Marvin Cobb
American football player (born 1953)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Marvin Lawrence Cobb (born August 6, 1953) is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected 276th overall by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 11th round of the 1975 NFL draft.[1] He played high school football at Notre Dame High School in Riverside, California, and college football for the USC Trojans, where he also played shortstop on the baseball team.[1][2] With USC, Cobb played on 2 College World Series champion baseball teams (1973 and 1974) and 2 National Champion football teams (1972 and 1974).[2]
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
| No. 24, 26, 25 | |||||||||
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| Position | Safety | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | August 6, 1953 Detroit, Michigan, U.S. | ||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||
| Listed weight | 189 lb (86 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Notre Dame (Riverside, California) | ||||||||
| College | USC | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1975: 11th round, 276th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Cobb played 5 seasons for the Bengals, from 1975 to 1979. During those five years he played in 71 games, starting 54 and making 13 interceptions, playing as both a free safety and strong safety.[1] He also served as a kick returner occasionally, returning five punts and one kickoff between 1975 and 1977.[1] In 1977, he also got to play a little on offense. In a game against the San Diego Chargers on October 2, Cobb threw an incomplete pass.[3] In a Monday Night Football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on October 17, Cobb got one rushing attempt but did not gain any yardage.[4] Cobb also played for the Steelers and Minnesota Vikings, splitting eight games between the two teams in 1980.[1] He also served as a kick returner for the Steelers.[1]
In 1986, Cobb became an assistant athletic director at USC.[5] Cobb was outspoken about the fact that black athletes at USC were graduating at a lower rate than white students and he did not see anything being done to assist those students.[5] After Cobb was denied a promotion in 1990 or 1991, he sued the university for racial discrimination and breach of contract, saying that the university denied the promotion because his advocacy for its black athletes.[5][6][7] USC was represented by Johnnie Cochran, who later represented O. J. Simpson in his murder trial and in a turn of events similar to an issue in that trial, it was revealed that some USC employees had suggested framing Cobb for a fake drug bust.[7] Cobb was eventually awarded $1.1 million.[5]
Cobb has also been active in raising awareness of the impact football injuries can have on players later in life.[8] He has also been active in attempting to increase pension and medical benefits for former players.[9] He became a director of the Independent Retired Players Summit.[8][9] He is also president of the Retired NFL Players Congress.[10]