Ki-Jana Carter

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Ki-Jana Carter
Date of birth	September 12, 1973
Place of birth	Westerville, Ohio
Position(s)	Running Back
College	Penn State
NFL Draft	1995 / Round 1/ Pick 1
Statistics	Pro Football Reference NFL.com DatabaseFootball
Team(s)
1996-1999 2001 2003-2004	Cincinnati Bengals Washington Redskins New Orleans Saints

Kenneth "Ki-Jana" Carter (born September 12, 1973) is a former NFL running back who played for the Cincinnati Bengals and later the Washington Redskins and the New Orleans Saints. His nickname, "Ki-Jana", is from a character in the movie Shaft in Africa and Carter has gone by that name since his birth. After being selected as the number one overall pick in the 1995 NFL Draft, he tore his anterior cruciate ligament on his first carry of his first preseason NFL game of his rookie year. Carter never fully recovered from the injury, which robbed him of his speed. Carter is regarded as one of the biggest draft busts of all time, compiling only 1,144 rushing yards in 10 seasons.

[edit] High School Career

At Westerville South High School in Westerville, Ohio, Carter starred in football, basketball, and track. In football, he was an All-American selection.

[edit] College career

Carter was a standout player at Penn State along with a strong group of offensive players including future NFL starters Jeff Hartings, Joe Jurevicius, Kerry Collins, Bobby Engram and Kyle Brady. Although he left Penn State after his junior year, he is still in the top ten among Penn State running backs, having compiled 2829 yards rushing on 341 attempts and scoring 38 touchdowns. His best single game came against Michigan State in 1994, when he rushed for 227 yards on 27 carries and scored 5 touchdowns. Carter helped lead the 1994 Penn State football team to an undefeated record and a berth in the Rose Bowl. He earned co-MVP honors during the Rose Bowl game, and his highlight from that game was an 83 yard touchdown run on the first offensive play of the game. He finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting for 1994.

[edit] Quotes

"They [Oregon] had him -- had him -- they thought -- and then he was gone" --Keith Jackson after Ki-Jana Carter's 83 yard touchdown in the Rose Bowl vs. Oregon.

Source: NFL.com-Ki-Jana Carter