Arliss Beach (born March 28, 1984) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

. He was signed by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2006. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. Beach has also been a member of the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

and

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

Early years

Although born in Louisville, Beach grew up in the Ashland area, attending school in the adjacent Fairview school district up until the seventh grade, when he moved to the Ashland city district. He graduated from the city district's

Paul G. Blazer High School Paul G. Blazer High School is a public high school in Ashland, Kentucky, United States. It was named for Paul G. Blazer and is part of the Ashland Independent School District. It replaced the former Ashland High School on Lexington Avenue and th ...

, where he set several school records in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, and was the only athlete in Kentucky to be elected All-State in both football and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

during the years in which he played. He also lived with his mother Kerry Beach. And his other two Siblings Adrian and Andrea Beach. His grandfather Elzie Thomas pastored a church in Ashland known as Christ Temple of the Pentecost faith. His mother also pastored a church. He was raised in church.

College career

After the end of Beach's senior year in high school, the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

offered him a full

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

to play

. While enrolled, the football program went through major staff and coaching changes, and it has been said that this is the reason Beach was never handled correctly.

Professional career

Green Bay Packers

Beach signed with the

as an

on May 3, 2006, and was immediately placed on the active roster after impressing the coaching staff. He suffered a serious ankle injury during the preseason, however, and thus he was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

for the 2006 season on September 6. He was released by Green Bay on June 15, 2007.

Dallas Cowboys

On August 23, the

signed Beach to a free agent contract, trying to fill a void left by injured running back

Jackie Battle Ewart Haron "Jackie" Battle III (born October 1, 1983) is a former American football running back in the National Football League for the Kansas City Chiefs, San Diego Chargers, and Tennessee Titans. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by th ...

. Beach was released by Dallas on September 1 prior to the regular season.

Houston Texans

Beach was signed to the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

of the

on December 26, 2007. He was then re-signed to a future contract in January 2008, but was waived by the team on May 22. Beach was re-signed to the Texans'

after

Darius Walker was promoted to the active roster. The Texans released Beach from the practice squad on September 24, 2008.

External links

Kentucky Wildcats bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beach, Arliss 1984 births Living people American football running backs Dallas Cowboys players Green Bay Packers players Houston Texans players Kentucky Wildcats football players Paul G. Blazer High School alumni Players of American football from Louisville, Kentucky Sportspeople from Ashland, Kentucky