Jalen Ramsey ( JAY-lən; born October 24, 1994) is an American professional football cornerback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida State Seminoles and was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars fifth overall in the 2016 NFL draft.
With the Jaguars, Ramsey quickly became one of the top cornerbacks in the NFL, making the Pro Bowl and being named an All-Pro in 2017, in addition to helping Jacksonville snap a 10-year playoff drought. However, following a fallout and standoff with the Jaguars' front office, he was traded to the Los Angeles Rams midway through the 2019 season. In 2020, he agreed to an extension with the Rams that made him the highest paid cornerback in league history at the time. Ramsey won Super Bowl LVI with the Rams before being traded to the Miami Dolphins during the 2023 offseason. He was traded to the Steelers two years later.
Ramsey was born on October 24, 1994, in Smyrna, Tennessee, to Lamont and Margie Ramsey. Lamont was a District Chief in the Fire Department and later became Jalen's training coach. Jalen's older brother, Jamal, participated in football, basketball, and track at Battle Ground Academy in Franklin, Tennessee, and played quarterback at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where their father had once played football. Jalen improved his football skills playing with much older boys at a local park. He grew up cheering for the Miami Hurricanes in a family of Florida Gators fans.
Ramsey attended Ensworth High School in Nashville, Tennessee, as a freshman. He then transferred to Brentwood Academy in Brentwood, Tennessee, where he was a two-sport star in football and track & field. Ramsey was rated by both Rivals.com and Scout.com as a five-star recruit and one of the top overall recruits in his class. Ramsey originally committed to the University of Southern California (USC) to play college football, but later changed to Florida State University.
Ramsey had a highly decorated high school track career. On May 24, 2013, in his final high school track meet, Ramsey shattered the Tennessee state record in the long jump with a mark of 25 feet 3.25 inches (7.7026 m), breaking the 16-year-old record set in 1997. As of 2016, no other athlete in TSSAA history has surpassed the 25-foot mark. Ramsey competed in events ranging from the 100 meters to the shot put. As a sprinter, he recorded personal best times of 10.50 in the 100-meter dash, 21.44 in the 200-meter dash, and 48.02 in the 400-meter dash. Ramsey established personal bests in the high jump at 6 feet 8 inches (2.03 m) and the triple jump 47 feet 7 inches (14.50 m). He also posted a top throw of 49 feet 11 inches (15.21 m) in the shot put.
Ramsey started all 14 games for the Florida State Seminoles as a true freshman in 2013. He was the first true freshman to start a game at cornerback for the team since Deion Sanders in 1985. Ramsey wore jersey #13 during his freshman year when Florida State won the National Championship over Auburn. He later switched to jersey #8 for his sophomore and junior seasons. Ramsey also chose the #17 jersey for kick returns during his junior year, a number that had been retired in honor of former superstar Charlie Ward, who granted Ramsey permission to wear it. He recorded a 23-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the 59–3 victory over Wake Forest on November 9, 2013. Ramsey finished the year with 49 tackles, an interception, and a sack.
As a sophomore, Ramsey played 14 games with 80 tackles, two interceptions, 12 passes defended, three forced fumbles, and two sacks.
As a junior, Ramsey played 13 games with one sack, nine passes defended, and one fumble recovery on 52 tackles. On September 18, against Boston College, he recorded a 36-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the 14–0 victory. Ramsey was named as a Consensus All-American for his performance in the 2015 season. After his junior year, Ramsey announced his intention to forgo his senior season and enter the 2016 NFL draft.
Ramsey competed in track & field at Florida State as a relay sprinter and long jumper. He was a three-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) honoree as a member of the Florida State Indoor and Outdoor championship track and field team in 2013. He placed third in the long jump at both the indoor and outdoor ACC T&F Championships and ran a leg on the conference champion 4×100 relay team at the outdoor meet.
During the 2014 season, Ramsey's best outdoor long jump mark was 25 ft 0 in (7.62 m) and his top indoor jump was 24 ft 11 in (7.59 m), ranking second nationally among NCAA Division I football players. Ramsey qualified for the NCAA East Preliminary meet in the long jump. He placed third at the 2014 ACC Indoor Championship in the long jump 7.46 metres (24 ft 6 in).
In March 2015, Ramsey recorded his personal best jump of 26 ft 1.75 in (7.9693 m) at the NCAA Indoor Championships. In May 2015, Ramsey won the ACC Long Jump Championship with a leap of 26 ft 1.5 in (7.963 m),
Coming out of Florida State, Ramsey was projected a first round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was considered to be a top 10 pick by NFL media analysts Daniel Jeremiah, Charles Davis, and Mike Mayock. Ramsey received an invitation to the NFL Combine and completed all the combine and positional drills and tied for the top performance in the broad jump and vertical jump.
On March 29, 2016, Ramsey chose to participate at Florida State's pro day, along with Roberto Aguayo, Lamarcus Brutus, Terrance Smith, and 20 other prospects. Team representatives and scouts from 31 NFL teams attended, with the Cincinnati Bengals opting not to, and among them included general managers Doug Whaley (Buffalo Bills), Kevin Colbert (Pittsburgh Steelers), Jason Licht (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), Jon Robinson (Tennessee Titans), and Steelers' head coach Mike Tomlin. Ramsey chose to stand on his combine numbers and only perform positional drills. Ramsey was ranked as the top free safety prospect in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com, the top overall defensive back prospect by Sports Illustrated, and the top cornerback by NFL analyst Mike Mayock.
The Jacksonville Jaguars selected Ramsey in the first round (fifth overall) of the 2016 NFL draft. He was the first cornerback selected. He surpassed 1999 first round pick Fernando Bryant (26th overall) to become the highest drafted cornerback in franchise history.
On May 19, 2016, Ramsey suffered a small meniscus tear during rookie training camp. He had microfracture surgery on the same knee in his sophomore year of high school. Three days later, the Jaguars signed Ramsey to a four-year, $23.35 million rookie contract that included $22.9 million guaranteed and an initial signing bonus of $15.18 million.
On May 24, Ramsey underwent surgery to repair the torn meniscus. Throughout training camp, he competed against Davon House, Prince Amukamara, Aaron Colvin, Dwayne Gratz, and Josh Johnson to be the starting cornerback. Head coach Gus Bradley named Ramsey the starting cornerback and paired him with Davon House to start the season.
On September 11, 2016, Ramsey made his professional regular season debut and first career start in the game against the Green Bay Packers and recorded three combined tackles (two solo) during a 27–23 loss. During Week 8, he tallied eight combined tackles (four solo) in the 36–22 road loss to the Tennessee Titans. On December 18, 2016, Ramsey made four solo tackles, five pass deflections, forced a fumble, and had his first career interception off a pass thrown by Brock Osweiler to wide receiver Will Fuller during a narrow 21–20 road loss to the Houston Texans. Following the game, the Jaguars fired head coach Gus Bradley after falling to a 2–12 record. Offensive line coach Doug Marrone was appointed interim head coach for the remainder of the season. On December 24, 2016, Ramsey made four solo tackles, four pass deflections, and returned an interception thrown by Matt Cassel to wide receiver Rishard Matthews 30–yards for his first career touchdown during a 38–17 victory over the Titans. Ramsey was named American Football Conference (AFC) Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against the Titans.