Samuel Adolphus Madison Jr. (born April 23, 1974) is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Louisville Cardinals, and was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the second round of the 1997 NFL draft. A four-time Pro Bowl selection, Madison also played for the New York Giants. He has won two Super Bowls, Super Bowl XLII as a player with the Giants and Super Bowl LIV as an assistant coach with the Chiefs.
Early life Madison attended Florida A&M University Developmental Research School where he played wide receiver and defensive back. Aside from football he also lettered in basketball, baseball and track and field.
College career Madison played college football for the University of Louisville. Madison was a three-year starter for the Cardinals and set the school records for interceptions with 16 and passes defended with 44. As a junior, he earned third-team All-America selection after recording 65 tackles, two sacks, 13 passes defensed and seven interceptions. As a senior, he was named a second-team All-America and first-team All-Conference USA after finishing with 52 tackles, two sacks, six interceptions and 16 passes defensed.
Professional career Pre-draft He participated at the NFL Scouting Combine and performed all of the positional and combined drills. Madison also took part in Louisville's Pro Day and improved his time in the 40–yard dash. Madison stated that during the week leading up to the draft he continually had conversations and spoke with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles, as both showed heavy interest into selecting him. The Miami Dolphins never spoke to him leading up to the day of the draft and never showed any inkling of possibly selecting him.
Miami Dolphins 1997 The Miami Dolphins selected Madison in the second round (44th overall) of the 1997 NFL draft. He was the eighth cornerback selected and the first of four players that were selected from Louisville in 1997. Among the cornerbacks drafted before him, Madison is the only one to have both Pro Bowl honors and a Super Bowl ring and is also the only one with more than one Pro Bowl. He has the second most Pro Bowl selections (×4) amongst all of the cornerbacks in the entire 1997 NFL Draft and is one of four Pro Bowl cornerbacks, joining first-round pick (3rd overall) Shawn Springs (×1), third-round pick (66th overall) Ronde Barber (×5), and sixth-round pick (169th overall) Al Harris (×2). All four players have appeared in at least 150 games throughout their careers.
On June 16, 1997, the Dolphins signed Madison to a four–year, $2.20 million rookie contract that included a signing bonus of $725,000. He entered training camp slated to be the No. 3 outside cornerback under defensive coordinator George Hill. Head coach Jimmy Johnson named Madison a backup and listed him as the third cornerback on the depth chart to begin the season, behind entrenched starters Terrell Buckley and Calvin Jackson.
On August 31, 1997, Madison made his professional regular season debut during the Miami Dolphins' home-opener against the Indianapolis Colts as they won 10–16. In Week 6, he set a season-high with two forced fumbles as the Dolphins defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 14–17. On November 23, 1997, Madison earned his first career start as the No. 2 starting cornerback, in place of Calvin Jackson, who started at free safety after George Teague was benched. He set a season-high with six combined tackles (four solo) as the Dolphins lost 24–27 at the New England Patriots. On November 30, 1997, Madison recorded two solo tackles, set a season-high with two pass deflections, and had his first career interception on a pass by Jeff George to wide receiver Tim Brown during a 34–16 victory at the Oakland Raiders. He was inactive in Week 16 during the Dolphins 0–41 loss at the Indianapolis Colts due to an ankle injury. He finished his rookie season with 21 combined tackles (16 solo), five pass deflections, two forced fumbles, and one interception in 14 games and three starts.
The Miami Dolphins finished second in the AFC East with a 9–7 record in 1997 to earn a Wild-Card position. On December 28, 1997, Madison started in his first career playoff game and recorded two combined tackles (one solo) as the Dolphins lost 3–17 at the New England Patriots in the AFC Wild-Card Game.
1998 The Miami Dolphins selected Patrick Surtain in the second-round (44th overall) in 1998. Coincidentally, they both were selected 44th overall in back-to-back drafts. They would become widely regarded as one of the NFL's top cornerback tandems for the majority of their seven–season partnership. (1998–2004) Defensive coordinator George Hill chose to fully transition Calvin Jackson to strong safety so he take over the starting role he began to play at the end of the previous season, following the decision to bench both Corey Harris and George Teague. Head coach Jimmy Johnson named Madison as Calvin Jackson's replacement as the No. 2 starting cornerback and paired him with Terrell Buckley to start the season, along with nickelback Patrick Surtain.
