Rajion Lashad Neal (born March 28, 1992) 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 ...

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 American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

who is currently a free agent. 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 ...

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 ...

. Neal 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) NFC North, North division. It ...

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 2014, and has also been a member of the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

, and

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

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 ...

. Neal has also been a member of the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

of 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 ...

, as well as the

Memphis Express The Memphis Express was a professional American football franchise based in Memphis, Tennessee. It was a member of the Alliance of American Football (AAF) during its single season in 2019. They played their home games at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadi ...

of the

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan are ...

Early years

Neal attended

Sandy Creek High School Sandy Creek High School (SCHS) is a public high school in Tyrone, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Fayette County School System. Sandy Creek serves Tyrone, northern Fayetteville, and northern portions of Peachtree City. It opened in 1 ...

Tyrone, Georgia Tyrone is a town in Fayette County, Georgia, United States. The population was 6,879 at the 2010 census, up from 3,916 in 2000. The estimated population in 2018 was 7,388. It is a part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. History The Georgia Genera ...

. He helped lead the Sandy Creek

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 ...

team to Class AAAA state championship in 2009, after he ran for 166 yards and one touchdown over Clarke Central. As a senior, he rushed for 1,816 yards on 291 carries (6.24 avg) and 33 touchdowns, earning the Georgia Sportswriters Class AAAA State Offensive Player of the Year. Considered a four-star recruit by ''

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

'', he was rated the 9th best

prospect in the nation. He accepted a scholarship from

over offers from

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univers ...

and

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

College career

In 2010, Neal played in 10 games as a freshman for Tennessee and rushed 46 times for 197 yards (4.3 avg) and caught seven passes for 100 yards. In 2011, he played wide receiver and running back for the Volunteers, and recorded 13 catches for 269 yards and carried 27 times for 134 yards (5.0) with three touchdowns. As a junior, he appeared in 10 games for the season, missing two due to an ankle injury. He was the leading rusher on team with 708 yards on 156 carries (4.5 avg) and finished with nine total touchdowns on the season (five rushing, four receiving). He also caught 19 passes for 149 yards. As a senior in 2013, Neal rushed for a career-high 1,124 yards on 215 carries (5.2 avg) and scored a career-high 15 rushing touchdowns, and hauled in 27 passes for 108 yards.

Professional career

Green Bay Packers

After going undrafted in the

2014 NFL Draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

, Neal signed with the

on May 12, 2014. On August 26, 2014, he was placed on injured reserve by the Packers. On November 3, 2014, he was signed to the Packers' practice squad. On August 30, 2015, he was released by the Packers with an injury settlement. On September 5, 2015, Neal was cut by the Packers.

Miami Dolphins

On September 7, 2015, Neal was signed to the

' practice squad. On September 9, 2015, he was released by the Dolphins.

Oakland Raiders

On September 22, 2015, the

signed Neal to their practice squad. On November 17, 2015, he was released by the Raiders.

Pittsburgh Steelers

On December 1, 2015, he was signed to the

' practice squad. On January 18, 2016, the Steelers signed Neal to a future/reserve contract. He was later released by the team.

Cleveland Browns

On August 4, 2016, Neal was signed by the

. He was later released by the team.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

In December 2017, Neal signed with the

of the

for the 2018 season, but was released in February 2018, prior to training camp.

Memphis Express

On September 27, 2018, Neal signed with the

of the

for the 2019 season. He was waived on February 21, 2019. During two games played, Neal had 8 rushes for 15 yards, and 4 catches for 10 yards.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats (II)

Following his release from the AAF, Neal signed again with Hamilton for the 2019 CFL season, but again was released by Hamilton prior to training camp.

References

External links

Green Bay Packers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neal, Rajion 1992 births Living people People from Fayetteville, Georgia People from Tyrone, Georgia Sportspeople from the Atlanta metropolitan area Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) African-American players of American football American football running backs Tennessee Volunteers football players Miami Dolphins players Oakland Raiders players Pittsburgh Steelers players Cleveland Browns players Green Bay Packers players Memphis Express (American football) players African-American players of Canadian football Canadian football running backs Hamilton Tiger-Cats players 21st-century African-American sportspeople