Henry Randall Baskett III (born September 4, 1982) 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 ...

wide receiver 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 ...

for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

and Indianapolis Colts. A native of

Clovis, New Mexico Clovis is a city in and the county seat of Curry County, New Mexico. The city had a population of 37,775 as of the 2010 census, and a 2019 estimated population of 38,319. Clovis is located in the New Mexico portion of the Llano Estacado, in the ...

, Baskett played college football for the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

. As a college football player, Baskett was a leading wide receiver and earned all-academic honors all his years at New Mexico and All-

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations ...

honors in his senior season. In 2006, Baskett signed with the

as a rookie

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 ...

and was traded that season to the

. Baskett completed his rookie season with the Eagles with 22 receptions for an average of 20.1 yards per catch and two touchdowns. In 2009, Baskett joined the Indianapolis Colts. He returned to the Eagles in 2010, but was released and signed with the Vikings. Baskett married

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...

model

Kendra Wilkinson Kendra Leigh Wilkinson (formerly Baskett; born June 12, 1985) is an American television personality and model. She is known for being one of Hugh Hefner's girlfriends and for her role on the E! reality television series ''The Girls Next Door'', ...

in 2009. Wilkinson and Baskett were co-stars on ''

Kendra Kendra is a female name of disputed origins. Kendra is a moderately popular female first name, ranking 403 out of 4275 for females of all ages in the 1990 U.S. Census. The name was at its most popular in the United States from the mid-1980s to mi ...

'', a reality TV series following Wilkinson's life from 2009 to 2011. They subsequently co-starred on

WEtv We TV (stylized as WE tv) is an American pay television channel. Owned by AMC Networks since its September 1997 launch, it is oriented mainly towards lifestyle and entertainment programming. As of February 2015, approximately 85.2 million Ameri ...

's ''

Kendra on Top ''Kendra on Top'' is an American reality television series on WE tv that debuted June 5, 2012. The series follows the day-to-day life of former ''Playboy'' model and ''The Girls Next Door'' reality television personality Kendra Baskett as she ba ...

'' from 2012 until 2017.

Early years

Baskett was born in Clovis,

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

. Baskett's parents are Henry Randall "Hank" Baskett, Jr., who worked for the Air Force before becoming director of a social service program, and Judy Baskett, who works as a financial officer at

Cannon Air Force Base Cannon Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base, located approximately southwest of Clovis, New Mexico. It is under the jurisdiction of Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). The host unit at Cannon is the 27th Special Operatio ...

in Clovis. He attended Clovis High School.

College career

When Baskett attended the

, he was its football team's leading receiver in 2004 and 2005, earning him the Reese Leroy Hill Memorial Award as the team's Offensive Player of the Year during those years. Additionally, he earned All-

(MWC) honors as a senior, posting 67 receptions for 1,071 yards and nine touchdowns. A four-time all-academic MWC honoree, he graduated with a degree in General Management.

Professional career

Minnesota Vikings

Baskett originally signed with the

as a rookie

in 2006 and was traded to the

in exchange for wide receiver

Billy McMullen Wilbur Anthony McMullen, Jr. (born March 8, 1980) is a former American football wide receiver. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the third round of the 2003 NFL draft. He played college football at Virginia. McMullen has also been a ...

Philadelphia Eagles

Baskett had 112 receiving yards and one touchdown against 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 177 receiving yards and one touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons. For his performance in these games, Baskett was awarded rookie of the week honors. He completed his rookie season with 22 receptions for 464 yards (21.1 yards per catch) and two touchdowns. He was named the 2007

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

Most Valuable Player (MVP). In 2008, he started another six games, playing in 16 to record 33 receptions, 440 yards, and three touchdowns for a 13.3-yard average. He headed into the 2009 offseason as a restricted

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 ...

. He was tendered a one-year contract on February 23. Because the Eagles had been carrying seven wide receivers, he was made expendable and released on September 15, 2009, to make room for

Michael Vick Michael Dwayne Vick (born June 26, 1980) is a former American football quarterback. Regarded as having transformed the quarterback position with his rushing abilities, he is the NFL leader in quarterback rushing yards and was the league's firs ...

on the 53-man roster.

Indianapolis Colts

On September 17, 2009, Baskett signed a one-year contract with the Indianapolis Colts after Anthony Gonzalez suffered a knee injury. On February 7, 2010, during

Super Bowl XLIV Super Bowl XLIV was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champions New Orleans Saints and the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Indianapolis Colts to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

versus the New Orleans Saints, Baskett failed to recover an onside kick (that hit him in the hands) at the start of the second half, which led to a Saints touchdown. New Orleans won the game, 31–17. The next day, February 8, 2010, Baskett was released by the Colts.

