Quan Cosby

Quantwan Juaray Cosby (born December 23, 1982) is an American former professional football player who was a Return specialist and wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the Cincinnati Bengals, Denver Broncos, Indianapolis Colts, and the Jacksonville Jaguars over his four-year career. He played college football for the Texas Longhorns where he won a National Championship and still holds several school records.

Prior to attending Texas, he was a star athlete at Mart high School and then played four years of minor-league baseball for the Anaheim Angels organization.

Early life Cosby grew up Mart, TX where he was one of four boys including his twin brother Quincy. When he was in 9th grade he moved out of the house with his family, due to difficulties with his stepfather and into the home of a school friend whose parents pushed him to excel in school and gave him a spiritual life.

During the 1999 season, he rushed for 1,532 yards and 26 touchdowns on 112 carries, passed for 1,316 yards and 17 touchdowns, and scored on seven punt returns, two kickoff returns, and two interception returns. On defense he had 7 interceptions. In 2000, he was named the Class 2A Offensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season after recording 1,924 rushing yards and 29 rushing touchdowns, 1,405 passing yards and 13 passing touchdowns, and seven additional touchdowns on returns (five punts, one kickoff, and one interception).

In track he won individual state championships in the 100- and 200-meters in 2001.

In baseball, he hit .479 as a senior with 3 HRs and 33 RBIs; and stole 81-of-82 bases during his final two prep seasons. His rookie league team made it to the Championship game.

But he was frustrated by his inability to take classes while he played, so despite having his best season so far, he decided to go to college and play football. He had signed with Texas in 2001 and signed with them again in 2005. While he was in school, he got married and had a child. He had a career long 64-yard touchdown reception against Kansas that was the eighth longest reception in school history at the time. He played in both the Big 12 Conference Championship game and the BCS Championship game - both of which Texas won. That season, based on his high school experience, he was the team's emergency 3rd-string quarterback due to injuries and transfers, but he never had to play behind center.

In 2007 Cosby again played in all 13 games, was named second team All-Big 12 by the AP and an Honorable Mention by the coaches and helped Texas to a #10 ranking following a victory in the Holiday Bowl. He and Nate Jones teamed up for 130 receptions, which was at the time the second most by a pair of Texas receivers in a season behind Kwame Cavil and Ryan Nunez who had 156 in 1999. That season he led the team with 92 receptions and 1,123 receiving yards (both of which were second most in school history at the time); and was again named second team All-Big 12 by the AP and an Honorable mention by the coaches. That season he made the First Team Academic All-Big 12 and was a Biletnikoff Award semifinalist.

He finished his career with 72 kick returns for 1,731 yards, both school records; 212 receptions, second most in school history at the time behind only Roy Williams; 2,598 yards receiving, third most in school history at the time behind Williams and Mike Adams; 19 career receiving TDs, fourth most in school history at the time behind Williams, Shipley and Sweed; 11.3 yards per punt return, fifth best in school history at the time; a 24.2 yard average KR, sixth best in school history at the time; and 4,701 career all-purpose yards, sixth best in school history at the time. Between 2005 and 2008 he caught a pass in 44 consecutive games, the second longest streak in school history behind Williams. He was also at the time one of only three Longhorns to return both a punt and a kickoff for a touchdown in his career.

He made the roster for the Bengals, helped in no small part by a 49 yard punt return for a touchdown in a preseason game against the Rams.

In 2009 he was a returner for the Bengals, leading the league in punt returns and punt return yards. He also returned kick offs, played wide receiver and was on the coverage team. He returned 40 punts for 474 yards including a long of 60 yards, and 13 kick offs for 239 yards. He was 4th in the league in punt return average with 11.9 yards per return. As a receiver he caught 4 passes on 6 targets for 55 yards and ran the ball once for a two-yard loss. He also had a combined 3 tackles on the coverage team. In his one career playoff game he had 3 receptions on 4 targets for 26 yards. His performance earned him the PR spot on the 2009 NFL All-Rookie team.

Denver Broncos Two weeks into the 2011 season he was signed off of waivers by the Denver Broncos to replace the injured Eddie Royal. Despite playing in only 10 games with the Broncos - he was inactive for two games in November, he led them in punt returns (27), kick returns (17), punt return yards (269) and kick return yards (457). He fumbled the ball in each of his last two games, and had trouble handling kicks against New England leading to him being inactive then next week and then waived before the last game of the season. He also recorded a tackle that season.

Indianapolis Colts The day after he was waived by the Broncos, Cosby was signed by the Indianapolis Colts. He was inactive for the Colts last game. Jacksonville had struggled to find an effective punt returner, trying Maurice Jones-Drew, Mike Thomas, former Longhorn teammate Aaron Ross, Shipley and Micheal Spurlock - who was cut at the same time Cosby was signed. Cosby played in two games for the Jaguars - and looked particularly good in the first one, but was inactive in the next and was waived with two games remaining in the season during which Shipley retained PR duties. With the Jaguars he returned 5 punts for 46 yards and 5 kickoffs for 99 yards.

Personal life Cosby returned to Texas after his playing career was over. He became a TV and radio announcer for Longhorns football and baseball for 7 years and he served as president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee. He later became the liaison for UT external affairs in the Office of Governmental Affairs and Initiatives and a partner with an insurance Agency.

His older brother played college football at Howard Payne University and his twin played at Baylor.