CINCINNATI, Ohio. (WLBT) – A Mississippi native is sticking on an NFL roster.
Former Tri-County Academy, Co-Lin Community College and Southern Miss alum Swayze Bozeman has made the Cincinnati Bengals’ 53-man roster for the 2026 season.
Bozeman, a Flora native, is a backup linebacker behind starters Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight Jr., giving Cincinnati four linebackers on its initial roster.
From Flora to the pros
Bozeman starred at running back and defense at Tri-County Academy in Flora, helping the Rebels to two MAIS AA state championship game appearances. He became the first NCAA Division I football player out of Tri-County since 2002.
His path to Division I wasn’t direct. Bozeman first played two seasons at Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Wesson, switching from safety to linebacker in 2018. He earned All-Region and first-team All-Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges honors after a team-leading 91 tackles that season, finishing his two years at Co-Lin with 133 tackles in 19 games.
From there, Bozeman signed with Southern Miss. His college career stretched across five seasons, from 2019-2023, and three head coaches due to a string of injuries.
He started eight of 13 games in 2019, recording 57 tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks while helping the Golden Eagles reach a bowl game against Tulane. He started all six games in the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
Injuries limited him to a redshirt in 2021 and a shortened 2022 campaign, in which he still managed a fumble return for a touchdown. In his final season in 2023, he played in six games and recorded 36 tackles.
Over 32 games at Southern Miss, Bozeman totaled 168 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks.
Undrafted, but a pro day standout
Bozeman went unselected in the 2024 NFL draft, but he turned heads at his pro day. His marks in the bench press, broad jump, shuttle run and three-cone drill would each have ranked best among linebackers at that year’s NFL Scouting Combine.
The Kansas City Chiefs signed him as an undrafted free agent following the draft. He was elevated to the active roster in Week 14 for his NFL debut and remained on the roster the rest of the season, including through all three of Kansas City’s postseason games.
That run took Bozeman all the way to Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans, where the Chiefs fell to the Philadelphia Eagles. He played 117 total snaps as a rookie, almost all on special teams.
Three teams in three years
Days after the Super Bowl, the Chicago Bears signed Bozeman to a futures contract in February 2025. He made it through much of Chicago’s offseason program but was waived at final cuts that August.
The New York Giants picked him up on their practice squad days later and promoted him to the active roster that September. He appeared in six games for the Giants, playing 139 snaps, again primarily on special teams. He was waived in late October before being re-signed to the practice squad within days, then signed to a reserve/futures contract in January 2026 before being released that May.
The Bengals claimed Bozeman off waivers on May 8, 2026, one day after his release from New York. He signed a one-year contract worth $1,075,000.
Bozeman entered Bengals training camp as a long shot for a roster spot behind veteran linebacker Oren Burks. He outlasted the competition and locked down a spot on the 53-man roster at final cuts.
Giving back in Flora
Bozeman has made it a point to return home during the offseason. He’s hosted a free youth football camp at Tri-County Academy the past two summers, open to first through 12th-grade athletes.
Up next
Bozeman and the Bengals open the 2026 regular season Sept. 13 at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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