Caesar Rayford (born March 4, 1986) is a former American football defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys. He also was a member of the BC Lions, Spokane Shock, Utah Blaze, Jacksonville Sharks, Calgary Stampeders, Montreal Alouettes, Los Angeles Kiss and Tampa Bay Storm. He played college football at the University of Washington. He is currently the defensive line and linebackers coach for the Atlantic City Blackjacks.
 Caesar Rayford | |||||||||||||
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| Born: | March 4, 1986 Fayetteville, North Carolina, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight: | 272 lb (123 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school: | Spanaway (WA) Bethel | ||||||||||||
| College: | Washington | ||||||||||||
| Undrafted: | 2008 | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
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| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||||
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| Stats at CFL.ca (archive) | |||||||||||||
Early life
editRayford attended Bethel High School. As a senior, he tallied 47 tackles, 8 sacks and 3 blocked field goals. He received All-SPSL South and Tacoma News Tribune's second-team All-area honors.
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | 40‡ | Commit date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caesar Rayford DE/TE |
Spanaway, Washington | Bethel High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 225 lb (102 kg) | 4.56 | Jan 11, 2004 |
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A
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| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 30 (TE) Rivals: -- (DE), -- (WA) | ||||||
Sources:
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College career
editRayford accepted a football scholarship from the University of Washington on January 11, 2004.[1] He chose the Huskies over scholarship offers from Oregon and UCLA.[2] He was originally redshirted as a true freshman, but had to play the last 6 games of the season because of injuries suffered on the defensive line.
As a sophomore, he appeared in 9 games, making 2 tackles and a half sack. As a junior, he appeared in 9 games and made one tackle. As a senior, he appeared in 13 games, registering career-highs with 10 tackles and 4 sacks.
He played a total of 35 career games mainly as a backup defensive end, finishing with 13 tackles (7 solo), 5.5 sacks, 5.5 tackles for loss, 4 pass breakups, one forced fumble and one blocked kick.
Professional career
editBC Lions (first stint)
editRayford declared for the 2008 NFL draft, but was not selected and began his career as an undrafted free agent. He was signed by the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League after having a free agent workout. He spent all of the season on the practice squad.
He was released before the start of the season on June 25, 2009.
Spokane Shock (AF2)
editOn July 7, 2009, Rayford joined the Spokane Shock of the AF2 league. He appeared in 3 games (2 starts), collecting 2 tackles (2 for loss), one sack and two pass breakups. He was a part of the ArenaCup X Championship team.
BC Lions (second stint)
editOn November 12, 2009, the BC Lions added Rayford to the practice roster.[3] He was promoted to the active roster on November 13. He played in two playoff games as a backup defensive end, making one tackle. He wasn't re-signed after the season.
Utah Blaze (AFL)
editIn 2010, he signed with the Utah Blaze of the Arena Football League. He recorded 16 tackles, 5 sacks, 2 interceptions (returned for 2 touchdowns), 4 pass breakups, 2 forced fumbles and 2 fumble recoveries.
In 2011, he started 17 out of 18 games, posting 31 tackles, 10 sacks (tied for sixth in the league), 12 tackles for loss (fourth in the league), 7 passes defensed, 3 forced fumbles and 4 fumble recoveries. He also blocked an AFL single-season record five kicks.
In 2012, the Blaze's defensive line was coined "Sack Lake City" due to the tremendous amount of pressure and sacks they applied to quarterbacks.[4] In a game against the Iowa Barnstormers, the Blaze recorded a league record 11 sacks in one game, led by the combination of Rayford and Mike Lewis with 3.5 sacks each. He finished with 18 starts, 21 tackles (7 for loss), 7.5 sacks, 3 pass breakups, one forced fumble and one blocked kick.
In 2013, he registered 13 tackles, 6 sacks, 2 pass breakups, 4 forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and 2 blocked kicks. He finished with 68 tackles (26.5 for loss), 22.5 sacks, 16 passes defensed, 7 forced fumbles, 7 fumble recoveries, 2 interceptions returned for touchdowns and 6 blocked kicks.
Indianapolis Colts
editOn May 23, 2013, Rayford signed as a free agent with the Indianapolis Colts to play as an outside linebacker on the team's 3-4 defense.[5]
Dallas Cowboys
editOn September 3, 2013, the Dallas Cowboys acquired him from the Colts after he had a notable preseason, in exchange of a seventh round draft choice (#244-Trenton Brown).[6] He played in 7 games, before being cut on November 12 and signed to the practice squad.[7] He was released by the team on August 30, 2014.
Calgary Stampeders (CFL)
editRayford was signed to the Calgary Stampeders' practice roster on September 23, 2014. He was released by the Stampeders on September 26, 2014.[8]
Montreal Alouettes (CFL)
editRayford was signed to the Montreal Alouettes' practice roster on October 27, 2014. He was promoted to the active roster on November 1. He was released by the Alouettes on November 24.[8]
Jacksonville Sharks (AFL)
editRayford was acquired by the Jacksonville Sharks of the Arena Football League through the Off-Season Assignment Process in 2013 and was activated from the Other League Exempt list on January 6, 2015.[9] He spent the entire 2014 season on the Other League Exempt list. He was activated by the Sharks on January 6, 2015.[10]
Minnesota Vikings
editOn April 2, 2015, he was signed as a free agent by the Minnesota Vikings. He was cut on August 30.
Los Angeles KISS (AFL)
editOn November 18, 2015, he was assigned to the Los Angeles KISS of the Arena Football League. He tallied 3 tackles and one pass defensed. On January 7, 2016, he was placed on the Other League Exempt list.
Saskatchewan Roughriders (CFL)
editOn January 7, 2016, Rayford signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He was released on June 12.
Tampa Bay Storm (AFL)
editOn October 14, 2016, Rayford was selected by the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League during the dispersal draft.[11] He had 8 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 2 passes defensed, one forced fumble, one blocked kick and one interception returned for a touchdown. The franchise folded in December 2017.[12]
Personal life
editHis uncle Otis Sistrunk, was a defensive tackle for the Oakland Raiders. On January 31, 2019, he was named the defensive line and linebackers coach for the Arena Football League expansion team Atlantic City Blackjacks.[13]
References
edit- ^ "Caesar Rayford". Rivals.com. Yahoo!. November 12, 2012.
- ^ "Caesar Rayford". scout.com. MSNBC. November 12, 2012.
- ^ "Lions Welcome Back Caesar Rayford". BC Lions. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
- ^ "Rayford a Leader By Example in Sack Lake City". Arena Football League. October 30, 2012.
- ^ Mike Wilkening (May 23, 2013). "Colts sign outside linebacker Caesar Rayford". www.profootballtalk.nbcsports.com. NBC Sports. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
- ^ "Trade Sends Rayford to Dallas". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. September 3, 2013. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
- ^ "Caesar Rayford signed to practice squad". Retrieved May 24, 2020.
- ^ a b "Transactions". cfl.ca. Archived from the original on December 5, 2014. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
- ^ "Sharks Add Three All-Arena Defenders in Flurry of Moves". Retrieved May 24, 2020.
- ^ "Caesar Rayford Activated from Other League Exempt". Retrieved May 24, 2020.
- ^ "AFL Holds Dispersal Draft". arenafootball.com. October 14, 2016. Archived from the original on October 15, 2016. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Tampa Bay Storm suspending operations". Tampa Bay Times. December 21, 2017. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
- ^ "Atlantic City AFL Team Announces Head Coach, Coaching Staff". Retrieved May 24, 2020.
External links
edit
Media related to Caesar Rayford at Wikimedia Commons
