Cody Pickett
Encyclopedia
Cody J. Pickett is a former professional football
player, a quarterback
in the National Football League
and Canadian Football League
for the Calgary Stampeders
. He was originally drafted by the San Francisco 49ers
in the seventh round of the 2004 NFL Draft
. He played college football
at Washington
.
, basketball
, golf
, and rodeo
, in which he was a national champion. Originally recruited by Jim Lambright at the University of Washington
, Pickett accepted a scholarship
from new coach Rick Neuheisel
to play for the Huskies.
Pickett's family home was located off Chicken Dinner Road, near Caldwell, Idaho.
and saw limited action; he was granted a medical redshirt
for an ailing back in the last half of the 1999 season. He was the backup again to Tuiasosopo 2000
; the Huskies went 11-1, won the Rose Bowl over Purdue
, and finished #3 in the final polls.
Pickett was the starting quarterback at UW for three seasons 2001-03, where his primary target was wide receiver
Reggie Williams
. His senior season saw a head coaching change, as Neuheisel
was dismissed in the summer and replaced with Keith Gilbertson
.
Rather than enter the 2003 NFL Draft
, Pickett chose to return to Washington for his senior season. He was considered a Heisman Trophy
candidate and written up in Sports Illustrated
but a shoulder injury that year hurt his chances.
by the San Francisco 49ers
. Pickett started the 2005
season as the fourth-string quarterback
, but became the starter after Tim Rattay
was traded, and #1 overall pick Alex Smith
and Ken Dorsey
were injured. Pickett played on special teams most of the season, an unusual role for a quarterback. He also played safety and wide receiver
during practice.
Pickett was traded on July 27, 2006 to the Houston Texans
for a conditional draft pick in the 2007 NFL Draft
. He was released by the Texans on September 1, 2006. Pickett was selected to the 2007 Rhein Fire
NFL Europe
team as a free agent and was their starting quarterback.
In July 2007, the Oakland Raiders
signed Pickett to a one-year contract, but released him on August 1st.
On September 18, 2007, Pickett was signed as a free agent by the Toronto Argonauts
of the CFL
. Pickett made his first CFL game appearance on September 12, 2008 against the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers
at Rogers Centre
in relief of starting quarterback Kerry Joseph
. He made his first CFL start on September 20, 2008, against the Calgary Stampeders
at McMahon Stadium
.
On August 11, 2009, head coach Bart Andrus
named Cody Pickett as the starting quarterback for the team's next game, against the B.C. Lions.
On February 21, 2010, Pickett was released by the Argonauts. On March 8, 2010, Pickett was signed by the Montreal Alouettes. On June 7, 2010, Cody Pickett was released by the Montreal Alouettes. On June 15, 2010, Cody Pickett was signed by the Calgary Stampeders.
Following the 2010 CFL season, Pickett retired from pro football and returned to Idaho.
on professional rodeo
circuit and the 1984
World Champion Cowboy, inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame
in August 2003. Dee also played college football
; he was the starting quarterback at Boise State
in 1976
and 1977
. Pickett in the off season coaches his younger sister's basketball team, Team 208, which is a travel team around the Boise, Idaho area.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player, a quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
in the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
and Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
for the Calgary Stampeders
Calgary Stampeders
The Calgary Stampeders are a Canadian Football League team based in Calgary, Alberta and named in reference to the Calgary Stampede. The Stampeders play their home games at McMahon Stadium...
. He was originally drafted by the San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...
in the seventh round of the 2004 NFL Draft
2004 NFL Draft
The 2004 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24-25, 2004 at the theater at Madison Square Garden...
. He played college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
at Washington
Washington Huskies football
College football has a long history at the University of Washington. The Washington Huskies have won 15 Pacific-10 Conference championships, seven Rose Bowl titles, and three national championships. Washington's all-time record of 653-398-50 ranks 20th by all-time winning percentage and 21st by...
.
Early years
Cody Pickett was a four-sport athlete at Caldwell High School where he graduated in 1999. He lettered in footballAmerican football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, and rodeo
Rodeo
Rodeo is a competitive sport which arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico, and later the United States, Canada, South America and Australia. It was based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States,...
, in which he was a national champion. Originally recruited by Jim Lambright at the University of Washington
Washington Huskies football
College football has a long history at the University of Washington. The Washington Huskies have won 15 Pacific-10 Conference championships, seven Rose Bowl titles, and three national championships. Washington's all-time record of 653-398-50 ranks 20th by all-time winning percentage and 21st by...
