Robert Alford

BIOGRAPHY

Robert Alford was born November 1, 1988 in Hammond, Louisiana. He is a Cornerback for the Arizona Cardinals in the NFL.

Alford was born in Hammond, Louisiana. He attended Hammond High Magnet School and played high school football and ran track for the Hammond Tornadoes. He was a first-team all-District 7-5A selection at wide receiver, catching 10 touchdown passes as a senior for the Tors. He was chosen as the Tors’ Rookie of the Year as a sophomore.

In addition to football, Alford was on the Tornadoes' track & field team, where he competed as a sprinter and jumper. He finished second in the 400-meter dash at the 2007 LHSAA Track and Field Championships, with a time of 49.62 seconds. At the 2008 Region II-5A Championships, he won both the 400 meters, recording a career-best time of 48.68 seconds, and the long jump, setting a personal-best mark of 7.09 meters.

Alford enrolled in Southeastern Louisiana University, where he played for the Southeastern Louisiana Lions football team from 2008 to 2012. After redshirting in 2008, he started nine of the 10 games in 2009, appearing in at cornerback and finished the season with 46 tackles (35 solo), and was also second on the team with five pass breakups. He was granted a medical redshirt after missing the 2010 season with an injury. He returned in 2011 and was named second team All-Southland Conference after establishing himself as one of the conference's elite cornerbacks. He started all 11 games for the Lions, and finished second in the Southland with five interceptions and fourth in the league with seven pass breakups. He finished the year with 52 tackles (45 solo), and his five interceptions was the eighth-highest single-season total in school history. In his final season, he was named first team All-Southland conference after finishing the year with 39 tackles (35 solo), including five for loss, four interceptions and eight pass break ups.

On November 21, 2012, it was announced that Alford had accepted his invitation to play in the 2013 Senior Bowl. He became the second player from Southeastern Louisiana to play in the Senior Bowl and the first since Ronnie Hornsby in 1979. On January 26, 2013, Alford recorded five combined tackles and an interception to help Detroit Lions' head coach Jim Schwartz's South team that defeated the North 21-16. Alford had an impressive performance that also included an 88-yard kickoff return to start the game and immensely raised his draft stock. He was one of 60 collegiate defensive backs and 35 cornerbacks to attend the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana. Alford performed all of the combine drills and finished fourth among all defensive backs in the 40-yard dash. On March 26, 2013, Alford attended Southeastern Louisiana's pro day, but opted to stand on his combine numbers and only performed positional drills as team representatives and scouts from 15 NFL teams attended. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Alford was projected to be a second or third round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked the 10th best cornerback prospect by NFL analyst Mike Mayock and the 11th best cornerback by NFLDraftScout.com.

The Atlanta Falcons selected Alford in the second round (60th overall) of the 2013 NFL Draft. On June 14, 2013, the Atlanta Falcons signed Alford to a four-year, $3.40 million contract that includes $1.07 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $853,744. On February 5, 2019, Alford was released by the Falcons after six seasons.

On February 7, 2019, Alford signed a three-year, $22.5 million contract with the Arizona Cardinals. On August 17, 2020, Alford tore his pectoral muscle and was ruled out for the 2020 season. He was placed on injured reserve on August 21. He was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list by the team on December 21, 2020, and moved back to injured reserve on December 28. He was released after the season on March 10, 2021, and re-signed to a one-year contract two days later.