Cortez Allen Cortez Lequon Allen ( born October 29 , 1988 ) is an American football cornerback with the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League . Allen grew up in Citra , Florida and played college football at The Citadel . The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Allen in the fourth round of the 2011 NFL Draft . Allen quickly became a prominent member of the Steelers ' secondary who contributed to limiting passing yardage and forcing turnovers . High school career . Born in San Diego , California , Allen graduated from North Marion High School of Citra , Florida in 2006 prior to being recruited to The Citadel . While in high school , Allen played varsity football only in his senior year and also ran on the track and field team . Allen earned all - state and all - city football honors in his one year of varsity football and was part of the 2005 regional championship team . College career . Allen posted 120 tackles and 5 interceptions in his career with the Bulldogs football team of The Citadel , The Military College of South Carolina , returning two for touchdowns . As a freshman in 2006 , Allen played in four games and had one assisted and one solo tackle . He redshirted the 2007 season . In 2008 , as a sophomore , Allen played all 12 games and started 6 . Against Furman ( October 18 ) , Allen made a season - high seven tackles , and against Samford ( October 25 ) , Allen made six tackles ( including one for loss ) and broke up one pass . In his junior season ( 2009 ) , Allen played and started in all 11 games . Of his 57 total tackles in 2009 , 36 were solo . Following Citadel ' s victory over Samford on October 31 , the Southern Conference named Allen the Defensive Player of the Week for six solo tackles and two interceptions returned for 110 yards . For 2009 , Allen earned second - team All - Southern Conference honors . Allen would again earn second - team honors in his senior season ( 2010 ) , having made 23 tackles ( 13 solo ) , 6 passes defended ( most in the team ) , and 2 interceptions ( returned for 18 yards ) . Allen also made 8 red zone stops , including two at the one - yard line . Professional career . Pittsburgh Steelers ( 2011 – present ) . 2011 season . At the 2011 NFL Combine , Allen completed the 40 - yard dash in 4 . 51 seconds , made a broad jump of 10 feet , 9 inches , completed the 60 - yard shuffle in 10 . 87 seconds , made the 20 - yard shuffle in 4 . 01 seconds , and made the cone drill in 6 . 76 seconds . In the 2011 NFL Draft , the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Allen in the fourth round , 128th overall . Before the draft , analyst Mel Kiper considered Allen a " sleeper " who would be selected in the third or fourth round . Kiper also described Allen as " a big corner who runs well , tests well athletically and has good strength " . Due to injury , Allen missed much of training camp . Allen played 15 games in the 2011 season and missed Week 6 ( October 9 ) due to an ankle injury . He debuted professionally in Week 1 ( September 11 ) against the Baltimore Ravens on special teams . In Week 2 ( September 18 ) , Allen and Arnaz Battle made a special teams tackle of the Seattle Seahawks ' Leon Washington during a third quarter kickoff return . On October 23 ( Week 7 ) against the Arizona Cardinals , Allen made his first defensive tackle . Allen made four defensive tackles on October 30 ( Week 8 ) against the New England Patriots and was part of a defense that limited Tom Brady to 198 passing yards . In Week 9 ( November 6 ) against Baltimore , Allen made three defensive and one special teams tackle . Allen left the Week 17 ( January 1 , 2012 ) game against the Cleveland Browns due to a shoulder injury . He did not return to that game and was inactive for the Steelers ' game . Allen finished his rookie season with 15 tackles . He regularly played on nickel and dime defenses . Defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau commented about Allen : " We always liked his size to speed ratio and he ' s got an innate feel for the ball . " 2012 season . For the 2012 season , Allen played in 15 games with three starts . He had 55 tackles , 10 passes defended , 2 interceptions returned for 6 yards , and 3 forced fumbles . Twice in the season , Allen substituted for injured cornerback Ike Taylor . Allen made a career - high five tackles in Week 6 ( October 11 ) , a Thursday night match against the Tennessee Titans . In Week 16 ( December 23 ) against the Cincinnati Bengals , Allen picked off two passes from Andy Dalton and returned the interceptions for a cumulative 6 yards . Allen also forced a fumble from Cincinnati receiver A . J . Green . In the season finale on Week 17 ( December 30 ) against the Cleveland Browns , Allen forced two fumbles , both of which were followed by Steelers touchdowns . In the second quarter , Allen stripped a received ball from Josh Gordon , with Lawrence Timmons recovering . Then in the fourth quarter , Allen forced a fumble from Travis Benjamin after Benjamin caught a pass . Allen returned the fumble 21 yards and set up a possession that led to a touchdown .