Sammy D. Knight, Jr. (born September 10, 1975) is a former American football safety. He played college football at USC and was signed by the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent in 1997. Knight was also a member of the Miami Dolphins, Kansas City Chiefs, Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Giants. He was also an assistant coach at USC. Early years Knight graduated from Rubidoux High School in Riverside, California before attending the University of Southern California. He has 3 brothers who also played college football: Ryan was a record-setting prep All-American running back (rushing for 501 yards in a game) who then lettered 4 years (1984–87) at tailback for USC and led the Trojans in rushing in 1985 and 1986 (he is 20th on USC's career rushing list with 1,875 yards), Greg played defensive line at Colorado (1986) and Darryl lettered 3 years (1998–2000) at linebacker at USC. His father, Sam Sr., played on a California state championship basketball team at Riverside (Calif.) Community College in the early 1960s that was coached by Jerry Tarkanian. He is married to Freda Knight, a Hampton University Graduate. They have four daughters named Shianne, Samone, Savannah, and Sasha. Knight also has an older daughter named Aneka. Professional career New Orleans Saints 1997 On April 25, 1997, the New Orleans Saints signed Knight to a one-year, $138,500 contract as an undrafted free agent after he went undrafted in the 1997 NFL Draft. Throughout training camp, Knight competed to be the starting strong safety against Je'Rod Cherry, Vashone Adams, and rookie Rob Kelly. Head coach Mike Ditka named Knight the backup strong safety to begin the regular season, behind starting strong safety Vashone Adams. He made his professional regular season debut in the New Orleans Saints' 38–24 season-opening loss at the St. Louis Rams. On September 28, 1997, Knight earned his first career start and recorded 11 combined tackles and made his first career interception during a 14–9 loss at the New York Giants in Week 5. Knight made his first career interception off a pass by Giants' quarterback Dave Brown, that was originally intended for wide receiver Kevin Alexander, and returned it for a 32-yard gain in the third quarter. On September 30, 1997, the New Orleans Saints released Vashone Adams after Knight surpassed him on the depth chart and became the starting strong safety. In Week 14, Knight recorded eight