[1] Cortez arrived in the United States with his mother and younger sister at the age of 15, without any legal documents, to get away from the civil war ravaging his natal country.
As a junior, he was named the starter at placekicker and received honorable-mention All-Pac-10 honors, after converting 11-of-19 field goal attempts (57.9%), with a long of 45 yards.
Cortez was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Cleveland Browns after the 1999 NFL draft, on April 23.
[7] In February 2000, he was signed by the San Diego Chargers and allocated to the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe.
Cortez, along with quarterback Tommy Maddox, contributed to the Xtreme having a 7–3 record and winning the XFL Championship.
[8] In 2001, Cortez's success in the XFL earned him a starting spot with the San Francisco 49ers, who signed him on April 26.
In the tenth game against the San Diego Chargers, he missed a 41-yard field goal attempt in overtime, costing the 49ers a 17–20 loss.
On October 15, Cortez contributed to a 16–13 victory against the New York Giants by hitting a 45-yard field goal in overtime.
He is mostly remembered by Cowboys fans for what happened in the third game against the San Francisco 49ers, when the struggling long snapper Jon Condo made an errant snap on an extra point attempt, which affected Cortez's timing and hooked the ball to the left side of the goal posts.
While Cortez started mouthing off towards Condo, future hall of famer Larry Allen shoved his face mask and shifted his helmet towards the side.
On October 25, 2005, he was claimed off waivers by the Philadelphia Eagles to handle kickoffs while David Akers recovered from an injury.
On November 25, 2005, he signed with the San Francisco 49ers, to replace an injured Joe Nedney (groin).
On December 21, 2005, he was signed by the Indianapolis Colts to handle the kickoffs for the rest of the season and allow Mike Vanderjagt to focus on only kicking field goals.
Graduating from the Oregon State Police Academy in December 2007, he began patrol in May 2008, receiving his trooper stripes in January 2009.