Sam Madison ranks in the all-time elite tier for defensive backs — a career that places Madison in the top 3% of all players at the position. The Knox value model assigns Madison a career score of 78, reflecting sustained impact that most players at the position never approach.

CBNYG#29RES

Sam Madison

4× Pro Bowl2× All-ProTop 3% all-time defensive backsIron Legend🌅 Early Bloomer · 1999

Height5'11"

Weight180 lb

BornApr 23, 1974

Age52

CollegeLouisville See College Stats

Rookie yr1997

Draft1997 · Rd 2, Pick 44 · MIA

All-Time Rank & Honors

career ranks, postseason ranks, awards, title context

Regular-season all-time ranks

58thInterceptions·38

Pro Bowls

All-Pro

Archetype Intelligence

Iron LegendExplore archetypes →

An all-time caliber defensive back (top 5% all-time) who combined elite production with excellent availability over their career. Iron Legends define eras — they show up, every game, for years on end.

Career Value · VORP

VORP 195 · #395 · Elite

Worth 195 points of value above a freely-available replacement cornerback — top 9% of all 4,642 ranked at the position. 9 of 11 seasons cleared the replacement bar, by +21.7 on average.See board →

Seasons above replacement

9 cleared

Beat replacement (adds to VORP) Below it — adds 0, never a debit

Replacement

the KC-H bar

→

Seasons over

cleared the bar

+21.7

Avg surplus

peak +43

9 seasons × ~21.7 surplus ≈ VORP 195

Combined Season Grid

The full season-by-season grids, joined on one timeline. Every selected stat family stays visible at once—no tab hopping.

1 grid split in one view

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Defense
Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty
1997	—	MIA	14	—	21	16	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	1	5	2	—	—	—
1998	—	MIA	16	—	44	32	—	—	—	1.0	1.0	8	20	0	—	—	—
1999	—	MIA	15	—	41	34	7	4	0	0.0	4.0	7	12	1	—	1	1
2000	—	MIA	15	—	35	27	8	1	0	0.0	1.0	5	11	2	2	0	0
2001	—	MIA	13	—	23	16	7	1	0	0.0	1.0	2	13	0	—	0	0
2002	—	MIA	15	—	32	22	10	2	0	0.0	2.0	3	11	1	—	0	0
2003	—	MIA	16	—	45	42	3	0	0	0.0	0.0	3	10	0	1	1	0
2004	—	MIA	16	—	40	27	13	0	0	0.0	0.0	0	7	3	—	0	0
2005	—	MIA	15	—	49	39	10	0	0	0.0	0.0	2	12	1	—	0	0
2006	—	NYG	12	—	33	27	6	0	0	0.0	0.0	2	10	0	1	0	0
2007	—	NYG	16	—	61	53	8	0	2	1.0	3.0	4	14	1	1	0	0
2008	—	NYG	3	—	4	3	1	1	0	0.0	1.0	1	2	0	—	0	0
Career		—	166	—	428	338	73	9	2	2.0	13.0	38	127	11	5	2	1

Defense

Season	Age	Team	G	GS	Tkl	Solo	Ast	TFL	QBHits	Sk	Dis	Int	PD	FF	FR	TD	Sfty	VAL
1997	23	MIA	14	—	21	16	—	—	—	0.0	0.0	1	5	2	—	—	—	6.5
1998	24	MIA	16	—	44	32	—	—	—	1.0	1.0	8	20	0	—	—	—	13.8
1999	25	MIA	15	—	41	34	7	4	0	0.0	4.0	7	12	1	—	1	1	12.3
2000	26	MIA	15	—	35	27	8	1	0	0.0	1.0	5	11	2	2	0	0	11.3
2001	27	MIA	13	—	23	16	7	1	0	0.0	1.0	2	13	0	—	0	0	7.5
2002	28	MIA	15	—	32	22	10	2	0	0.0	2.0	3	11	1	—	0	0	8.7
2003	29	MIA	16	—	45	42	3	0	0	0.0	0.0	3	10	0	1	1	0	9.1
2004	30	MIA	16	—	40	27	13	0	0	0.0	0.0	0	7	3	—	0	0	7.5
2005	31	MIA	15	—	49	39	10	0	0	0.0	0.0	2	12	1	—	0	0	9.1
2006	32	NYG	12	—	33	27	6	0	0	0.0	0.0	2	10	0	1	0	0	6.8
2007	33	NYG	16	—	61	53	8	0	2	1.0	3.0	4	14	1	1	0	0	10.9
2008	34	NYG	3	—	4	3	1	1	0	0.0	1.0	1	2	0	—	0	0	—
Career			166		428	338	73	9	2	—	—	38	127	11	5	2	1	103.5

KV-H Anatomy

KV-H 78 · Great

A great career by KV-H: a peak-driven profile that scores 78 of 100, era-normalized against int/g peers across 11 scored seasons.

