Tully Banta - Cain Tully Cameron Banta - Cain ( born August 28 , 1980 ) is an American football linebacker who is currently a free agent . He was drafted by the New England Patriots in the seventh round of the 2003 NFL Draft . He played college football at California . Banta - Cain earned two Super Bowl ring s during his first stint with the Patriots . He has also played for the San Francisco 49ers . Early years . Tully Banta - Cain is multiracial of African - American and Scottish / Irish descent . He is the cousin of former NBA forward Rodney Rogers and former MLB outfielder Jeffrey Leonard . While attending Fremont High School in Sunnyvale , California , Banta - Cain won All - League honors playing outside linebacker as a senior , was the League ' s Defensive Player of the Year as a junior , and gained more than 1 , 000 yards as a running back . College career . Banta - Cain played college football at the University of California where he finished his career with 112 tackles and 26 . 5 sacks . He redshirted in 1998 , and then appeared in five games as a freshman in 1999 . As a sophomore , Banta - Cain recorded 35 tackles and 5 . 5 sacks , and as a junior in 2001 , he started every game at defensive end and tallied eight sacks and 33 tackles . As a senior in 2002 , Banta - Cain was named to the All - Pac - 10 first team and was the team ' s Defensive Most Valuable Player , finishing with 39 tackles , 13 sacks , and 22 tackles for a loss . His 26 . 5 career sacks ranked third in the school ' s record books behind Regan Upshaw and Andre Carter . Professional career . New England Patriots 2003 - 2006 . Banta - Cain was drafted by the New England Patriots in the seventh round ( 239th overall ) in the 2003 NFL Draft . In his rookie season he played in nine games recording 11 tackles and one sack against the Buffalo Bills on December 27 . In 2004 , he played in all 16 games and finished the season with 28 tackles , 1 . 5 sacks and his first career interception again against the Buffalo Bills on November 14 . He also was part of the Super Bowl XXXVIII winning team . The following season he only managed to record nine tackles and 0 . 5 sacks but again was part of the team which won Super Bowl XXXIX . In his final year with the Patriots , he played in all 16 games including five starts and finished the season with 43 tackles and a career - high 5 . 5 sacks . San Francisco 49ers 2007 - 2008 . Banta - Cain was signed to a 3 year $ 12 million dollar deal by the San Francisco 49ers as an unrestricted free agent on March 3 , 2007 . In his debut season , Banta - Cain started in four consecutive games until suffering a high ankle sprain during the 2nd quarter of a close 9 - 7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens . However , Banta - Cain continued to play due to a timely bye week following the injury , allowing him to not miss a game and still record a career high 61 tackles and 3 . 5 sack on the year . He also scored the game winning touchdown , in a November 25 , 2007 game against the Arizona Cardinals , by recovering a fumble in the endzone in overtime . The win snapped an eight game losing streak . He ended the year with ten starts and the 49ers ended the season with a 5 - 11 record . In his second season with the 49ers , Banta - Cain was inactive for the first four games of the season under Mike Nolan then activated to start on sub packages and special teams against the New England Patriots recording a half a sack and 5 tackles . Banta - Cain did not play another defensive snap for the season ; however , he did manage to lead the team with 20 Special Teams tackles on a 6th ranked Special Teams unit coached by Al Everest ( now with the Pittsburgh Steelers ) . The team finished with a 7 - 9 record . He was released under Mike Singletary on February 10 , 2009 . New England Patriots 2009 - 2010 . Just eight days after his release from the 49ers , Banta - Cain was re - signed by the New England Patriots on February 18 , 2009 . Banta - Cain was released on October 19 and reportedly re - signed the next day to a new contract through the 2011 season . However , the signing was not official as of the end of the regular season . He started 10 of the 16 games he played in 2009 , recording 55 tackles and a career - high 10 sacks . Banta - Cain was officially re - signed to a three - year contract on March 5 , 2010 , the first day of free agency . The deal included a $ 6 million signing bonus , and averages $ 4 . 5 million per year . However , that yearly average can be raised to as high as $ 6 million if all performance incentives are met , raising the maximum value of the 3 - year deal to $ 19 million . In Week 2 of the 2010 season , Banta - Cain started against the New York Jets , recording eight tackles and one sack in the Patriots loss . In the second quarter , Banta - Cain was penalized 15 yards for unnecessary roughness , and was pulled from the game in favor of rookie Jermaine Cunningham , who replaced Banta - Cain as a starter in the Patriots ' base defense for the next game . Banta - Cain went on to make 6 starts in 15 games played , recording 45 tackles and five sacks . New England Patriots 2011 offseason . On July 29 , 2011 , it was announced that Banta - Cain had been released by the New England Patriots