Caesar Rayford (born March 4, 1986) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) for 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

. He also was a member of the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

, Spokane Shock,

Utah Blaze The Utah Blaze was a professional arena football team based in Salt Lake City, Utah and competed in the West Division of the Arena Football League. Home games were played at the EnergySolutions Arena. In 2013, the team did not submit proper ...

, Jacksonville Sharks,

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium a ...

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

, Los Angeles Kiss and

Tampa Bay Storm The Tampa Bay Storm were a professional arena football team based in Tampa, Florida, US. It played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Originally the team was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and operated as the Pittsburgh Gladiators. The ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

. He is currently the

defensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line (D ...

and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

s coach for the Atlantic City Blackjacks.

Early life

Rayford attended Bethel High School. As a senior, he tallied 47 tackles, 8 sacks and 3 blocked field goals. He received All-SPSL South and Tacoma News Tribune's second-team All-area honors.

College career

Rayford accepted a football scholarship from the

on January 11, 2004. He chose the Huskies over scholarship offers from

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

and

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

. He was originally

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

as a true freshman, but had to play the last 6 games of the season because of injuries suffered on the

. As a sophomore, he appeared in 9 games, making 2 tackles and a half sack. As a junior, he appeared in 9 games and made one tackle. As a senior, he appeared in 13 games, registering career-highs with 10 tackles and 4 sacks. He played a total of 35 career games mainly as a backup

, finishing with 13 tackles (7 solo), 5.5 sacks, 5.5 tackles for loss, 4 pass breakups, one forced fumble and one blocked kick.

Professional career

BC Lions (first stint)

Rayford declared for the

2008 NFL draft The 2008 NFL draft was the 73rd NFL draft, annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York (state), New York ...

, but was not selected and began his career as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

. He was signed by the

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

after having a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

workout. He spent all of the season on the

practice squad In gridiron football, 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. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

. He was released before the start of the season on June 25, 2009.

Spokane Shock (AF2)

On July 7, 2009, Rayford joined the Spokane Shock 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 r ...

league. He appeared in 3 games (2 starts), collecting 2 tackles (2 for loss), one sack and two pass breakups. He was a part of the ArenaCup X Championship team.

BC Lions (second stint)

On November 12, 2009, the

added Rayford to the practice roster. He was promoted to the active roster on November 13. He played in two playoff games as a backup

, making one tackle. He wasn't re-signed after the season.

Utah Blaze (AFL)

In 2010, he signed with the

of the

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 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

. He recorded 16 tackles, 5 sacks, 2 interceptions (returned for 2

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s), 4 pass breakups, 2 forced fumbles and 2 fumble recoveries. In 2011, he started 17 out of 18 games, posting 31 tackles, 10 sacks (tied for sixth in the league), 12 tackles for loss (fourth in the league), 7 passes defensed, 3 forced fumbles and 4 fumble recoveries. He also blocked an AFL single-season record five kicks. In 2012, the Blaze's

was coined "Sack Lake City" due to the tremendous amount of pressure and sacks they applied to

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

s. In a game against the Iowa Barnstormers, the Blaze recorded a league record 11 sacks in one game, led by the combination of Rayford and Mike Lewis with 3.5 sacks each. He finished with 18 starts, 21 tackles (7 for loss), 7.5 sacks, 3 pass breakups, one forced fumble and one blocked kick. In 2013, he registered 13 tackles, 6 sacks, 2 pass breakups, 4 forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and 2 blocked kicks. He finished with 68 tackles (26.5 for loss), 22.5 sacks, 16 passes defensed, 7 forced fumbles, 7 fumble recoveries, 2 interceptions returned for touchdowns and 6 blocked kicks.

Indianapolis Colts

On May 23, 2013, Rayford signed as a

with the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

to play as an

outside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the lin ...

on the team's 3-4 defense.

Dallas Cowboys

On September 3, 2013, the

acquired him from the Colts after he had a notable preseason, in exchange of a seventh round draft choice (#244- Trenton Brown). He played in 7 games, before being cut on November 12 and signed to the

. He was released by the team on August 30, 2014.

Calgary Stampeders (CFL)

Rayford was signed to the Calgary Stampeders' practice roster on September 23, 2014. He was released by the Stampeders on September 26, 2014.

Montreal Alouettes (CFL)

Rayford was signed to the Montreal Alouettes' practice roster on October 27, 2014. He was promoted to the active roster on November 1. He was released by the Alouettes on November 24.

Jacksonville Sharks (AFL)

Rayford was acquired by the Jacksonville Sharks of the

through the Off-Season Assignment Process in 2013 and was activated from the Other League Exempt list on January 6, 2015. He spent the entire 2014 season on the Other League Exempt list. He was activated by the Sharks on January 6, 2015.

Minnesota Vikings

On April 2, 2015, he was signed as a

by the

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

. He was cut on August 30.

Los Angeles KISS (AFL)

On November 18, 2015, he was assigned to the Los Angeles KISS of the

. He tallied 3 tackles and one pass defensed. On January 7, 2016, he was placed on the Other League Exempt list.

Saskatchewan Roughriders (CFL)

On January 7, 2016, Rayford signed with the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

. He was released on June 12.

Tampa Bay Storm (AFL)

On October 14, 2016, Rayford was selected by the

of the

during the dispersal draft. He had 8 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 2 passes defensed, one forced fumble, one blocked kick and one interception returned for a touchdown. The franchise folded in December 2017.

Personal life

His uncle Otis Sistrunk was a

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

for the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

. On January 31, 2019, he was named the

and

s coach for the

expansion team Atlantic City Blackjacks.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rayford, Caesar 1986 births Living people Players of American football from Fayetteville, North Carolina Players of Canadian football from North Carolina American football linebackers Canadian football defensive linemen Washington Huskies football players BC Lions players Spokane Shock players Utah Blaze players Dallas Cowboys players Jacksonville Sharks players Calgary Stampeders players Montreal Alouettes players Los Angeles Kiss players Tampa Bay Storm players