, Pickett accepted a scholarship
Athletic scholarship
An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport...
from new coach Rick Neuheisel
Rick Neuheisel
Richard Gerald "Rick" Neuheisel, Jr. , is an American football coach, former player, and attorney. He was most recently the head football coach at University of California, Los Angeles, a position he held from 2008 to 2011...
to play for the Huskies.
Pickett's family home was located off Chicken Dinner Road, near Caldwell, Idaho.
College career
In his first season of 1999, Pickett was the backup to starter Marques TuiasosopoMarques Tuiasosopo
Marques Tavita Tuiasosopo is a former American football quarterback who is currently a strength coach for the University of Washington football team. He was drafted in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders...
and saw limited action; he was granted a medical redshirt
Redshirt (college sports)
Redshirt is a term used in American college athletics that refers to a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen his or her period of eligibility...
for an ailing back in the last half of the 1999 season. He was the backup again to Tuiasosopo 2000
2000 in sports
2000 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-Alpine skiing:* Alpine Skiing World Cup** Men's overall season champion: Hermann Maier, Austria** Women's overall season champion: Renate Götschl, Austria-American football:...
; the Huskies went 11-1, won the Rose Bowl over Purdue
Purdue University
Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...
, and finished #3 in the final polls.
Pickett was the starting quarterback at UW for three seasons 2001-03, where his primary target was wide receiver
Wide receiver
A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...
Reggie Williams
Reggie Williams (wide receiver)
Reginald "Reggie" Williams, Jr. is an American football wide receiver who is currenly a free agent. He was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft. He played college football at Washington.-Early years:...
. His senior season saw a head coaching change, as Neuheisel
Rick Neuheisel
Richard Gerald "Rick" Neuheisel, Jr. , is an American football coach, former player, and attorney. He was most recently the head football coach at University of California, Los Angeles, a position he held from 2008 to 2011...
was dismissed in the summer and replaced with Keith Gilbertson
Keith Gilbertson
Keith Gilbertson, Jr. is an American football coach and former player. He is currently a scout with the Cleveland Browns of the NFL...
.
Rather than enter the 2003 NFL Draft
2003 NFL Draft
The 2003 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936. The draft was held April 26–27, 2003 at the Theatre at...
, Pickett chose to return to Washington for his senior season. He was considered a Heisman Trophy
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...
candidate and written up in Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
but a shoulder injury that year hurt his chances.
Awards and honors
- Honorable mention Academic All-Pac-10Pacific Ten ConferenceThe Pacific-12 Conference is a college athletic conference that operates in the Western United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I; its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision , the higher of two levels of NCAA Division I football competition...
(2000) - Honorable mention All-Pac-10 (2001)
- Huskies Offensive Most Valuable Player (2002)
- Second-team All-Pac-10 (2002)
- Honorable mention SISports IllustratedSports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
All-AmericaAll-AmericaAn All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
n (2002) - Honorable mention CollegeFootballNews.com All-American (2002)
Professional career
Pickett was selected in the 7th round (217th overall) of the 2004 NFL Draft2004 NFL Draft
The 2004 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24-25, 2004 at the theater at Madison Square Garden...
by the San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...
. Pickett started the 2005
2005 NFL season
The 2005 NFL season was the 86th regular season of the National Football League.With the New England Patriots as the defending league champions, regular season play was held from September 8, 2005 to January 1, 2006...
season as the fourth-string quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
, but became the starter after Tim Rattay
Tim Rattay
Timothy F. Rattay [] is a former professional American football quarterback who played in the National Football League and United Football League. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the seventh round of the 2000 NFL Draft...
was traded, and #1 overall pick Alex Smith
Alex Smith
Alexander Douglas Smith is a professional American football player and starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League. Smith was drafted with the 1st-overall pick in the 1st round of the 2005 NFL Draft by San Francisco from the University of Utah...
and Ken Dorsey
Ken Dorsey
Kenneth Simon "Ken" Dorsey is a former football quarterback. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the seventh round of the 2003 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Miami. A two-time Heisman Trophy finalist at Miami, Dorsey played for the Cleveland Browns from 2006–2008...
were injured. Pickett played on special teams most of the season, an unusual role for a quarterback. He also played safety and wide receiver
Wide receiver
A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...
during practice.
Pickett was traded on July 27, 2006 to the Houston Texans
Houston Texans
The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. The team is currently a member of the Southern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
for a conditional draft pick in the 2007 NFL Draft
2007 NFL Draft
The 2007 National Football League Draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on April 28 and April 29, 2007. The draft was televised for the 28th consecutive year on ESPN and ESPN2. The NFL Network also broadcast coverage of the event, its second year doing so...
