Keith Stokes

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Keith Stokes (born December 10, 1978, in Toms River, New Jersey) is a runningback/kick returner for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League. He played for the Toronto Argonauts in the 2006 season, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the 2004 and 2005 seasons, and the Alouettes before that.

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[edit] Junior College career

Stokes attended Georgia Military College and as a sophomore, he was selected as an NJCAA All-American honoree and was named the Team MVP.

[edit] College Years

Stokes attended East Carolina University where he immediately made his mark as a talented kick returner and big-play offensive weapon. In the fourth game of his career for the Pirates, he caught the game-winning 27-yard touchdown pass to defeat the #13 ranked Miami Hurricanes by a score of 27-23. The Pirates were down 20-3 at halftime in the emotional comeback victory, which was moved to Raleigh from ECU's campus in Greenville, NC, due to the after-effects of Hurricane Floyd.

Stokes set East Carolina Pirates team records as a punt returner. Stokes gained the most punt return yards in a single game with 168 in a 62-20 victory against Houston on November 11, 2000. He also possesses the best career average yards per punt return at 15.5 yards per return on 53 returns. His 94 yard punt return against Cincinnati in 1999 is the second-longest in school history.[1] Stokes also returned a punt 71 yards for a touchdown against Texas Tech in the 2000 Galleryfurniture.com Bowl.[2]

Although relatively short for the receiver position, as a senior, he was able to utilize his agility and quickness to routinely create separation from defenders to lead the team in receptions and receiving yards. In 2000, Stokes led Conference USA in all-purpose yardage with 1,427 yards.[3]

[edit] CFL career

Stokes won the CFL's Special Teams Player of the Year award in 2004, and was named a CFL all-star. His amazing moves enables him to quickly get to the outside and a legitimate chance to get a touchdown. Stokes made the TSN CFL Play of The Year on his touchdown August 13, 2005 vs. the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. It was a 67 yard reception TD from Blue Bombers quarterback Kevin Glenn.

On December 19, 2006, Stokes was traded back to the team he started his CFL career with, the Montreal Alouettes, for defensive back Richard Karikari.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Layout 1
  2. ^ CNNSI.com - 2000 NCAA Football Bowls - NCAA Football Scoreboard: Recap: East Carolina at Texas Tech - Thursday December 28, 2000 12:19 AM
  3. ^ CNNSI.com - 2000 NCAA Football Bowls - Inside C-USA: Bearcats give season a kick - Thursday December 21, 2000 05:06 PM

[edit] External links