Cedric Leonard Houston (born June 28, 1982) 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 wi ...
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 handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball,
and block. Ther ...
of the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL). He was drafted by the
New York Jets in the sixth round of the
2005 NFL Draft
The 2005 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 23–24, 2005. The league also he ...
. He played
college football at
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
.
Early years
Houston played football, basketball, baseball and track and field while at Clarendon High School in
Clarendon, Arkansas
Clarendon is a city in, and the county seat of, Monroe County, Arkansas, United States. Located in the Arkansas Delta, the city's position on the White River at the mouth of the Cache River has defined the community since first incorporating in ...
. He played in the first ever
U.S. Army All-American Bowl on December 30, 2000. He held the
Arkansas Activities Association record for career touchdowns with 97 from 2000–2022 at Clarendon High (Now held by Pocahontas Redskin QB Connor Baker)
College career
Houston was a three-year
starter at the
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...
. He and
Gerald Riggs, Jr. became the first players in
Volunteers
Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...
history to both amass 1,000 yards in the same season.
Professional career
New York Jets
The
New York Jets selected Houston using their sixth round pick in the
draft
Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to:
Watercraft dimensions
* Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel
* Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail
* Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...
.
Houston struggled in training camp as a thyroid condition, discovered at the
NFL Combine
The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foo ...
, caused frequent fatigue issues. He was given medication to treat the condition.
Heading into the season, Houston served as backup to
Curtis Martin
Curtis James Martin Jr. (born May 1, 1973) is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the New York Jets. He spent his first three seasons with the New England Patrio ...
and
Derrick Blaylock however, Blaylock suffered a broken right foot in October 2005 thus elevating Houston to second on the depth chart.
Martin suffered a knee injury that he played through for 10 weeks before Houston replaced him as the starter on December 11.
Houston was involved in a car crash in April 2006 sustaining non-life-threatening injuries. He was later released from the hospital.
A day before the start of training camp, on July 26, 2007, Houston left the Jets for what was cited as personal reasons.
It was later revealed Houston had decided to quit professional football to return to Tennessee to earn his degree. Houston remained on the Jets' reserve list the entire season and was eventually released on March 11, 2008.
References
External links
*
Cedric Houstonat
ESPN.com
ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN. It is owned by ESPN Internet Ventures, a division of ESPN Inc.
History
Since launching in April 1995 as ESPNET.SportsZone.com (ESPNET SportsZone), the website has developed numerous sections including ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Houston, Cedric
1982 births
Living people
People from Monroe County, Arkansas
Players of American football from Arkansas
African-American players of American football
American football running backs
Tennessee Volunteers football players
New York Jets players
Dallas Vigilantes players
21st-century African-American sportspeople
20th-century African-American people