Raheem Layne (born July 2, 1999) is an

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 ...

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

for the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

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 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 ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

and was signed by the Chargers as an

undrafted 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 ...

in .

Early life and education

Layne was born on July 2, 1999, in

Deland, Florida DeLand is a city in central Florida. It is the county seat of Volusia County. The city sits approximately north of the central business district of Orlando, and approximately west of the central business district of Daytona Beach. As of the 2020 ...

. He attended

Sebastian River High School Sebastian River High School is a co-educational International Baccalaureate high school in Sebastian, Florida. It opened August 1994 and is operated by the School District of Indian River County. Campus Situated on of land, Sebastian River High S ...

and was a three-year player 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 c ...

. He was named first-team all-area in 2016 and finished his time at Sebastian River with 57 total

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...

, two

interceptions In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

, and three

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful ...

s forced. He was ranked the 58th-best

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

nationally by

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

. A three-star recruit, Layne committed to the

University of Indiana Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

. As a true

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

at Indiana in 2017, Layne appeared in 12 games, including one as a starter, and made 13 tackles while being named the school's "Defensive Newcomer of the Year." The following season, he started seven games, while appearing in all 12, and recorded 39 tackles as well as three pass breakups and a fumble recovery. After starting the first five games of his

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

year, Layne was relegated to a backup role in favor of

Tiawan Mullen Tiawan Mullen (born July 12, 2000) is an American football cornerback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Indiana. Early life and high school career Tiawan Mullen was born on July 12, ...

. Despite being a backup, he still managed to post 30 tackles and was named Indiana's special teams player of the year. Layne missed the entire 2020 season with an injury. He changed his position from cornerback to

prior to the 2021 season. As a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

that year, he tallied 65 total tackles, one interception, one fumble forced and a pass breakup while starting all 12 matches. He decided to enter the

NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

after the season, and finished his college career with 50 career games played, 147 tackles, two forced fumbles and an interception.

Professional career

After going unselected in the

2022 NFL Draft The 2022 NFL Draft was the 87th edition of the National Football League's annual draft and was held from April 28–30, 2022, at the Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The first round was held on Thursday, April 28, and w ...

, Layne was signed by the

as an

. He was released at the final roster cuts but was subsequently brought back on the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

. He was elevated to the active roster for their game against the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

, and made his NFL debut in the game, appearing on nine special teams snaps. He was signed to the active roster on December 26, 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Layne, Raheem 1999 births Living people American football cornerbacks American football safeties People from DeLand, Florida Players of American football from Florida Indiana Hoosiers football players Los Angeles Chargers players