George "Buster" Rhymes (born January 27, 1962) 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 ...

player who was a

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 ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) and

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL).

Biography

Rhymes grew up in Liberty City, an

inner city The term inner city (also called the hood) has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Soc ...

neighborhood of Miami, Florida. He graduated from

Miami Northwestern Miami Northwestern Senior High School is a public high school, public four-year high school located in Miami, Miami, Florida, United States. The school has struggled with test scores. It has had successful football and track programs and numerous ...

and committed to the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

under coach

Barry Switzer Barry Layne Switzer (born October 5, 1937) is an American former college and professional football coach. He served for 16 years as head football coach at the University of Oklahoma and four years as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys of the Natio ...

in 1980. He was named Dade County's Athlete of the Year for 1979–80. Buster achieved All-American recognition at Oklahoma as a wide receiver. Standing tall and weighing , Rhymes was selected by 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 ...

in the fourth round of the

1985 NFL draft The 1985 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. The NFL draft, draft was held April 30 and May 1, 1985 NFL season, 1985, at the Omni Park Central Hotel in New York City, New ...

. Rhymes played in two

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

seasons for the Vikings in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

and

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

, and in 1985 set an NFL single-season record for kick return yardage with 1,345 yards; the league record has since been broken, but the total stood as a Vikings franchise record until broken by

Cordarrelle Patterson Cordarrelle Patterson ( ; born March 17, 1991), nicknamed "Flash", is an American professional American football, football running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). As a versatile utility player, he is also ...

in the final game of the 2013 season. He would be the last Viking to wear #88 before it was retired in honor of

Alan Page Alan Cedric Page (born August 7, 1945) is an American former Minnesota Supreme Court judge and professional American football, football player for the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears. He was the NFL's MVP in 1971. He was awarded the Presid ...

. Following his NFL stint, Rhymes went to Canada and played for the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play thei ...

of the

CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division and five in the West Division. The CFL is the highest pr ...

. He spent two seasons there (1988 and 1989), winning a

Grey Cup The Grey Cup () is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested between the winners ...

championship ring in 1988.

In popular culture

Rhymes was the inspiration behind American rapper

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after National Football League, NFL and Canadian Football Lea ...

' stage name, which was given to him by

Chuck D Carlton Douglas Ridenhour (born August 1, 1960), known professionally as Chuck D, is an American rapper, best known as the leader and frontman of the hip hop group Public Enemy, which he co-founded in 1985 with Flavor Flav. Chuck D is also a me ...

References

1962 births Living people American football return specialists American football wide receivers Minnesota Vikings players Oklahoma Sooners football players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Miami Northwestern Senior High School alumni Players of American football from Miami 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen Players of Canadian football from Miami 20th-century American sportsmen Canadian football wide receivers {{Oklahoma-sport-stub