Abdul-Gafar Olatokumbo Ayodeji Lamar "Deji" Karim ( ; born November 18, 1986) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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 American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

. He was selected by the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

in the

2010 NFL draft The 2010 NFL draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 NFL draft, draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, with the first ...

. 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 ...

for

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois is a region of the U.S. state of Illinois comprising the southern third of the state, principally south of Interstate 70. Part of downstate Illinois, it is bordered by the two List of U.S. rivers by discharge, most voluminous ri ...

and Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College.

Early life

Karim attended

Putnam City North High School Putnam City North High School (PCN, PC North) is a public high school situated in Northwest Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States It is accredited by the North Central Association of Secondary Schools and is one of three high schools in the Put ...

in Oklahoma City where he was teammates with

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

quarterback

Sam Bradford Samuel Jacob Bradford (born November 8, 1987) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Bradford attended Putnam City North High School, where he starred ...

. He earned all state honors his senior year after he rushed for more than 2,000 yards and scored 28 TDs as a senior. He was not offered a scholarship although he did have interest from schools such as Colorado State,

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public inst ...

, SMU, and

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

College career

Karim played two seasons (2005, 2006) at

Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College (NEO) is a Public college, public community college in Miami, Oklahoma. Established as the Miami School of Mines in 1919, NEO has an enrollment of approximately two thousand students. The Golden Norsemen is th ...

. In those two seasons he rushed for 1,972 yards on 328 carries with 25 touchdowns. He also had 25 receptions for 315 yards and a receiving touchdown. Karim then transferred to Southern Illinois. He led the Salukis in 2007 with eight rushing touchdowns, but missed the 2008 season with a knee injury. The 2009 season brought him national recognition as he led the Football Championship Subdivision with 1,694 rushing yards and guided Southern Illinois to the No. 1 national ranking for three weeks, its second-straight Missouri Valley Football Conference Championship and the Elite Eight of the FCS Playoffs. Karim broke the SIU single-season record for all-purpose yards (2,339) and averaged 30.9 yards on 14 kickoff returns with one touchdown. He was named a first-team All-American by four different services and was the MVFC Offensive Player of the Year. Karim finished third in the voting for the 2009 ''

Walter Payton Award The Walter Payton Award is awarded annually to the most outstanding offensive player in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) of college football as chosen by a nationwide panel of media and college sports ...

'' (awarded annually to the most outstanding offensive player in the ''

Division I Football Championship Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Championship is an annual post-season college football game, played since 2006, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). From 1978 to 2005, the game was ca ...

''). He finished his career at Southern Illinois with 2,080 rushing yards, 26 rushing touchdowns, 10 career 100-yard rushing games and averaged 6.58 yards per carry. Karim only fumbled once in 351 career touches.

Professional career

Jacksonville Jaguars

Karim was selected by the

with the 180th overall pick in the sixth round of the

. In July 2010, Karim signed a 4-year $1.9 million deal with the Jaguars. During the 2010 season, Karim was used primarily as a returner and was the Jaguars 3rd running back on the depth chart. Karim had 50 kick returns and averaged 25 yards per return. On limited carries he produced 160 Yards during his rookie season. On April 27, 2012, Karim was released by the Jaguars.

Indianapolis Colts (first stint)

On April 30, 2012, Karim was claimed off waivers by 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 ...

. On December 30, 2012, Karim returned a kick off 101 yards for a touchdown against the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

Houston Texans

On May 15, 2013, Karim signed with the

. On September 1, 2013, Karim was cut from the final roster of the Texans. On October 28, 2013 Karim signed with Houston Texans once again due to an injuries to

Arian Foster Arian Isa Foster (born August 24, 1986) is an American former football player who is a musical artist under the name Bobby Feeno. He played professionally as a running back in the National Football League (NFL). Foster played college football ...

and

Ben Tate Benjamin Franklin Tate (born August 21, 1988) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Houston Texans in the second round of the 20 ...

Indianapolis Colts (second stint)

On August 17, 2014, Karim agreed to terms with the Colts. He was placed on injured reserve on August 26 with an undisclosed injury. On September 2, 2014, he was released by the Colts with an injury settlement.

Professional statistics

References

External links

SIU Salukis bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karim, Deji 1986 births Living people American football running backs Northeastern Oklahoma A&M Golden Norsemen football players Southern Illinois Salukis football players Jacksonville Jaguars players Indianapolis Colts players Houston Texans players 21st-century American sportsmen Players of American football from Oklahoma City