Sustained

career value

×.6

Peak

best 3 seasons

×.4

×1

Longevity

career length

Blend 75 × longevity 1 = KV-H 78· confidence 100%

What builds the career mark of 67

On-field 48.4

Availability 18.6

On-field production Staying available

Season-by-season quality (era-relative int/g)

1997bestavg 67elite 702007

All-Time Standing

how this career measures against the all-time greats at the position

Depth

of 100

Reached 17% of the all-time Interceptions leader — a rotational/depth all-time profile at the position.

17% of the all-time Interceptions leader17

0 categories ≥25% of the all-time leader0

A 0–100 scale where 100 = matched the all-time leaderat this position. Built only from visible encyclopedia data — career production vs. the all-time leader, plus efficiency (EPA) and comparable-player confidence — so it's a transparent context score, not a subjective rating. Tiers: Elite ≥ 85 · Strong ≥ 65 · Solid ≥ 45 · Depth < 45. Comparable-player confidence: 91%.

Career Aging Trajectory

vs. position group average · KV-H basis

Amber = this player (normalized to own peak). Indigo = average defensive backs aging curve. Group peak age: 21. Source: StatVault KV-H era (1999+).

Postseason Career

8 playoff games

Defense

Tkl13Solo7Ast6PD5

College Stats

LouisvilleCollege listed; stat table pending import

College stats are not imported for this profile yet.

StatVault has the verified college attribution (Louisville), but no parsed college box-score table is present in this profile artifact. The section stays here so every profile has a consistent college-stats landing point without fabricating unavailable rows.

Reference Graph

Career teammates and draft class, derived from year-by-year rosters — every name is linked.

1997 Draft Class· this player went #44

#36Tiki BarberRB #37Jerry WunschOT #38John AllredTE #39Jared TomichDE #40Dexter McCleonDB #41Byron HanspardRB #42Jake PlummerQB #43Corey DillonRB #45Freddie JonesTE #46Joey KentWR #47Kevin LockettWR #48Adam MeadowsOT #50Mike LoganDB #52Marcellus WileyDE #53Will BlackwellWR #55Marc EdwardsFB

Franchise Succession

the room, before and after

Sam inherited the Miami Dolphins DB room from Shawn Wooden (1996–2003), and handed it to Brock Marion (1998–2003).

J.B. Brown 1989–1996Troy Vincent 1992–1995Calvin Jackson 1994–1999Terrell Buckley 1995–2003Shawn Wooden 1996–2003Sam Madison

Similar Players

Statistical + physical similarity across every player in the database, position-relevant (0–100%).

Movementderived from season history

2008final season
Last recorded season with NYG
2006team change
Joined NYG (from MIA)
1997draft
Drafted by MIA — Round 2, Pick 44

Athletic & Unique Profile

verified measurements and curated source-tagged facts

5'11" / 180 lb

Frame

Knox

StatVault's proprietary player intelligence, informed by full career data. How Knox works →

Historical Knox · KV-H

Era-normalized career quality — z-scored against 11-season peers. See all →

peak 87

Season Report Cards· KV-H era-normalized per season

C1997

A+1998

A1999

B+2000

C+2001

B2002

B2003

C2004

C+2005

C+2006

B+2007

Availability

Career durability — games played vs. scheduled, across 12 seasons.

Era Translator

INT translated to the 2025NFL — each season's standing among its own-era peers, projected onto 2025's scoring environment. Modern-era (1999+) coverage.

Season	Actual INT	INT/G	→ 2025 INT	→ 2025 /G
1997	1	0.1	0-1	0
1998	8	0.5	6-2	0.3
1999	7	0.5	5-2	0.3
2000	5	0.3	4-1	0.2
2001	2	0.2	1-1	0.1
2002	3	0.2	2-1	0.1
2003	3	0.2	2-1	0.1
2004	0	0	0	0
2005	2	0.1	1-1	0.1
2006	2	0.2	2	0.1
2007	4	0.3	3-1	0.2

Data: nflverse:players, nflverse:player_stats_def, nflverse:draft_picks, wikipedia:season-stats (CC-BY-SA, facts-only), nfl.com:official-stats (facts-only reference), espn.com:stats-api (games-played, facts-only reference) · multi-source verified via the StatVault Oracle · updated 6/18/2026

Career Value · VORP

195 career value over replacement — #395 all-time of 4,642. 17.7/season above a replacement-level CB.

Career Profile

1 top-10 seasonstop-10 marks

Draft OutcomeSteal ↑

Pick #44 (Rd 2) · MIA · 1997 · +28.2 vs expected KV-H

78actual

49.8 expected · Δ+28.2

💔+29.7 stolen VORP·1.68 szns lost

Fan Rating

Rate Sam Madison — All-Time

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Compare Sam Madison vs Player Report data error

Sam Madison

All-Time Rank & Honors

Archetype Intelligence

Career Value · VORP

Combined Season Grid

Defense

KV-H Anatomy

All-Time Standing

Career Aging Trajectory

Postseason Career

Defense

College Stats

Reference Graph

Top Teammates

1997 Draft Class· this player went #44

Franchise Succession

Similar Players

Movementderived from season history

Athletic & Unique Profile

Knox

Era Translator