Philadelphia Eagles (second stint)

On March 12, 2010, Baskett signed a one-year contract with the

for $800,000. He was released on September 21, 2010.

Minnesota Vikings (second stint)

On September 22, 2010, Baskett re-signed with the

. He played in eight games in 2010, mostly on special teams, with one reception. On March 3, 2011, he was not extended a tender by the Vikings, making him an unrestricted free agent, but effectively ending his NFL career.

NFL statistics

Source:

Reality television

Baskett co-stars in a spinoff of ''

The Girls Next Door ''The Girls Next Door'' (also known as ''The Girls of the Playboy Mansion'') is a reality television series which focuses on the lives of Hugh Hefner's girlfriends who live with him at the Playboy Mansion. The series was created by executive pr ...

'', titled ''

'', which focuses on his wife

's life after leaving the

Playboy Mansion The Playboy Mansion, also known as the Playboy Mansion West, is the former home of ''Playboy'' magazine founder Hugh Hefner who lived there from 1974 until his death in 2017. Barbi Benton convinced Hefner to buy the home located in Holmby Hill ...

. ''The Girls Next Door'' executive producer

Kevin Burns Kevin Burns (June 18, 1955September 27, 2020), was an American television and film producer, director, and screenwriter. His work can be seen on A&E, National Geographic Channel, E!, Animal Planet, AMC, Bravo, WE tv, Travel Channel, Lifetim ...

serves in the same capacity on the series. The show premiered on June 7, 2009, and had record-breaking numbers for E! with 2.6 million viewers, the highest-rated reality debut for the network since 2002's premiere of '' The Anna Nicole Show''. E! ordered eight episodes. Season 2 ran from March 14 until June 8, 2010. The show was renewed once more, and the third season began airing in November 2010. The fourth season of the show premiered September 2011. The show has ended its run on E! and has now become ''

'' which began airing on

WE tv We TV (stylized as WE tv) is an American pay television channel. Owned by AMC Networks since its September 1997 launch, it is oriented mainly towards lifestyle and entertainment programming. As of February 2015, approximately 85.2 million Amer ...

on Tuesday, June 5, 2012. Season 2 ran from September to November 2013 and season 3 ran from October to November 2014.

Personal life

Baskett proposed to his girlfriend, former ''

'' model

, on top of the

Space Needle The Space Needle is an observation tower in Seattle, Washington, United States. Considered to be an icon of the city, it has been designated a Seattle landmark. Located in the Lower Queen Anne neighborhood, it was built in the Seattle Center ...

after dating for six months. The couple married on June 27, 2009 at the

. Baskett and Wilkinson have a son, Henry Randall "Hank" Baskett IV (born December 11, 2009) and daughter, Alijah Mary Baskett (born May 16, 2014). The couple divorced in 2018 after Baskett was allegedly discovered having an affair with a transgender model. Baskett resides in

Voorhees Township, New Jersey Voorhees Township is a township in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 29,131, reflecting an increase of 1,005 (+3.6%) from the 28,126 counted in the 2000 census. Voorhee ...

In popular culture

In the novel, ''

The Silver Linings Playbook ''The Silver Linings Playbook'' is a 2008 debut novel of American author Matthew Quick. Plot The book is narrated through the eyes of Pat Peoples, and occasionally Tiffany's through letters. A former history teacher who has moved back to his ...

'' by

Matthew Quick Matthew Quick (born October 23, 1973) is an American writer of adult and young adult fiction. His debut novel, ''The Silver Linings Playbook'', became a New York Times bestseller and was adapted as a movie of the same name starring Bradley C ...

, central character Pat Peoples was given Baskett's Philadelphia Eagles number 84 jersey as a present. Over the 2006–07 season, Baskett became Peoples's favorite player and, for Christmas, he received an autographed picture of Baskett.

References

External links

Article on Philadelphia Eagles websiteIndianapolis Colts bioMinnesota Vikings bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baskett, Hank 1982 births Living people African-American players of American football American football wide receivers Indianapolis Colts players Minnesota Vikings players New Mexico Lobos football players People from Clovis, New Mexico People from Voorhees Township, New Jersey Philadelphia Eagles players Players of American football from San Diego Players of American football from New Mexico Players of American football from New Jersey Sportspeople from the Delaware Valley 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people