and Xavier Carter.

Nelson was a two-time first-team All-State honoree, and helped lead Palm Bay to win Florida Class 4A state championship as a safety and return specialist in 2002.

As a senior, Nelson averaged forty-five yards per punt return and 26.8 yards per kickoff return, totaling a state record 1,531 return yards.

After graduating from Palm Bay High School in 2003, Nelson and Pirates teammate Joe Cohen chose to attend the University of Florida over rival Florida State University.

He attended Coffeyville Community College in Coffeyville, Kansas first, red-shirting his freshman year, and then earned his associate degree and transferred to Florida as a sophomore.

Nelson accepted an athletic scholarship to play for coach Urban Meyer's Florida Gators football team in 2005 and 2006.

Nelson was an immediate sophomore starter for the Gators at free safety in 2005.

Nelson started in four games, and registered forty-six tackles, with four sacks, and forced a fumble.

Against Georgia, Nelson recorded a career-high seven tackles.

He also totaled seven tackles against Vanderbilt and Florida State.

In his junior year, which would end up being his last season as a Gator, Nelson was selected as a member of the team's Leadership Committee, which was only one small highlight of his 2006 campaign.

The Gators ended up going to the BCS National Championship Game and defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes, while Nelson recorded fifty-one tackles, five pass breakups and six interceptions.

Two of his interceptions were against the Tennessee Volunteers, and he returned another for a seventy-yard touchdown against the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Nelson was a first-team All-SEC selection and a consensus first-team All-American, and he was chosen by his Gators teammates as the team's most valuable player.

In 2006, he was part a defense that helped the Gators win their first SEC title in six years and their first national championship in ten years.

While also gaining him the moniker "The Eraser" for his strong defensive play throughout the season as well as the "battle for the SEC" game against LSU.

He was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft and also played for the Cincinnati Bengals and Oakland Raiders.

In 2007, four years after he graduated from high school, the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) named Nelson to its "All-Century Team," recognizing him as one of the thirty-three greatest Florida high school football players of the last 100 years.

He was taught how to play football by Rob Robbins.

The Jacksonville Jaguars selected Nelson in the first round (21st overall) of the 2007 NFL Draft.

Nelson was the third safety drafted in 2007, behind LSU's LaRon Landry and Texas' Michael Griffin, and also became the highest defensive back drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars.

On July 28, 2007, the Jacksonville Jaguars signed Nelson to a five-year, $9.55 million contract that includes $7.20 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $5.04 million.

Nelson entered training camp slated as the starting free safety after the departure of Deon Grant in free agency.

Longtime starting strong safety Donovin Darius was also cut at the beginning of camp due to a leg injury.

Head coach Jack Del Rio officially named Nelson the starting free safety to begin the regular season, along with strong safety Gerald Sensabaugh.

He made his professional regular season debut and first career start in the Jacksonville Jaguars' season-opener against Tennessee Titans and collected seven combined tackles and made his first career sack on quarterback Vince Young during the Titans' 13–10 loss.

On October 7, 2007, Nelson recorded a tackle, a pass deflection, and made his first career interception off a pass by quarterback Damon Huard during a 17–7 win at the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 5.

In Week 8, he made eight solo tackles, deflected a pass, and intercepted a pass by Jeff Garcia during a 24–23 victory at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The following week Nelson recorded a season-high ten solo tackles in the Jaguars' 41–24 loss at the New Orleans Saints in Week 9.

He finished his rookie season with 63 combined tackles (58 solo), 11 pass deflections, five interceptions, and a forced fumble in 16 games and 15 starts.

He received an overall grade of 73.2 from Pro Football Focus in 2007.

The Jacksonville Jaguars finished second in the AFC South with a 13–3 record and received a wildcard berth.

On January 5, 2008, Nelson started in his first career playoff game and made three solo tackles in the Jaguars' 31–29 victory at the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Wildcard Game.

The following week, he recorded six combined tackles as the Jaguars lost 31–20 at the New England Patriots in the AFC Divisional Round.

The Jacksonville Jaguars hired Gregg Williams to be their new defensive coordinator after Mike Smith accepted the head coaching role with the Atlanta Falcons.

Head coach Jack Del Rio named Nelson the starting free safety to begin the regular season, opposite strong safety Brian Williams.