Wildcat All-Americans
Jan 24, 2005 | General
CHRIS CANTY
Defensive Back/Returns
5-10, 190, 3L
Voorhees , N.J. (Eastern HS)
1996 (junior): One of three finalists for the Jim Thorpe Award, given annually to the nation's best defensive back... Consensus first team All-American for the second-consecutive year... For the second straight year, he was the only defensive back listed among the finalists for the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Year... Listed by Sports Illustrated as the nation's No. 2 two-way player... Finished second in voting for the Associated Press Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year... One of three finalists for the Maxwell Defensive Player of the Year... Named the Touchdown Club of Columbus Defensive Back of the Year... First team All-Big 12 by the league coaches, Associated Press and Football News... Caught five passes for 78 yards (15.6 avg.) as a wide receiver... All five of his receptions resulted in first downs...Led K-State by averaging 29.4 yards per kickoff return and 10.3 yards per punt return... Led the Wildcats with five interceptions... Tied for Big 12 lead, and ranked 14th nationally, in interceptions... Returned a punt 58 yards for a touchdown against Missouri ... Ranked fourth in the Big 12 and 35th in the nation with a 10.6 punt-return average... Returned a kickoff 70 yards against Rice... Forced a turnover to save K-State victories on the opponent's final offensive play on two occasions (against Texas A&M and Oklahoma )... Earned Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week after catching a pass for 26 yards, returning an interception for 44 yards, returning a kickoff 70 yards and returning three punts for 37 yards... Finished career with 14 interceptions, second on the K-State career list behind another All-American, Jamie Mendez (15)... Coaches' choice as K-State Special Teams Player of the Week against Texas Tech, Indiana State , Rice and Missouri ... Defensive Player of the Week by K-State coaches against Rice, Nebraska and Missouri .
1995 (sophomore): One of three finalists for the Jim Thorpe Award... Became the first Kansas State sophomore to earn first-team All-American honors... One of five finalists, and the only defensive back, for the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Year... Consensus All-American, earning first team distinctions from the Associated Press, Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), Football News and the NFL Draft Report... The first K-State player to ever be named to the prestigious Football Writers All-America team... One of only three sophomores on the FWAA and Associated Press teams, and the only sophomore on those two defensive all-America teams... NFL Draft Report also named him its National Defensive Underclassman of the Year, which excludes fourth and fifth-year players... First-team All-Big Eight by the Associated Press, Big Eight Coaches and Football News ... Tied for the national lead in interceptions with a school record eight, including two returned for touchdowns... Unanimous first-team All-Big Eight selection on all 16 ballots by the Associated Press... Lined up in man coverage for 335 snaps and allowed just 13 completed passes when playing man-to-man... Had four of his eight interceptions in man coverage... Also broke up 17 passes, the third-highest total in Big Eight history... Key part of a Kansas State defense that led the nation in total defense (250.8), finished second in scoring defense (13.2), third in fewest passing yards allowed (136.8) and 15th in rushing defense (114.0)... Helped limit opposing quarterbacks to just 30-of-85 (35.3 percent) on third down passing attempts... Opposing quarterbacks threw five interceptions when passing on third down and Canty was the thief each time, including two which he returned for touchdowns... Also had a touchdown saving interceptions against Colorado on fourth down... Intercepted Colorado quarterback John Hessler twice, including a leaping on fourth down and two to save touchdowns... Also had six passes broken up in that game, including two in the end zone that saved would-be touchdowns... Scooped up a blocked punt and raced 44 yards for a touchdown in that game... Added seven tackles against the Buffs en route to Big Eight Defensive Player of the Week honors for the third time in his short career... Also earned that honor in K-State's 49-10 rout of Oklahoma ... Had two interceptions, including one for a 39-yard touchdown, two passes broken up and four tackles in K-State's third-straight win over the Sooners... Had a Big Eight season high three interception in K-State's win over Akron , including one he returned 13 yards for a touchdown... The other two also set up touchdowns... Had another huge game in K-State's 23-21 comeback win at Cincinnati with five tackles, on pick, three passes broken up and a key blocked field goal at the end of the first half that kept K-State within 14-0 at the break... In K-State's 44-0 shutout of Northern Illinois , he helped the defense limit Aaron Gilbert to only four yards passing... Oklahoma State did not throw his away the entire game... Finished the year with 43 tackles, including 30 solo stops and three tackles for loss.
