Cornell University Athletics

Career Stats

* CDS Preseason Honorable Mention All-American (2009)

At Cornell
Costello enters 2009 as one of the Ancient Eight’s top defensive players after leading the Big Red defense in tackles from his middle linebacker position a year ago. A preseason honorable mention All-American by the Consensus Draft Services, Costello ranked third in the Ivy League and 37th in the nation with 90 tackles. He also added 9.0 tackles for loss, a sack, a pass breakup and two forced fumbles while starting all 10 games for the Big Red. Costello had four double figure tackle games on the season, including a career-high 19 stops in the season finale against Penn. He also notched 11 with 2.5 tackles for loss in the last-second win over Lehigh. As a sophomore, Costello posted 23 tackles, including 16 stops, and had a tackle for loss while seeing action in all 10 games. A special teams star, he blocked two kicks and collected a team-best 11 special teams tackles. Costello added two forced fumbles and broke up a pass. His top game came against Ivy champion Harvard, making a career-high eight tackles. He also had five tackles and a blocked kick in the win at Georgetown. Costello played on the junior varsity in 2006. He is enrolled in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

At John Jay
Costello was named second-team all-state as a senior linebacker at John Jay HS, leading his team to a 9-1 record and a spot in the sectional finals. A two-time all-league and all-section pick, Costello was named to the Journal News first-team in each of his final two years. He was named the Class AA North Lineman of the Year and was the North County News Player of the Year as a senior captain. Costello was named the team’s most valuable defensive player as a junior and senior and was selected to participate in the Section I Senior All-Star game, serving as team captain. An outstanding student, Costello was named the New York High School Football Coaches Association Player-Scholar Athlete of the Year in Class AA and was named to the National Football Foundation’s "Golden Dozen" scholar-athlete team. He helped lead his team to a three-year record of 25-5 with three league championships. Costello also competed in wrestling, baseball and track and field. As a wrestler, Costello was a two-time all-section and all-league pick.

Personal
Christian James Costello is the son of Robert and Alexandra Costello and has two older sisters. His sister, Kerry, played basketball at Cortland State.