Alfonzo Dennard (born September 9, 1989) is a former American football cornerback. He was drafted by the New England Patriots in the 7th round with the 224th overall pick of the 2012 NFL Draft. He played in college for the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Early years
Dennard excelled on both sides of the ball at Wilcox County High School, and was Nebraska's first scholarship player from Georgia since 2001. As a junior, Dennard caught 45 passes for 840 yards and 12 touchdowns, while rushing 24 times for 240 yards and six touchdowns. On defense, he made 60 tackles and had six interceptions. In his senior season, Dennard played a leading role in helping Wilcox County and Coach Mark Ledford to a 13-2 record and state runner-up finish in Class A. Dennard made 53 tackles, while picking off five passes as a cornerback. Offensively, Dennard caught 39 passes for 780 yards and scored 14 touchdowns. He also used his speed to help on special teams, returning two kickoffs and one punt for touchdowns. Dennard received first-team Class A all-state honors from the Georgia Sportswriters Association. Dennard played in the GACA North-South All-Star game. Regarded as a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, Dennard chose Nebraska over North Carolina and Troy, among others.
Dennard was also a contributor in track and basketball. He played point guard in basketball and used his speed in sprint events in track. In 2008, he placed second in the regional meet in the long jump after posting a personal-best leap of 6.68 meters (21 feet, 9 inches), and finished sixth in the state with a leap of 6.50 meters (21 feet, 3 inches).
College career
As a junior in 2010, Dennard started 13 of 14 games and had 31 tackles and four interceptions. He was a second-team all-Big 12 Conference selection. In his senior year in 2011, Dennard was an all-Big Ten first-team selection and earned the Big Ten's Tatum-Woodson Defensive Back of the Year award.
In his final game as a Cornhusker during the Capital One Bowl game, Dennard was ejected at the end of the first half for fighting with South Carolina wide receiver Alshon Jeffery.
Professional career
Coming out of Nebraska, Dennard was projected to go as high as the first round, but was typically considered to be a second to fourth-round pick by the majority of NFL draft experts and scouts. Prior to the Senior Bowl, Dennard was ranked the third best cornerback prospect by NFL analyst Mike Mayock. He received an invitation to the Reese's Senior Bowl and had a lackluster week of practice due to an injury that prevented him from completing the full week of practices. According to multiple sources, Dennard was exposed while attempting to cover lower rank wide receivers on multiple occasions and was beaten by Iowa receiver Marvin McNutt during practice. Many draft analysts thought he blew any possible chance of being a first-round pick and that his draft stock was immensely affected by questions over his ability to cover wide receivers at the highest level.
He attended the NFL combine, and was unable to perform the bench press, three-cone drill, and short shuttle due to a hip and shoulder injury. On March 8, 2012, Dennard opted to participate at Nebraska's pro day, along with Jared Crick, Lavonte David, Jermarcus Hardrick and Marcel Jones. He was ranked the 11th-best cornerback prospect in the draft by NFL analyst Mike Mayock and was ranked the 12th-best cornerback by NFLDraftScout.com. On April 21, 2012, Dennard was arrested for suspicion of third-degree assault on an officer and another third-degree assault charge only seven days before the 2012 NFL Draft after he allegedly punched a police officer outside a bar in Lincoln, Nebraska. This further affected his draft stock and multiple teams removed him from their draft boards. According to Lincoln police, the incident transpired after Dennard was fighting with another man outside a bar at 2:15 a.m. Lincoln police officers responded to the call and attempted to break it up. Dennard then allegedly shoved an officer and then punched him in the face. Lincoln police stated it took four officers to finally restrain Dennard.
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots selected Dennard in the seventh round (224th overall) of the 2012 NFL Draft. He was the 29th cornerback selected in the 2012 NFL draft.
2012
On May 17, 2012, the New England Patriots signed Dennard to a four-year, $2.15 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $14,462.