Christopher T. Baker (born November 18, 1979) 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 ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

. He was drafted by the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

in the third round of the

2002 NFL Draft The 2002 NFL draft was the 67th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually sinc ...

. 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 ...

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

College career

He played college football at Michigan State from 1998-2001. He finished with 133 catches for 1,705 yards and 13 touchdowns including a career best season as a Senior with 40 catches for 548 yards and four touchdowns.

College statistics

Professional career

New York Jets

Baker was drafted by the

in the third round (88th overall) of the 2002 NFL draft. During the 2005 season, he served as the starting tight end until becoming injured and placed on the

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 ...

list. Baker had a breakout season 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 ...

, setting career bests in receiving yards, receptions, touchdowns and starts, as the Jets finished 10-6 earning the fifth wild card spot. After a career year in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, Chris said the Jets promised him a new contract and lied. Baker felt disrespected with the Jets decision to use their first-round pick in the

2008 NFL Draft The 2008 NFL Draft was the 73rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 26 and April 27, ...

Dustin Keller Dustin Kendall Keller (born September 25, 1984) is a former American football tight end. He was drafted by the New York Jets in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at Purdue. Keller has also been a member of the ...

and their acquisition of free agent

Bubba Franks Daniel Lamont "Bubba" Franks (born January 6, 1978) is a former American football tight end who played nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Miami. He was drafted by the Green Ba ...

, which pushed Baker to third on the depth chart and made him the least-paid Jets tight end, despite his productive past two seasons. The Jets finally extended Baker with a three-year, $12.2 million contract extension through 2012, but it came with an out-clause stating the Jets would owe him nothing if he was cut from the team before March 5, 2009. On February 20, 2009, Baker was released by the Jets.

New England Patriots

On February 27, 2009, Baker signed a five-year contract with the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

. On September 27, 2009, Baker caught

Tom Brady Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He spent his first 20 seasons with the New England Patriots organization, with which ...

's 200th career touchdown pass in the fourth quarter of the Patriots and Falcons game. On March 4, 2010, Baker was released by the Patriots. Baker played in all 16 regular games for the 2009 season.

Seattle Seahawks

On March 13, 2010, Baker signed a contract with the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

, primarily to serve as a blocking tight end. On January 4, 2011, Baker was placed on a season-ending injured reserve due to a fractured bone in his hip, four days before Seattle's playoff game against the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

. He caught nine passes for 116 yards and a touchdown through the season. On February 24, 2011, Baker was released by the Seahawks. Baker played in all 16 regular games for 2010 season.

Personal life

In May 2009 Chris married his girlfriend, Yadira Taveras, in

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

, New York. Together, they have a son, Chris Jr, and daughter Tamia. They reside near

Boca Raton Boca Raton ( ; es, Boca Ratón, link=no, ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It was first incorporated on August 2, 1924, as "Bocaratone," and then incorporated as "Boca Raton" in 1925. The population was 97,422 in the ...

, Florida.

References

External links

Official websiteNew England Patriots bioNew York Jets bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Chris 1979 births Living people Sportspeople from Queens, New York Players of American football from New York City African-American players of American football Players of American football from Michigan American football tight ends Michigan State Spartans football players New York Jets players New England Patriots players Seattle Seahawks players People from Saline, Michigan 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople Ed Block Courage Award recipients