Rayshaun Kizer (born February 3, 1985) is an Defensive Coach for the

Duke City Gladiators The Duke City Gladiators are a professional indoor football team based in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, a suburb of Albuquerque, New Mexico. They began play in March 2015 as members of the Champions Indoor Football (CIF) league. The Gladiators played ...

of the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams am ...

. He was the former Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator of the Massachusetts Pirates of the

. He is also a former

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 ...

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 ...

, and

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

Defensive Back. He played his college football at

Walsh University Walsh University is a private Roman Catholic university in North Canton, Ohio. It enrolls approximately 2,700 students and was founded in 1960 by the Brothers of Christian Instruction as a liberal arts college. Walsh College became Walsh Univ ...

and graduated with his Bachelors Degree in Computer Science. He has been a member of the New York Jets of 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 ...

and Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the

Orlando Predators The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played its ...

Philadelphia Soul Philadelphia soul, sometimes called Philly soul, the Philadelphia sound, Phillysound, or The Sound of Philadelphia TSOP, is a genre of late 1960s–1970s soul music characterized by funk influences and lush instrumental arrangements, often featu ...

, Arizona Rattlers, New Orleans VooDoo, Los Angeles KISS and

Cleveland Gladiators The Cleveland Gladiators were an arena football team based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Gladiators played their home games at Quicken Loans Arena, which they shared with the Cleveland Cava ...

of the

and

Green Bay Blizzard Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...

of the Arena Football 2. He also served as the Assistant Head Coach, Defensive Coordinator and Special Teams Coach of the

Bismarck Bucks The Bismarck Bucks are an indoor American football team based in Bismarck, North Dakota. The Bucks joined Champions Indoor Football (CIF) as an expansion team in 2016, and began play for the 2017 season. The team moved to the Indoor Football Lea ...

of the

Early years and college career

Kizer attended

Euclid High School Euclid High School is a public high school in Euclid, Ohio, United States, a suburb of Cleveland in the northeast corner of Cuyahoga County. Originally named Euclid Senior High School, it was constructed in 1949 to replace the Euclid Central High S ...

Euclid, Ohio Euclid is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. It is an inner ring suburb of Cleveland. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 49,692. History The City of Euclid was originally a part of Euclid Township, first m ...

. He played for the

Cavaliers from 2003 to 2006. He recorded 14 interceptions for the Cavaliers, returning 5 for touchdowns. He was named First Team All-American and First Team All-Conference his senior year. He was also named Second team All-Conference as a junior and First team All-Conference as a sophomore. He was inducted into the school's Wall of Fame as part of the class of 2015.

Professional career

New York Jets

Kizer signed with the New York Jets on May 15, 2007 after going undrafted in the 2007 NFL Draft. He was released by the Jets on August 27, 2007.

Montreal Alouettes

Kizer was signed by the

on September 11, 2007. He was released by the Alouettes on October 7, 2008.

Green Bay Blizzard

Kizer played for the

of the

af2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football ru ...

during the 2009 season. He played in 17 games for the Blizzard, recording 65 tackles, 4 interceptions, 15 pass break-ups, one forced fumble, and 2 fumble recoveries. He was awarded Defensive Player of the Week honors in the American Conference Finals Game after sealing the victory with a game-ending interception.

Orlando Predators

Kizer played for the

from 2010 to 2011. He led the Arena Football League in interceptions with 12 his rookie year in 2010, earning First Team All-Arena honors. He set a new AFL record when he recorded 16 interceptions during the 2011 season. Kizer was also named First Team All-Arena for the second consecutive year.

Montreal Alouettes

Kizer was signed to the practice squad of the Montreal Alouettes on September 27, 2011. He was released by the Alouettes on October 6, 2011.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Kizer was signed to the practice squad of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on October 15, 2011. He was released by the Tiger-Cats on November 2, 2011.

Philadelphia Soul

Kizer signed with the

on November 22, 2011. He earned Second Team All-Arena honors after recording 82 tackles and nine interceptions in 18 games with the Soul in 2013. He was named Second Team All-Arena for the second consecutive year after collecting 101.5 tackles and nine interceptions in 18 games in 2014.

Arizona Rattlers

On January 7, 2015, Kizer was assigned to the Arizona Rattlers.

New Orleans VooDoo

On March 23, 2015, Kizer, was traded to the New Orleans VooDoo in exchange for future considerations.

Los Angeles KISS

On May 25, 2015, Kizer was traded to the Los Angeles KISS for future considerations. He earned Second Team All-Arena honors for the third consecutive year after recording 87.5 tackles and five interceptions in 2015. He became a free agent after the 2015 season. On November 6, 2015, Kizer was assigned to the KISS for the 2016 season. Kizer suffered a season ending ankle injury that kept him out for most of the 2016 season.

Qingdao Clipper

Kizer was selected by the

Qingdao Clipper The Qingdao Clipper are a professional arena football team based in Qingdao, Shandong. They are members of the China Arena Football League The China Arena Football League (), often abbreviated as the CAFL, was a professional arena football l ...

in the fourth round of the

2016 CAFL Draft Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17 *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * ''Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film d ...

Cleveland Gladiators

On January 9, 2017, Kizer was assigned to the

Georgia Doom

In March 2018, Kizer was assigned to the

Georgia Doom The Georgia Doom were a professional indoor football team based out of Macon, Georgia. They play their home games at Macon Coliseum. They started as a midseason road team filling in for the folded Dayton Wolfpack in the National Arena League in 2 ...

Bismarck Bucks

In January 2019, Kizer was assigned to the

of the

as the Assistant Head Coach, Defensive Coordinator and Special Teams Coach.

Massachusetts Pirates

In March 2020, Kizer was assigned to the Massachusetts Pirates of the

as the Defensive Coordinator. Due to COVID in 2020 the Massachusetts Pirates season was cancelled. Following the next season in 2021, Kizer returned to the Massachusetts Pirates as the Assistant Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator. They then went on and win the 2021 IFL United Bowl Championship under strong leadership of Assistant Head Coach Kizer. Winners of 11 straight games that season and Kizer was the only Assistant Coach to receive votes for coach of the year. He also had the #1 Defense in the league that season keeping opponents under 31 points per game. In January 2022, Kizer was promoted to Head Coach of the Massachusetts Pirates. He had a successful first season as a Head Coach with an 11-5 record but unfortunately lost the first round of the playoffs at home against the United Bowl Contenders

Quad City Steamwheelers The Quad City Steamwheelers were a professional arena football team. They were a charter member of the AF2 and played their home games at iWireless Center in Moline, Illinois. The team was founded on September 1, 1999 when the Quad Cities was ...

Duke City Gladiators

In October 2022, Kizer was assigned to the

of the

References

External links

Just Sports StatsAFL Leaders in Interceptions for a seasonAFL Leaders for career InterceptionsAFL Leaders in Interceptions for TDsKizer 2022 Head Coaching Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kizer, Rayshaun Living people 1985 births American football defensive backs Canadian football defensive backs African-American players of American football African-American players of Canadian football Walsh Cavaliers football players New York Jets players Montreal Alouettes players Green Bay Blizzard players Orlando Predators players Philadelphia Soul players Arizona Rattlers players New Orleans VooDoo players Los Angeles Kiss players Cleveland Gladiators players Qingdao Clipper players Players of American football from Ohio People from Euclid, Ohio