Tiquan Underwood facts for kids
Underwood with the New England Patriots in 2011
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| New England Patriots | |||||||
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| Position: | Assistant wide receivers coach | ||||||
| Personal information | |||||||
| Born: | February 17, 1987 New Brunswick, New Jersey, U.S. |
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| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||
| Weight: | 183 lb (83 kg) | ||||||
| Career information | |||||||
| High school: | Lawrenceville (NJ) Notre Dame | ||||||
| College: | Rutgers | ||||||
| NFL Draft: | 2009 / Round: 7 / Pick: 253 | ||||||
| Career history | |||||||
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| As coach: | |||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||
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| Player stats at PFR | |||||||
| Player stats at CFL.ca | |||||||
Tiquan Underwood (born February 17, 1987) is an American football coach and former player. He used to play as a wide receiver, catching passes in exciting games. Currently, he is an assistant wide receivers coach for the New England Patriots in the National Football League (NFL).
Tiquan played college football at Rutgers University. He was chosen by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2009 NFL draft. He also played for other NFL teams like the New England Patriots, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Carolina Panthers. Later, he played in the Canadian Football League (CFL) for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Montreal Alouettes. Tiquan was also known for his cool hi-top fade hairstyle!
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Early Life and High School
Tiquan grew up in North Brunswick, New Jersey. He went to Notre Dame High School in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. He was a starting wide receiver during his sophomore and senior years.
Even though he was a good player, some recruiting experts only rated him as a two-star recruit. This meant he didn't get a lot of scholarship offers from big colleges. He only received offers from Rutgers, Vanderbilt, and Maryland.
College Football Career
Tiquan played college football for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. In 2007, during the first week of the season, he was nominated for a special award called the AT&T All-America Player of the Week. This showed he was already making a big impact!
In 2008, his teammates chose him to be a team captain. After that season, he won the Loyal Knight Award. This award goes to a Rutgers player who shows great character and works hard to be excellent.
Professional Football Career
Tiquan Underwood had a long career playing professional football in both the NFL and CFL. He played for several teams, showing his skills as a wide receiver.
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars picked Tiquan in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL draft. He was the 253rd player chosen overall. He was first waived (let go) in September 2009, but then re-signed to their practice squad. A practice squad is where players train with the team but aren't on the main roster.
He was later called up to the main team. Tiquan played in 10 games during the 2010 NFL season. He was waived again in August 2011.
New England Patriots
In August 2011, Tiquan signed with the New England Patriots. He was cut just five days later but then re-signed in November to help with kick returns. He was released again before Super Bowl XLVI but re-signed two days after the game. He was cut again in May 2012. Even though he was cut many times, he still received an AFC Championship ring in August 2012. This showed he was part of the team's success.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tiquan signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in May 2012. He got to play for his former college coach, Greg Schiano, again. He was released in August 2012, even though many people thought he had a great training camp.
However, he was signed by the Buccaneers again in September 2012. On October 21, 2012, Tiquan caught his very first touchdown pass in an NFL game! He was released again in September 2013 but re-signed in October 2013.
Carolina Panthers
Tiquan signed with the Carolina Panthers in March 2014. He was released by the team in August 2014.
Canadian Football League (CFL)
After his time in the NFL, Tiquan moved to the Canadian Football League (CFL).
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
In April 2015, Tiquan signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He played in 14 games in the 2015 season and 3 games in the 2016 season. He was released in August 2016. During his time with the Tiger-Cats, he caught 45 passes for 711 yards and scored 3 touchdowns.
Montreal Alouettes
Tiquan joined the Montreal Alouettes' practice roster in September 2016. In his first season with the Alouettes, he played in 3 games, catching 8 passes for 107 yards and one touchdown. He signed again for the 2017 season.
On July 19, 2017, Tiquan had a great game, catching 5 passes for 95 yards and a touchdown. This game helped him reach a special milestone: 1,000 receiving yards in both his CFL and NFL careers! He was released by the Alouettes in October 2017.
Coaching Career
After he finished playing football, Tiquan decided to become a coach.
Lafayette Leopards
Soon after retiring as a player, Tiquan was hired as the wide receivers coach for the Lafayette Leopards in 2018. He worked under John Garrett, who had been his wide receivers coach when Tiquan played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Miami Dolphins
In 2019, Tiquan joined the Miami Dolphins as an offensive quality control coach. This role involves helping the offensive coaches with game plans and player analysis.
Rutgers Scarlet Knights
After one season with the Dolphins, Tiquan returned to his old college team, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, in 2020. He became their wide receivers coach, working again with Greg Schiano, who was his coach in college.
Pittsburgh Panthers
In January 2022, Tiquan moved to the Pittsburgh Panthers coaching staff.
New England Patriots
In 2024, Tiquan was hired by the New England Patriots as an assistant wide receivers coach. He now works under Jerod Mayo, who was his teammate when Tiquan played for the Patriots in 2011.
