Aqib Talib
From NCAA College Football Information & Resource
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Aqib Talib (Born on February 13, 1986 in Clevenland, Ohio) plays cornerback for the Kansas Jayhawks in the NCAA college football tournament. Talib is considered one of the best at his position not only in the Big 12 but in the entire nation as well. He is a perennial All-American selection, appearing in almost every publication's All-American and All-conference defensive team list. Talib was a key contributor to the Jayhawks' historic run in 2007 that was punctuated by a school-record 11 wins and highlighted by the team's first BCS bowl berth. As a junior, Talib had four interceptions including one that was returned for a school-record 100 yards, along with 61 tackles and 13 passes defended to help the KU defense rank 4th and 14th in the nation in scoring defense and total defense, respectively. In three seasons with the Jayhawks, Talib has had 10 pick-offs and 35 passes broken up prior to the 2007 Orange Bowl.
Contents |
[edit] Personal Life
Aqib Talib (ah-KEEB tah-LEEB) is one of four children of Okolo Talib and Theodore Henry. He has a brother and two sisters. When he is not at school or on the field, he likes to spend his free time playing video games. Aqib is a sociology major at KU and he plans to play in the NFL and own a couple of businesses. Aqib has a daughter named Kiara Renae to former KU sprinter Cortney Jacobs.
[edit] High School
Talib attended the Richardson Berkner High School in Texas where he lettered in football, basketball and track. He played under coach Jim Ledford and was named first team all-district and first team all-city for the Rams in 2003 in addition to his Berkner HS Defensive Back of the Year honors he received in his senior season.
[edit] College
With Talib playing for a school that recruiters don't routinely visit, he was not a highly touted prospect coming out of high school. He was only rated as a two-star talent by Rivals.com and was lightly recruited by elite programs like Texas and Oklahoma.
[edit] 2004
Redshirted. Coaches picked Talib as the scout team defensive player of the week for his efforts prior to the Oklahoma game.
[edit] 2005
Talib played in 11 games and made 9 starts as a redshirt freshman. He picked off two passes for a total of 45 yards, had a team-leading eight pass break-ups, and registered 54 total tackles with four tackles-for-loss. Among his postseason accolades include an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection from the league's head coaches, a freshman All-Big 12 selection by The Sporting News, a freshman All-America selection by Rivals.com, and a Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year recognition from Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
[edit] 2006
Talib appeared in 10 games on his sophomore year, making a start in all of those games. He recorded a season-high 2 interceptions against Colorado and had four pass break-ups against Missouri. Against the Tigers, Talib moonlighted as a receiver and scored on a 42-yard touchdown after lining up with the offensive team. He finished the season with league-leading 6 interceptions and 22 pass break-ups and emerged as number 1 in the nation in passes defended per game with 2.80. He also registered 42 total tackles including 39 solo stops, one fumble recovery, two tackles-for-loss and one quarterback hurry. Talib was also rewarded with the team's Ray Evans award as the defensive MVP, and was included to the All-Big 12 First Team by the league coaches, and by several publications (Associated Press, Kansas City Star, Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle and Fort Worth Star-Telegram) while also making SI.com's second-team All-America selection.
[edit] 2007
Talib was included into the 2007 Playboy Preseason All-America for his efforts the previous year and was also named as KU's team captain. He registered 61 tackles, including 3.5 for loss, four interceptions and 13 passes defended (league leading for the 2nd consecutive year). Talib has also made appearances in the offensive team, catchig 8 passes for 182 yards and 4 TDs. Perhaps the highlight of his junior year was his career-long and school-record 100-yard TD interception return against Florida International. By the end of the regular season, Talib has emerged as one of the best, if not the best defensive back in the nation after making it to several All-America teams from various publications enroute to being named as a Consensus All-American by the NCAA.
[edit] Highlights
| Aqib Talib returns an interception 100 yards for a touchdown to set a school record. |
[edit] Achievements
- 2007 All-Big 12 First Team Defense
- 2007 All-Big 12 Preseason Football Team (Media)
- 2007 American Football Coaches Association Coaches' All-America Team
- 2007 Associated Press First Team All-America Defense
- 2007 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week (11.12.07)
- 2007 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Finalist
- 2007 CBSSports.com Halfway All-America
- 2007 CFN's #11 Player in the Big 12
- 2007 CFN's #1 Defensive Back in the Big 12
- 2007 CFN All-America First Team Defense
- 2007 CFN All-Big 12 Team Defense
- 2007 Jack Tatum Award (Touchdown Club of Columbus)
- 2007 Jim Thorpe Award Semifinalist
- 2007 NCAA Consensus All-America Football Team
- 2007 Phil Steele's Magazine Mid-Season All-Big 12 First Team
- 2007 Phil Steele's Magazine Mid-Season Second Team All-America
- 2007 Playboy Magazine Preseason All-America
- 2007 Rivals.com All-America First Team Defense
- 2007 Rivals.com All-Big 12 First Team Defense
- 2007 SI.com Midseason First Team All-America
- 2007 Sporting News All-America First Team Defense
- 2007 Walter Camp Football Foundation All-American Defense
- 2007 1 of 15 "Players to Watch" for the Walter Camp Football Foundation Player of the Year Award
- 2006 All-Big 12 First Team Defense
- 2006 SI.com 2nd-team All-America
[edit] References
- Aqib Talib @ cfbstats.com
- Aqib Talib Kansas Profile
- Aqib Talib Wikipedia
- Double talk with Talib
- Kansas' Talib stars at cornerback, receiver
- KU's big daddy
