Kenneth Leonard "Ki-Jana" Carter (; born September 12, 1973) 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. Th ...

who played 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 majo ...

(NFL) for eight seasons. 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 in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

at Penn State, where he earned consensus All-American honors and was MVP of the

1995 Rose Bowl The 1995 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game played on Monday January 2, 1995, because New Year's Day was on a Sunday. It was the 81st Rose Bowl Game. The Penn State Nittany Lions defeated the Oregon Ducks 38–20. Ki-Jana Carter of Pen ...

. Carter was selected first overall 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 ...

by the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The club's home ...

, but after suffering a knee tear during his first preseason game, he struggled with injuries for the remainder of his career. Missing most of his five seasons with the Bengals due to injury, Carter played his final three seasons in a limited role for the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...

and

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 ...

Early years

Carter was born in

Westerville, Ohio Westerville is a city in Franklin County, Ohio, Franklin and Delaware County, Ohio, Delaware counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. A northeastern suburb of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus, the population was 39,190 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...

.National Football League, Historical Players
Ki-Jana Carter
Retrieved February 5, 2012. His nickname, "Ki-Jana", is from a character in the movie '' Shaft in Africa'' and he has gone by that name since his birth. At

Westerville South High School Westerville South High School is a public high school located in Westerville, Ohio, northeast of Columbus, Ohio. Originally Westerville High School, it is the oldest of the three high schools in the Westerville City School District. It serves mos ...

,databaseFootball.com, Players
Ki-Jana Carter
. Retrieved February 5, 2012. he starred 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 ...

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 ...

, and

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

. In football, he was a 1991 ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of s ...

'' magazine high school All-American.

College career

Carter attended Pennsylvania State University, where he was a standout player for coach

Joe Paterno Joseph Vincent Paterno (; December 21, 1926 – January 22, 2012), sometimes referred to as JoePa, was an American college football player, athletic director, and coach. He was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions from 1966 to 2 ...

Penn State Nittany Lions football The Penn State Nittany Lions team represents the Pennsylvania State University in college football. The Nittany Lions compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big Ten Conference, which they joined in 1993 a ...

team from 1992 to 1994, along with a strong group of offensive players including future NFL starters

Jeff Hartings Jeffrey Alan Hartings (born September 7, 1972) is a former American college and professional football player who was a center in the National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons. He played college football at Penn State University, and ear ...

, Joe Jurevicius,

Kerry Collins Kerry Michael Collins (born December 30, 1972) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. Collins was a member of six NFL teams, most notably the Carolina Panthers, New York Giants, ...

O.J. McDuffie Otis James McDuffie (born December 2, 1969) is a former American college and professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons. He played college football for Penn State University, and ...

Bobby Engram Simon J. "Bobby" Engram III (born January 7, 1973) is a retired American football wide receiver. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the second round of the 1996 NFL Draft. He played college football at Penn State. Engram also played for th ...

and

Kyle Brady Kyle or Kyles may refer to: Places Canada * Kyle, Saskatchewan, Canada Ireland * Kyle, County Laois * Kyle, County Wexford Scotland * Kyle, Ayrshire, area of Scotland which stretched across parts of modern-day East Ayrshire and South Ayrsh ...

. Together, this explosive offense propelled the 1994 Penn State team to a 12–0 undefeated season. At Penn State Carter wore the number 32, which had been worn by running back

Blair Thomas Blair Lamar Thomas (born October 7, 1967) is a former professional American football running back in the National Football League for the New York Jets, New England Patriots, Dallas Cowboys, Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers. He played co ...

. Despite playing only three seasons, he is still in the top ten among Penn State running backs, having compiled 2,829 yards rushing on 395 attempts and scoring 34 touchdowns. His best single game came against the

Michigan State Spartans The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the school colors are green and wh ...

in 1994, when he rushed for 227 yards on 27 carries and scored five touchdowns. Carter helped lead the 1994 Penn State football team to an undefeated record and a berth in the Rose Bowl, was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American, and finished second in the

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and har ...

voting. He earned co-MVP honors in the Rose Bowl, rushing for 156 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries. He ran for an 83-yard touchdown on the first offensive play of the game, which is the third-longest run in Rose Bowl history and the longest run in Penn State bowl history. Carter also added touchdown runs of 17 and three yards in the third quarter. The Rose Bowl was Carter's final game as a Nittany Lion, as he was encouraged by Paterno to forgo his senior season and enter the NFL Draft. "This is the first time I have told anybody who has not graduated that I felt they ought to leave," Paterno said. The Tournament of Roses Association announced his induction into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2014, a ceremony that took place in December 2014.

Professional career

The Cincinnati Bengals selected Carter with the first overall pick of the

, and he played for the Bengals from to . They acquired the first pick in a trade with the expansion

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

. Carter signed a seven-year, $19.2 million deal which included a $7.125 million signing bonus, which at the time was an NFL record contract for a rookie. There were also incentive clauses such as making an extra $100,000 if he scored 12 touchdowns in a season. He played for the

in 2001. In 2002, Carter 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) North division. It is the t ...

, but did not make their final roster. He spent his final two seasons with the

from 2003 to 2004.Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players
Ki-Jana Carter
Retrieved February 5, 2012. In seven NFL seasons, he played in 59 games, started 14 of them, and compiled 1,144 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns on 319 attempts, and 66 receptions for 469 yards and a touchdown.

Injuries

Often considered a "bust" by media given where he was drafted, Carter was beset with injuries from his rookie season on. Carter tore a ligament in his knee on his third carry of his first preseason game of his rookie year and never fully recovered. He missed the entire 1995 season. In 1997, he suffered a torn rotator cuff in his left shoulder with fears that he would miss the entire season. In 1998, he missed the entire season after breaking his left wrist in a game against the Tennessee Oilers. In 1999, he again missed the entire season after dislocating his right kneecap in a game against the

Life after football

Carter is now an

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...

and sports

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in Reverse ...

ger at OPENSports.com. He founded Byoglobe, a print and promotional marketing material company, in 2008. He serves as the Sunrise, Florida-based company's

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

References

External links

"Carter won't wallow"
Bengals.com, April 27, 2007
Ki-Jana Carter blog entries
OPEN Sports Network
Byoglobe website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Ki-Jana 1973 births Living people African-American players of American football All-American college football players American bloggers American health care chief executives American football running backs Cincinnati Bengals players National Football League first-overall draft picks New Orleans Saints players Penn State Nittany Lions football players People from Westerville, Ohio Players of American football from Ohio Washington Redskins players 21st-century African-American writers 20th-century African-American sportspeople Ed Block Courage Award recipients