Jeff Badet (born August 2, 1994) 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 ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

. 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 ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

before transferring to

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

to finish his collegiate career, and signed with the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in 2018. He was also a member of the

Dallas Renegades The Arlington Renegades are a professional American football team based in Arlington, Texas. The Renegades compete in the United Football League (2024), United Football League (UFL) as a member of the XFL Conference. The team was founded as the D ...

Washington Football Team The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West ...

Michigan Panthers The Michigan Panthers were a professional American football team based in Metro Detroit. The Panthers competed in the United States Football League (USFL) as a member of the Western Conference and Central Division. The team played its home gam ...

Vegas Vipers The Vegas Vipers were a professional American football team based in Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada. The Vipers competed in the XFL (2020–2023), XFL football league. The team was founded by Vince McMahon's Alpha Entertainment as the Tampa Bay V ...

, and

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

. In the 2020 XFL Draft, he was selected fourth overall by the Renegades.

Early life

Badet attended Freedom High School in

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

, playing for the school's football team as a

. He was ranked as a three-star recruit and as the nation's 127th receiver prospect by

247sports 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on college recruiting, athletic recruitment in college football and college basketball, basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount Global, Paramount. The website hosts a large ...

, committing to the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

, rejecting other offers from colleges closer to his home, such as

South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...

and

FIU Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Westchester, Florida, United States. Founded in 1965 by the Florida Legislature, the school opened to students in 1972. FIU is the third-largest uni ...

College career

In 2013, his freshman year, he saw limited action, appearing in eight games, totalling 22 receptions for 285 yards and one touchdown. Following a serious injury, Badet was medically

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

for his second year, the 2014 collegiate season. In his sophomore season the year after, Badet played in eleven of the team's twelve games and compiled 29 receptions for 430 yards and two touchdowns, as the team's third leading receiver. His junior season was his most productive of his college career, appearing in all 13 games, with 31 catches for 670 yards and 4 touchdowns, leading the team in receiving yards. In the seventh game of the season, Badet had best statistical game of his career, with 7 receptions for 139 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 40–38 victory over

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

, his sole multi-touchdown collegiate game. In the offseason, Badet declined to declare for the

NFL draft The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

and instead transferred to

, crossing conferences into the

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...

. Badet was less statistically productive, totalling 26 receptions for 400 yards and three touchdowns, but the Sooners enjoyed team success, finishing with a 12–2 record behind

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...

-winning and eventual first overall pick

Baker Mayfield Baker Reagan Mayfield (born April 14, 1995) is an American professional football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the Oklahoma Sooners ...

, culminating with a 54–48 defeat in the

Rose Bowl Rose Bowl or Rosebowl may refer to: * Rose Bowl Game, an annual American college football game * Rose Bowl (stadium), Pasadena, California, site of the football game, and the home stadium of the UCLA Football team * Rose Bowl (cricket ground), West ...

against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. He served as an influencing presence on the field and locker room, and ran a 4.27 40-yard dash at Oklahoma's Pro Day.

College statistics

Professional career

Minnesota Vikings

Badet declared for the

2018 NFL draft The 2018 NFL draft was the 83rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2018 NFL season. The draft was held on April 26–28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington southwest of Dallas; it was ...

but went undrafted and later signed as an

for the

. He was placed in the team's concussion protocol after the first preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, but returned for the team's next three preseason games. He appeared in all four of the team's preseason games, totalling 5 receptions for 34 yards. He was placed on the team's practice squad before the start of the season. In June 2019 he participated in the 40 Yards of Gold contest to determine the fastest player in the NFL and he was supposed to earn $25,000, but only received a check for his participation and performance. Badet re-signed with the Vikings and was given a $75,000 bonus to keep him away from the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

, who were also pursuing him. He appeared in the team's four 2019 preseason games, seeing limited snaps, touching the ball just twice for 17 yards. Badet was hampered by a groin injury that forced him to miss several practices. He was cut by the Vikings before the start of the 2019 NFL season.

Dallas Renegades

Badet declared for the 2020 XFL Draft, impressing team scouts at the various combines and was selected as the fourth pick of the skills position phase by the

. Renegades general manager and head coach

Bob Stoops Robert Anthony Stoops (born September 9, 1960) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Arlington Renegades of the United Football League (UFL). He was the head football coach at the University of Oklahoma from 1999 through ...

, who coached at Oklahoma before Badet's arrival in 2017, drafted him. Badet had a unique helmet that featured

Allen Iverson Allen Ezail Iverson ( ; born June 7, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "The Answer", he played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as both a shooting guard and point guard. As an NBA rook ...

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

, and

SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' is an American animated television series, animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It first aired as a sneak peek after the 1999 Kids' C ...

. In his second game against the

Los Angeles Wildcats Los Angeles Wildcats is a name shared by several American football teams from Los Angeles: * Los Angeles Wildcats (AFL), a team that played in the American Football League of 1926 * Los Angeles Wildcats (Minor League AFL), a team that played in the ...

, Badet caught six passes for 53 yards. Badet finished the season with 16 receptions for 108 yards. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.

Washington Football Team

On September 17, 2020, Badet signed with the

's practice squad. He was elevated to the active roster on October 24 and November 7 for the team's weeks 7 and 9 games against the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

and

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

, and reverted to the practice squad after each game. Badet was promoted to the active roster on November 9, 2020. He was waived on December 19, 2020, and re-signed to the practice squad three days later. He signed a reserve/futures contract with the team on January 11, 2021, but was waived on May 3, 2021.

Atlanta Falcons

On June 17, 2021, Badet signed with the

. He was waived/injured on August 6, 2021, and placed on injured reserve. He was released on August 17 with an injury settlement.

Las Vegas Raiders

On November 10, 2021, Badet was signed to the

practice squad. He was released on December 4.

Michigan Panthers

On February 23, 2022, Badet was selected with the sixth pick of the 15th round of the

2022 USFL draft The 2022 USFL draft, also known as the 2022 USFL player selection meeting, was the player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams for the 2022 USFL season. The draft was held on February 22–23, 2022, with results released thro ...

by the

. He was transferred to the team's inactive roster on April 22, 2022, due to a hamstring injury. He was released on May 10.

Vegas Vipers

Badet was drafted by the

of the XFL in the 2023 XFL Draft. In his debut with the team he caught six passes for 81 yards and two touchdowns, including the first touchdown of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

from Luis Perez in the team's 20–22 loss. The Vipers folded when the XFL and USFL merged to create the United Football League (UFL).

Toronto Argonauts

On February 8, 2024, it was announced that Badet had been signed by the

. He was placed on the retired list on May 12, 2024.

Professional statistics

Regular season

''Source'':

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Badet, Jeff 1994 births Living people American football wide receivers Canadian football wide receivers Players of American football from Orlando, Florida Players of Canadian football from Orlando, Florida Kentucky Wildcats football players Oklahoma Sooners football players Atlanta Falcons players Minnesota Vikings players Dallas Renegades players Washington Football Team players Las Vegas Raiders players Michigan Panthers (2022) players Vegas Vipers players Toronto Argonauts players