In Week 3, Madison made two tackles, set a season-high with five pass deflections, and set a season-high with two interceptions off passes thrown by Kordell Stewart as the Dolphins defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 0–21. In Week 9, he set a season-high with five combined tackles (four solo) and had one pass break-up during a 24–30 loss at the Buffalo Bills. The following game, Madison had one solo tackle, two pass deflections, and intercepted a pass by rookie Peyton Manning to wide receiver Marvin Harrison as the Dolphins defeated the Indianapolis Colts 27–14 in Week 10. On November 23, 1998, Madison made one solo tackle, one pass deflection, and tied his season-high of two interceptions on pass attempts thrown by Drew Bledsoe during a 23–26 loss at the New England Patriots. The following week, he made three tackles, one pass deflection, an interception, and had his first career sack on Kerry Collins as the Dolphins defeated the New Orleans Saints 10–30 in Week 13. In Week 14, Madison made three solo tackles, four pass deflections, and had his seventh interception on a pass thrown by Donald Hollas to tight end Rickey Dudley during a 27–17 victory at the Oakland Raiders. This marked his third consecutive game with an interception with four over that three game span. On December 23, 1998, Madison made five combined tackles (three solo), one pass deflection, and helped secure a 21–31 victory against the Denver Broncos by intercepting a pass by John Elway to wide receiver Rod Smith in the fourth quarter. He started all 16 games and finished with a total of 44 combined tackles (31 solo), made a career-high 20 pass deflections, and set a career-high with eight interceptions. Madison and Terrell Buckley set a new franchise record for most combined interceptions by a cornerback duo in a single season with 16 total after each of them had eight interceptions in 1998.
1999 He entered training camp slated to remain a starting cornerback. Head coach Jimmy Johnson named Madison and Terrell Buckley the starting cornerbacks with Patrick Surtain as their primary backup. On September 19, 1999, Madison made two solo tackles, two pass deflections, and also intercepted two passes thrown by Jake Plummer as the Dolphins defeated the Arizona Cardinals 16–19. In Week 5, he had five solo tackles, one pass deflection, and led the Dolphins to a last minute comeback victory at the Indianapolis Colts by tackling Peyton Manning in the endzone for a safety with 1:58 remaining, while they were down 27–31. It was the first and only safety of Madison's career. It would lead to a two–yard touchdown pass from Dan Marino to wide receiver Oronde Gadsden to gain a 34–31 lead with 27 seconds remaining. Terrell Buckley injured his ankle against the Colts and was inactive during a 31–30 victory at the New England Patriots in Week 6, as he was replaced by Patrick Surtain. On November 7, 1999, Madison made four solo tackles, four pass deflections, and set a career-high with three interceptions on pass attempts thrown by Steve McNair as the Dolphins routed the Tennessee Titans 0–17. In Week 11, he set a season-high with seven combined tackles (three solo), made one pass break-up, and intercepted a pass by Drew Bledsoe to tight end Ben Coates during a 17–27 win against the New England Patriots. Defensive coordinator George Hill chose to bench Terrell Buckley prior to Week 13 and officially named Patrick Surtain the No. 2 starting cornerback for the remainder of the season. Terrell Buckley lost his starting role after was beat for a 68–yard touchdown from Drew Bledsoe to Shawn Jefferson in Week 11 and Troy Aikman three a 65–yard touchdown to Raghib Ismail in Week 12. Madison and Patrick Surtain would start alongside one another for the last five games. In Week 13, he made one solo tackle, one pass deflection, and had a pick-six following an interception on a pass by Peyton Manning to wide receiver Terrence Wilkins during a 37–34 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
On December 18, 1999, the Miami Dolphins signed Madison to a new eight-year, $42.60 million contract extension that included an initial signing bonus of $11 million. The contract restructured his rookie contract with one year remaining following the end of this season, while adding a six-year extension. His deal became the largest in franchise history, surpassing Dan Marino. Ge started all 16 games for the second season in-a-row and finished with 50 combined tackles (43 solo), made 12 pass deflections, seven interceptions, had one forced fumble, one sack, a safety, and scored one touchdown. His seven interceptions tied for the league lead with four others, including James Hasty (KC), Donnie Abraham (TB), Troy Vincent (PHI), and Rod Woodson (BAL). He was selected to the 2000 Pro Bowl, marking the first Pro Bowl of his career.
2000 On January 16, 2000, Miami Dolphins' head coach Jimmy Johnson officially announced his retirement from coaching citing burnout. Associate head coach Dave Wannstedt was promoted to head coach in his place and fired defensive coordinator George Hill after three seasons. Madison entered training camp slated as the de facto No. 1 starting cornerback under new defensive coordinator Jim Bates. Following the departure of Terrell Buckley, Patrick Surtain competed against Terrance Shaw to take over the other starting cornerback role. Head coach Jim Bates named him the No. 1 starting cornerback to begin the season and paired him with Patrick Surtain and rookie Ben Kelly at nickelback.
On September 3, 2000, Madison started in the Miami Dolphins' home-opener against the Seattle Seahawks and made three combined tackles (two solo), two pass deflections, and set a season-high with two interceptions on passes thrown by Jon Kitna during a 0–23 victory. In Week 6, Madison had two combined tackles, one pass break-up, and returned a fumble he recovered, that was forced on running back Sammy Morris by teammate Patrick Surtain, for a 20–yard touchdown as the Dolphins defeated the Buffalo Bills 13–22. In Week 16, he set a season-high with five combined tackles (four solo) during a 13–20 loss at the Indianapolis Colts. He started all 16 games for the third consecutive season and recorded 39 combined tackles (29 solo), 12 pass deflections, five interceptions, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, and one touchdown. He was selected to appear in the 2001 Pro Bowl.
2001