Ken-Yon Cedric Rambo (born October 4, 1978) is a former professional

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 ...

wide receiver in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

for the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-o ...

and

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

. He also was 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 divi ...

and New York Jets in 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 ...

. He played college football at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

Early years

Rambo attended

Long Beach Polytechnic High School Long Beach Polytechnic High School, founded in 1895 as Long Beach High School, is a four-year public high school located at 1600 Atlantic Avenue in Long Beach, California, United States. The school serves portions of Long Beach, including Bixby ...

, playing football and running track. In his senior year (1997) he caught a school record 79 passes for 1,096 yards (13.9 yard average) and 17 touchdowns. He received prep All-American and All-state honors. In 1997, he won the CIF California State Meet in the 300 meter hurdles.

College career

Rambo accepted a football scholarship from

. As a freshman, he had 7 receptions for 145 yards and one

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

. As a sophomore, he collected 5 receptions for 77 yards, 2 kickoff returns for 237 yards (18.8 yard average) and 19 punts returns for 128 yards (6.7 yard average). As a junior, he was named a starter at wide receiver posting 41 receptions (second on the team) for 833 yards (20.3 yard average) and 6

s. He returned 21 kickoffs for 653 yards and a 21.1 yard average, breaking the school single-season record. Against

Ohio University Ohio University is a public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confederation and subseq ...

, he tallied 7 receptions for 181 yards (eighth in school history), with a 25.6 yard average, including 68 and 15 yard

receptions. As a senior, he registered a career-high 53 receptions (ninth in school history) for 794 yards (15 yard average) and 2

s. He returned 17 kickoffs for 478 yards (28.1 yard average) and 23 punts for 145 yards (6.3 yard average). He finished his collegiate career with 106 receptions (eighth in school history), 1,849 career receiving yards (seventh in school history) and 64 kickoff returns (school record) for a 22.9 yard average.

Professional career

Oakland Raiders

Rambo was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the seventh round (229th overall) of the 2001 NFL Draft. He was waived on August 28.

Dallas Cowboys

On September 5, 2001, he was signed as a

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 ...

by the

. He was declared inactive in the first 2 games and played mostly as a

return specialist A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

. In 2002, he saw more time as the third receiver after the season ending neck injury to

Raghib Ismail Raghib Ramadian "Rocket" Ismail (born November 18, 1969) is an American former American and Canadian football wide receiver and kick returner. He played college football at Notre Dame before moving on to both the Canadian Football League (CFL) ...

, posting 14 receptions for 211 yards. Against the Detroit Lions, he was the primary returner in place of an injured Reggie Swinton, registering 4 kickoff returns for 63 yards and 4 punt returns for 2 yards. Against the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...

, he had a career-high 65 receiving yards, including a career-long 47 yard reception to set up the game-winning

. He was released on August 31, 2003.

New York Jets

On December 9, 2003, he was signed by the New York Jets, but was not utilized in games. In 2004, he was limited with a hamstring injury in training camp and was cut on September 4.

Calgary Stampeders

On May 29, 2005, he signed a contract with the

of the

. He finished third on the team in receiving with 789 yards, along with 57 receptions and 3

s. In 2006, he was fourth on the team in receiving with 704 yards, along with 60 receptions for 5

s. In 2007, he ranked third on the team with 983 receiving yards and tied with teammate

Jeremaine Copeland Jeremaine Copeland (born February 19, 1977) is a former professional gridiron football wide receiver who is currently the wide receivers coach for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League. He has played with the Montreal Alo ...

and

D.J. Flick David Julius Flick (born April 27, 1980) is a former professional Canadian football receiver. He played in the Canadian Football League with the Ottawa Renegades, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and Saskatchewan Roughriders. Flick played four seasons of ...

for first in the league in receiving

s with 10. The 2008 season saw Rambo lead the league in total receiving yards with 1,473 on 100 receptions to go along with 8

s, helping his team reach the Western Final playoff game. The Stampeders would go on to win the

96th Grey Cup The 96th Grey Cup was held in Montreal, Quebec at Olympic Stadium on November 23, 2008. The East Division champion Montreal Alouettes hosted the West Division champion Calgary Stampeders. The Stampeders won the game 22–14, with quarterback Henry ...

22-14 over the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the East Division of the Canad ...

. In 2009, he lost for the season after 3 games with a torn ACL. In 2010, he recorded 72 receptions for 1,172 yards and 8

s. He was released by the Stampeders on June 23,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

, after seven seasons with the team, due to an

achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus ( ...

injury. At the time he ranked eighth overall on Calgary’s all-time list for receptions and receiving yards and 10th on touchdown receptions.

Toronto Argonauts

On August 21,

, Rambo was added to the

' practice roster. After a partial season with the Argonauts, he was released on February 5,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

. On September 4, 2015, Calgary signed Rambo to a one-day contract, allowing him to retire as a Stampeder. He finished his

career with 103 games, 416 receptions, 6,119 yards and 40

s (39 receiving and one rushing). He also returned 50 punts for 463 yards and 4 kickoffs for 60 yards.

References

External links

Just Sports Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rambo, Ken-Yon 1978 births Living people Sportspeople from Long Beach, California Players of American football from Long Beach, California Players of Canadian football from Long Beach, California Track and field athletes from Long Beach, California American football wide receivers Canadian football wide receivers Ohio State Buckeyes football players Dallas Cowboys players New York Jets players Calgary Stampeders players Toronto Argonauts players American players of Canadian football Long Beach Polytechnic High School alumni