Christopher Drew Akins (born November 29, 1976 in Little Rock, Arkansas) is a former American football safety and special teams in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, Cleveland Browns, New England Patriots, and the Miami Dolphins.
[edit] High school years
Akins attended Hall High School in Little Rock, and was a letterman in football and track. In football, he was an All-Conference selection, an All-State selection, and an All-America selection. In track, he was a two-time All-State selection and set school records on the 100 meter dash (10.33 seconds) and the 200 meter dash.
[edit] Professional career
Akins was originally drafted in the seventh round (212th overall) of the 1999 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers out of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, but was cut at the end of training camp and signed with the Dallas Cowboys. The next year, 2000, Akins was back with Green Bay halfway into the season, after being cut by Dallas.
During the 2001 season, Akins angered Packers head coach Mike Sherman with mental lapses on the field and his attitude off of it, and was cut halfway into the season. The Cleveland Browns then signed Akins, and he stayed with them and proved to be a useful player on special teams until he signed with the New England Patriots for the 2003 season. While with the Patriots, Akins continued his career as an able and sometimes very good special teams player, and he contributed to their win in Super Bowl XXXVIII. Again an unrestricted free agent after that season, Akins subsequently signed with the Miami Dolphins, and spent the season on the team's injured reserve with a knee injury.
