Juron Criner (born December 12, 1989) 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). 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 the

Arizona Wildcats The Arizona Wildcats are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Arizona, located in Tucson, Arizona, Tucson. The Wildcats compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Divis ...

. He was a member of the NFL's

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

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 also the

Ottawa Redblacks The Ottawa Redblacks (officially stylized as REDBLACKS) (Canadian French, French: ) are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL ...

and

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at Commonwealth Stadium. The E ...

of the

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).

Early life

Born in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, Criner attended Canyon Springs High School.

College career

Criner played college football at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

. In 2008 as a freshman, Criner caught 8 passes for 88 yards and a touchdown in 13 games and 3 starts. As a sophomore in 2009, he caught 45 passes for 582 yards and 9 touchdowns over 13 games and 5 starts. Criner was injured prior to the 2010 season but did not miss any games as a result. As a junior in 2010, Criner caught 73 passes for 1,186 yards and 8 touchdowns prior to the bowl game. In a loss to Oregon State, Criner caught 12 passes for 179 and a touchdown.

Professional career

Oakland Raiders

The Raiders selected Criner in round five of the

2012 NFL draft The 2012 NFL draft was the 77th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players for their rosters. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held ...

. He had 16 catches for 151 yards in 12 games as a rookie in the 2012 season. He was inactive most of the 2013 season, seeing action in just one game against the Eagles where he caught three passes for 32 yards. He had been surpassed on the depth chart by rookie round seven pick, Brice Butler and then found himself behind Andre Holmes as well once Holmes returned from a 4-game suspension to begin the year. In the game against the

Eagles Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

in week nine he suffered an acromioclavicular joint sprain in his right shoulder. Shortly thereafter, on November 23, 2013, the Oakland Raiders placed him on injured reserve effectively ending his 2013 season. The Raiders waived Criner on August 26, 2014.

New York Giants

On September 24, 2014, Criner was signed to the

' practice squad. On September 1, 2015, he was waived by the Giants.

Ottawa Redblacks

On April 14, 2016, the

of the

announced the signing of Criner in time for spring mini-camp. In his first year in the CFL, Criner played in 6 regular season games catching 12 passes for 269 yards with 1 touchdown. He caught 7 passes for 177 yards in Ottawa's two playoff games en route to winning the 104th Grey Cup.

Edmonton Eskimos

Criner signed with the

on February 16, 2018. He was placed on the 6-game injured list on June 13, 2018.

References

External links

*
Oakland Raiders bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Criner, Juron 1989 births American football wide receivers Canadian football wide receivers Players of Canadian football from Las Vegas Arizona Wildcats football players Living people Oakland Raiders players New York Giants players Ottawa Redblacks players Players of American football from Las Vegas Edmonton Elks players