Former Nebraska football star Daimion Stafford has found himself a new NFL home after spending the previous four years with the Tennessee Titans. On Tuesday morning, the Pittsburgh Steelers announced they had signed Stafford as part of their OTAs roster moves. Along with the former Husker safety, the Steelers announced they had signed long snapper Kameron Canaday while releasing punter A.J. Hughes.
Stafford’s old home after playing for Nebraska
Stafford was drafted by the Titans in the 7th round of the 2013 draft after spending two years at Nebraska.
The junior college transfer made a name for himself in the NFL mostly as a special teams player. It was on special teams that he had seemed to win over his former Titans coaches and was even named as a captain starting the 2016 season.
Over the course of his career in Tennessee, he had played in a grand total of 62 games and had made eight starts. The majority of those starts came last year when he made 52 tackles had one sack and one interception. In short, it seems as though he was finally starting to show the talent and the nose for the ball that made him such a star player when he was at Nebraska.
In his rookie year, Stafford came out of Nebraska to be just one of two rookies on the Titans to make an appearance in all 16 games.
As a rookie, he saw little action as a defender but was fourth on the team with 12 special teams tackles.
Considering the safety had forged himself into a regular starter for the first time since he played for Nebraska, his departure from the Titans took some of his teammates by surprise. It’s not clear just how much of a path the big hitter will have on the Steelers.
He’s certainly logged enough time as on kick and punt coverage that he would provide a good veteran presence there. He does go from a team struggling to compete for the playoffs to a team that is a Super Bowl contender this year.
Daimion Stafford’s career for the Nebraska Cornhuskers
While playing in Lincoln for the Cornhuskers, Stafford set himself apart despite playing just two years for the Cornhuskers football team.
In 2011, his junior year, he made 80 tackles and recorded half a sack while also getting 10 passes defensed. His senior year, he made the All-Big Ten football team after recording 96 tackles, one sack, and four interceptions. Interestingly for Husker fans, Stafford is the only former member of Nebraska that is currently on the Pittsburgh Steelers roster.
