Cedric Leonard Houston (born June 28, 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 wit ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. The ...

of 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 ma ...

(NFL). He was drafted by the New York Jets in the sixth round of the

2005 NFL Draft The 2005 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 23–24, 2005. The league also hel ...

. He played college football at

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to ...

Early years

Houston played football, basketball, baseball and track and field while at Clarendon High School in

Clarendon, Arkansas Clarendon is a city in, and the county seat of, Monroe County, Arkansas, United States. Located in the Arkansas Delta, the city's position on the White River at the mouth of the Cache River has defined the community since first incorporating in ...

. He played in the first ever

U.S. Army All-American Bowl The All-American Bowl is a high school football all-star game, held annually at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Typically played in January, the All-American Bowl is played between all-star teams representing the eastern and western United S ...

on December 30, 2000. He held the Arkansas Activities Association record for career touchdowns with 97 from 2000–2022 at Clarendon High (Now held by Pocahontas Redskin QB Connor Baker)

College career

Houston was a three-year starter at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

. He and

Gerald Riggs, Jr. Gerald Antonio Riggs Jr. (born September 28, 1983) is a former gridiron football running back. He played college football at Tennessee. He is the son of former Pro Bowl running back Gerald and ex-wife Dana Riggs. Early years Riggs attended ...

became the first players in

Volunteers Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

history to both amass 1,000 yards in the same season.

Professional career

New York Jets

The New York Jets selected Houston using their sixth round pick in the

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a ves ...

. Houston struggled in training camp as a thyroid condition, discovered at the

NFL Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Footba ...

, caused frequent fatigue issues. He was given medication to treat the condition. Heading into the season, Houston served as backup to

Curtis Martin Curtis James Martin Jr. (born May 1, 1973) is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the New York Jets. He spent his first three seasons with the New England Patri ...

and

Derrick Blaylock Derrick Blaylock (born August 23, 1979) is a former American football running back of the National Football League. Blaylock was drafted in the 5th round of the 2001 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs. Blaylock also played for the New York Jets. ...

however, Blaylock suffered a broken right foot in October 2005 thus elevating Houston to second on the depth chart. Martin suffered a knee injury that he played through for 10 weeks before Houston replaced him as the starter on December 11. Houston was involved in a car crash in April 2006 sustaining non-life-threatening injuries. He was later released from the hospital. A day before the start of training camp, on July 26, 2007, Houston left the Jets for what was cited as personal reasons. It was later revealed Houston had decided to quit professional football to return to Tennessee to earn his degree. Houston remained on the Jets' reserve list the entire season and was eventually released on March 11, 2008.

References

External links

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Cedric Houston
at ESPN.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Houston, Cedric 1982 births Living people People from Monroe County, Arkansas Players of American football from Arkansas African-American players of American football American football running backs Tennessee Volunteers football players New York Jets players Dallas Vigilantes players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people