1994 (redshirt freshman): Named Big Eight Defensive Newcomer of the Year by the Associated Press... Second-team All-Big Eight by the Associated Press and honorable mention by the league's coaches... Led K-State and finished second in the Big Eight with 12 passes broken up... Saved K-State's 21-18 win at Missouri when he batted away a fourth down pass from the Wildcat three yard line in the final minute... Had two passes broken up in that game to go along with six tackles... Was the only freshman in the league to earn Big Eight Player of the Week honors when he did so in the Wildcats' 37-20 win at Oklahoma ... Had 14 tackles against the Sooners, including 10 solo stops, one tackle for loss and returned a botched extra point attempt 98 yards for a two-point defensive conversion... At the time, he graded out as high as any defensive player in the Bill Snyder era in the Oklahoma game... Second-leading tackler in the secondary behind Chuck Marlowe with 63 stops, including 43 solos and three tackles for loss... Also had one interception, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery... Had another big game in the regular-season finale at UNLV with a forced fumble and one fumble recovery... Recorded seven tackles, one fumble recovery and one pass breakup against Nebraska ...Recorded five tackles and one pass defended at Colorado ... Had six tackles, one tackle for loss and one pass broken up in a win over Rice... Five tackles and two passes defended against Oklahoma State .
1993 (freshman): Redshirt season.
(High School): Named first-team All-American by Blue Chip Illustrated and was a pre-season honorable mention All-American by Street and Smith's ... Named Defensive Player of the Year in New Jersey and the top recruit in the Delaware Valley by the Philadelphia Inquirer ... Named MVP in the Delaware Valley ... First team All-Northeast Region... Named most exciting player in New Jersey by the Philadelphia Inquirer , Star Ledger and Gloucester County Times ... Coached by Larry Ginsburg... Also played quarterback for Eastern and started at both positions in the New Jersey All-State game at Giants Stadium... Third place at the state track meet the long jump (23-4).
Personal: Born March 30, 1976... Son of Sylvia Canty... Majored in criminal justice... Grew up in Houston before moving to New Jersey to attend high school... Announced Jan. 6, 1997 that he would bypass his senior season and make himself available for the NFL Draft, becoming the first football player in Kansas State history to leave school early for the draft.
| Defensive Statistics |
| Year | G | TT | UT | AT | TFL | PB | FC | FR | Int |
| 1994 | 11 | 63 | 43 | 20 | 2-3 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 1-0 |
| 1995 | 11 | 43 | 30 | 13 | 3-13 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 8-117 |
| 1996 | 11 | 54 | 43 | 11 | 3-10 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 5-47 |
| Total | 33 | 160 | 116 | 44 | 8-26 | 41 | 3 | 2 | 14-164 |
| Receiving Statistics |
| Year | G | No | Yds | Avg | TD | RPG | LP |
| 1996 | 11 | 5 | 78 | 15.6 | 0 | .5 | 26 |
| Punt Return Statistics |
| Year | G | No | Yds | Avg | TD | LP |
| 1994 | 11 | 3 | 7 | 2.3 | 0 | 10 |
| 1995 | 11 | 2 | 64 | 32.0 | 0 | 44 |
| 1996 | 11 | 26 | 269 | 10.3 | 1 | 58 |
| Total | 33 | 31 | 340 | 11.0 | 1 | 58 |
| Kickoff Return Statistics |
| Year | G | No | Yds | Avg | TD | LP |
| 1996 | 11 | 7 | 206 | 29.4 | 0 | 70 |
