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Giants ink safety Knight
The Giants signed veteran safety Sammy Knight to a contract on Monday
By Michael Eisen, Giants.com

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March 3, 2008

EAST RUTHERFORD -The Giants quickly filled a void in their secondary today when they signed veteran safety Sammy Knight, who is tied for third in career interceptions among active players.

Knight, who recently completed his 11th NFL season, led the Jacksonville Jaguars with a career-high 132 tackles in 2007. He also intercepted four passes, increasing his career total to 42, the same number as Denver's Champ Bailey. Only Darren Sharper (53) and Ty Law (52) have more picks among players who played last year.

Knight effectively takes the place on the Giants roster of Gibril Wilson, the starting free safety who joined the Oakland Raiders on the first day of the free agency signing period last week. Knight has played mostly strong safety, which means he or James Butler could move to free safety.

"We're excited to have a veteran of Sammy's caliber joining our secondary," general manager Jerry Reese said. "We were attracted to how smart he plays and how productive and physical he plays. We think he will thrive in our defensive schemes. He brings a lot of leadership to the team, especially to the secondary, and he is a real pro."

"Sammy Knight is a durable, physical player with 42 career interceptions," Coach Tom Coughlin said. "He comes to the line of
scrimmage extremely well. He's a smart player who gets everybody lined up. He played in Kansas City for (secondary/cornerbacks coach) Peter Giunta, so we know all about the quality of the man. We feel like with his love of the game and his attitude about the idea of team that he'll be a real nice fit for us. Sammy gives us another quality veteran who will definitely help our young guys in their development."

The 6-1, 215-pound Knight has played for New Orleans, Miami, Kansas City and Jacksonville. He has started 168 of the 174 regular season games in which he's played and all five postseason games in which he's appeared. Knight has played in 156 consecutive regular season games, the NFL's 14th-longest current streak. He has missed only two games in his career, both in 1998.

Knight has 1,199 career tackles (831 solo), 9.0 sacks, 14 forced fumbles, 12 fumble recoveries, in addition to his 42 interceptions. Knight had more than 100 tackles in eight of the last nine years and at least one interception in each of his 11 seasons, including a career-high total of six in both 1998 and 2001. He has scored five touchdowns, four on interception returns. Knight was a Pro Bowler in 2001 with the Saints.

"I think this is a great situation for me," Knight said. "This is a great staff, first and foremost, and a great organization. They won the Super Bowl, and they have a lot of people coming back, so the opportunity to win again was definitely one of the determining factors in me coming here."

Knight has intercepted at least five passes in a season five times in his career. The Giants haven't had a player with that many picks in a season since Emmanuel McDaniel had six in 2000.

"That's been one of the things that I've done, and hopefully I can do that here," Knight said. "I'm sure the way this system is, it will allow me to do that. I look forward to doing that."

Last year, Knight joined the Jaguars on Aug 13 (he had been released by the Chiefs on March 21). Knight played in all 16 regular season games with 15 starts and both of Jacksonville's playoff games. His 132 tackles were 15 more than team runner-up Daryl Smith and five more than his previous career best (set in 2002 with New Orleans and matched two years later in Miami). Knight's 95 solo tackles were 16 more than Smith had. In addition, Knight had 15 tackles (11 solo) in the Jaguars' victory at Pittsburgh in an AFC Wild Card Game.

"I did a great job for Jacksonville and we talked to them, but ultimately, this was a better place for me," Knight said. "I felt like I had a better chance to win here."

With the Dolphins, Knight played in the same secondary as Giants cornerback Sam Madison. He was a teammate of kicker Lawrence Tynes in Kansas City and was coached by Giants secondary/cornerbacks coach Peter Giunta while with the Chiefs.

"Playing with Sam is great - he's an intense corner, a physical corner," Knight said. "He's the kind of guy that's going to raise the level of play of everybody. I love playing with him.

"Pete - I call him the guru. He's an X and O guy that's great. And I'm really excited about working with (secondary coach/safeties coach) Dave Merritt. He's a up-and-coming coach that's really going to help me."

Knight, a University of Southern California product, joined the NFL as an undrafted free agent with New Orleans in 1997. That year, he played in all 16 games with 12 starts and led the team and all rookies with five interceptions. His first NFL start was on Sept. 28 against the Giants in Giants Stadium. He had 11 tackles and an interception in a 14-9 loss.

The next year, Knight led the Saints with six interceptions, including two he returned for touchdowns - one a career-long 91-yard return of a Brad Johnson pass on Nov. 8 at Minnesota. He also brought back a Jake Plummer pass 39 yards for a score on Dec. 20 at Arizona.

In 1999, Knight started all 16 games for the first time in his career and was second on the Saints with 102 tackles (75 solo). The following year, he started every game at strong safety and was New Orleans' leading tackler with 116 (75 solo). Knight also had two sacks, five interceptions and two touchdowns - a 37-yard runback of a Stoney Case pass vs. Detroit on Sept. 3 and a 39-yarder off Doug Johnson against Atlanta on Dec. 17. Knight also started the first two postseason games of his career and twice intercepted Kurt Warner in a victory vs. St. Louis.

Knight was a starter on the 2001 NFC Pro Bowl team after he finished with 120 tackles (74 solo), six interceptions, five fumble recoveries, 10 passes defensed, a sack and two forced fumbles. He had a career-high three interceptions off of Rob Johnson at Buffalo on Sept. 9. The next year, Knight established a then-career high with 127 tackles and intercepted five passes.

Knight joined the Dolphins as an unrestricted free agent on May 13, 2003. In his first season in Miami, he started every game at strong safety and had 111 tackles (72 solo) and three interceptions, including one off Quincy Carter that he returned 70 yards. In 2004, Knight matched his career high with 127 tackles (74 solo) and added four interceptions. He twice intercepted Tom Brady vs. New England on Dec. 20.

The following year, Knight moved to Kansas City as a free agent. He started all 16 games at strong safety for a third different team and recorded 118 tackles (76 solo). On Oct. 16 vs. Washington, Knight returned a Rock Cartwright fumble 80 yards for a touchdown.

In 2006, Knight started every game for the eighth consecutive season. He finished second on the Chiefs with 87 tackles (74 solo).

Knight was a four-year letterman at USC, where he had 290 tackles and five interceptions. As a senior, he earned All-Pac 10 after leading the Trojans with 121 tackles, including 11 for losses. Knight was named the team's most valuable player. He graduated with a degree in communications.

Knight played free safety, wide receiver and quarterback as a senior at Rubidoux High School in Riverside, Calif. He had 153 tackles, 11 interceptions, five forced fumbles and five blocked kicks and also rushed for 483 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Knight is married to Freda. They have three daughters: Shianne, Samone and Savannah. Knight also has an older daughter, Aneka. In 2002, he formed the Sammy Knight Foundation, whose missions is the spiritual, physical and social development of youth.

Knight was born on Sept. 10, 1975.