. He was released by the Texans on September 1, 2006. Pickett was selected to the 2007 Rhein Fire
Rhein Fire
The Rhein Fire was a professional American football team in NFL Europe, formerly the World League of American Football. Established in Germany in 1995, the franchise resurrected the name of the former Birmingham Fire team which was active during the 1991-1992 WLAF seasons.-History:The team was...
NFL Europe
NFL Europe
NFL Europe was an American football league which operated in Europe from 1991 until 2007. Backed by the National Football League , the largest professional American football league in the United States, it was founded as the World League of American Football to serve as a type of spring league...
team as a free agent and was their starting quarterback.
In July 2007, the Oakland Raiders
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
signed Pickett to a one-year contract, but released him on August 1st.
On September 18, 2007, Pickett was signed as a free agent by the Toronto Argonauts
Toronto Argonauts
The Toronto Argonauts are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League. The Toronto, Ontario based team was founded in 1873 and is one of the oldest existing professional sports teams in North America, after the Chicago Cubs and the Atlanta...
of the CFL
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
. Pickett made his first CFL game appearance on September 12, 2008 against the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League . They play their home games at Canad Inns Stadium, and plan to move to a new stadium for the 2012 season.The Blue Bombers were founded...
at Rogers Centre
Rogers Centre
Rogers Centre is a multi-purpose stadium, in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated next to the CN Tower, near the shores of Lake Ontario. Opened in 1989, it is home to the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League...
in relief of starting quarterback Kerry Joseph
Kerry Joseph
Kerry Tremaine Joseph is a quarterback who is currently playing for the Edmonton Eskimos. He was born in New Iberia, Louisiana....
. He made his first CFL start on September 20, 2008, against the Calgary Stampeders
Calgary Stampeders
The Calgary Stampeders are a Canadian Football League team based in Calgary, Alberta and named in reference to the Calgary Stampede. The Stampeders play their home games at McMahon Stadium...
at McMahon Stadium
McMahon Stadium
McMahon Stadium is a Canadian football stadium located in Calgary, Alberta. The stadium is owned by the University of Calgary and operated by the McMahon Stadium Society....
.
On August 11, 2009, head coach Bart Andrus
Bart Andrus
Bart Andrus is the current Offensive Coordinator for the Omaha Nighthawks of the United Football League.He is the former head coach of the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League...
named Cody Pickett as the starting quarterback for the team's next game, against the B.C. Lions.
On February 21, 2010, Pickett was released by the Argonauts. On March 8, 2010, Pickett was signed by the Montreal Alouettes. On June 7, 2010, Cody Pickett was released by the Montreal Alouettes. On June 15, 2010, Cody Pickett was signed by the Calgary Stampeders.
Following the 2010 CFL season, Pickett retired from pro football and returned to Idaho.
Personal
Pickett's father is Dee Pickett, a championship roperCowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...
on professional rodeo
Rodeo
Rodeo is a competitive sport which arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico, and later the United States, Canada, South America and Australia. It was based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States,...
circuit and the 1984
1984 in sports
1984 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-Alpine Skiing:* Alpine Skiing World Cup:** Men's overall season champion: Pirmin Zurbriggen, Switzerland** Women's overall season champion: Erika Hess, Switzerland...
World Champion Cowboy, inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame
ProRodeo Hall of Fame
The ProRodeo Hall of Fame is dedicated to the preservation of rodeo artifacts and continued interest in the sport. It is located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and run by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association's board. It claims to be the "only museum in the world devoted exclusively to the...
in August 2003. Dee also played college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
; he was the starting quarterback at Boise State
Boise State University
Boise State University is a public university located in Boise, Idaho. Originally founded in 1932 as a junior college by the Episcopal Church, the university became an independent institution in 1934, and has been awarding baccalaureate and master degrees since 1965...
in 1976
1976 in sports
1976 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-Alpine skiing:* Alpine Skiing World Cup** Men's overall season champion: Ingemar Stenmark, Sweden** Women's overall season champion: Rosi Mittermaier, West Germany-American football:...
and 1977
1977 in sports
1977 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.-Alpine skiing:* Alpine Skiing World Cup** Men's overall season champion: Ingemar Stenmark, Sweden** Women's overall season champion: Lise-Marie Morerod, Switzerland-American football:...
. Pickett in the off season coaches his younger sister's basketball team, Team 208, which is a travel team around the Boise, Idaho area.