Carl Edward Kidd (born June 10, 1973 in Pine Bluff, Arkansas) is a former American football linebacker and

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

who played in both the National Football League and the Canadian Football League.

High school and college years

Kidd played high school football at Pine Bluff

Dollarway High School Dollarway High School is a comprehensive public high school in northwest"School Case Studies Wonder Elementary School Osceola Middle School Dollarway High School," p. 28 (PDF p. 30/50) Pine Bluff, Arkansas that serves grades 9 through 12. It is o ...

, and then played at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College."Carl Kidd."
''www.databasefootball.com.'' Retrieved October 15, 2013. Kidd later played cornerback and safety at the University of Arkansas, lettering in 1993 and 1994. As a senior Kidd led the team in

punt return In gridiron football, a punt is a kick performed by dropping the ball from the hands and then kicking the ball before it hits the ground. The most common use of this tactic is to punt the ball downfield to the opposing team, usually on the final d ...

s and won the Steve Little Award for the top Razorback special teams player. Following his senior season, Kidd was selected to play in the

Blue-Gray Classic Livid is a medium bluish-gray color. This color name comes from the Latin color term ''lividus'' meaning "'a dull leaden-blue color', and also used to describe the color of contused flesh, leading to the English expression 'black and blue'". ...

all-star game in Montgomery, Alabama.

Professional career

Oakland Raiders

Kidd was signed as a free agent by the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

after not being taken in the

1995 NFL Draft The 1995 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 22–23, 1995 at the Paramount Th ...

. He played a combined 29 games for the Oakland Raiders in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

and

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

. Kidd played in all sixteen games for the Raiders in 1996, grabbing the only interception in his NFL career and returning 29 kickoffs for 622 yards."Carl Kidd."
''www.pro-football-reference.com.'' Retrieved June 30, 2014. Kidd then spent 3 years in various NFL camps before being signed as a free agent with the BC Lions in 2000."Carl Kidd."
''www.cflapedia.com.'' Retrieved February 24, 2013.

CFL career

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, Kidd was one of six Lions to be selected to the CFL Western All-Star team. He returned 2 interceptions for touchdowns and was named BC's top defensive player and Player of the Week for week #14. In

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, he was named Defensive Player of the Week for week 8, was 6th in the CFL with 87 total tackle (football move)s and returned 2 interceptions for touchdowns. In

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, he recorded his 5th career touchdown, which was a 35-yard interception return versus the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

. Kidd was also the Lions leader with 54 defensive tackles. In

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, he missed the first 2 games due to injury but still led the Lions in special teams tackles (23) and had 2 sacks. In

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, he had 66 total tackles and 4 sacks with the Lions to help them win the 2006 Grey Cup. In what would be his final game, Kidd teamed with Javier Glatt to cause a critical fumble that sealed the Grey Cup title for the Lions. On March 27, 2007, Kidd announced his retirement from professional football at age 33."Carl Kidd Retires."
''www.boards.ign.com.'' Retrieved October 15, 2013.Patterson, Jeff
"B.C. Lion Carl Kidd always wore his heart on the field."
''www.straight.com'', June 6, 2007. Retrieved January 18, 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kidd, Carl 1973 births Living people African-American players of American football African-American players of Canadian football American football defensive backs American players of Canadian football Arkansas Razorbacks football players BC Lions players Canadian football linebackers Northeastern Oklahoma A&M Golden Norsemen football players Oakland Raiders players Players of American football from Arkansas Sportspeople from Pine Bluff, Arkansas 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople