Caesar Rayford
Caesar Rayford is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League. He played college football for the Washington Huskies. Rayford also was a member of the BC Lions, Spokane Shock, Utah Blaze, Indianapolis Colts, Calgary Stampeders, Montreal Alouettes, Jacksonville Sharks, Minnesota Vikings, Los Angeles Kiss, Saskatchewan Roughriders, and Tampa Bay Storm.
Early life
Rayford attended Bethel High School in Spanaway, Washington. 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 University of Washington on January 11, 2004. He chose the Huskies over scholarship offers from Oregon and UCLA. He was originally redshirted as a true freshman, but had to play the last 6 games of the season because of injuries suffered on the defensive line.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 defensive end, finishing with 13 tackles, 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, but was not selected and began his career as an undrafted free agent. He was signed by the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League after having a free agent workout. He spent all of the season on the practice squad.He was released before the start of the season on June 25, 2009.
Spokane Shock
On July 7, 2009, Rayford joined the Spokane Shock of the AF2 league. He appeared in 3 games, collecting 2 tackles, 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 BC Lions 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 defensive end, making one tackle. He wasn't re-signed after the season.Utah Blaze
In 2010, he signed with the Utah Blaze of the Arena Football League. He recorded 16 tackles, 5 sacks, 2 interceptions, 4 pass breakups, 2 forced fumbles and 2 fumble recoveries.In 2011, he started 17 out of 18 games, posting 31 tackles, 10 sacks, 12 tackles for loss, 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 defensive line was coined "Sack Lake City" due to the tremendous amount of pressure and sacks they applied to quarterbacks. 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, 7.5 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, 22.5 sacks, 16 passes defensed, 7 forced fumbles, 7 fumble recoveries, 2 interceptions returned for touchdowns and 6 blocked kicks.