Keith Stokes (born December 10, 1978) 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 ...

. Stokes was a two time

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) all star. He also starred in the French League

Championnat Élite Division 1 The is the top-level American football league of France. The league was founded in 1982. History American football was introduced to France in the early 20th century, but for decades it remained an infrequent activity, practised only by Americ ...

in 2009 for the Elancourt Templiers. He has been a football coach in recent years.

College career

Stokes attended

Georgia Military College Georgia Military College (GMC) is a Public college, public military junior college in Milledgeville, Georgia. It is divided into the junior college, a military junior college program, high school, middle school, and elementary school. It was ori ...

and as a sophomore, he was selected as an

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) is the governing association of community college, State college (disambiguation), state college, and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 sepa ...

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honoree and was named the Team

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

. Stokes attended

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of universities in North Carolina by enrollment, fourth largest university in North Carolina and the only one in the state with s ...

where he immediately made his mark as a talented kick returner and big-play offensive weapon. In the fourth game of his career for the Pirates, he caught the game-winning 27-yard touchdown pass to defeat the #13 ranked

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes, known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes, are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...

by a score of 27–23. The Pirates were down 20–3 at halftime in the emotional comeback victory, which was moved to Raleigh from ECU's campus in Greenville, NC, due to the after-effects of

Hurricane Floyd Hurricane Floyd was a very powerful and large tropical cyclone which struck the Bahamas and the East Coast of the United States. It was the sixth list of named tropical cyclones, named storm, fourth hurricane, and third major hurricane in the 1 ...

. Stokes set

East Carolina Pirates The East Carolina Pirates are the sport, athletic teams that represent East Carolina University (ECU), located in Greenville, North Carolina. All varsity-level sports teams participate at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA ...

team records as a punt returner. Stokes gained the most punt return yards in a single game with 168 in a 62–20 victory against Houston on November 11, 2000. He also possesses the best career average yards per punt return at 15.5 yards per return on 53 returns. His 94-yard punt return against Cincinnati in 1999 is the second-longest in school history. Stokes also returned a punt 71 yards for a touchdown against Texas Tech in the 2000 Galleryfurniture.com Bowl. Although relatively short for the receiver position, as a senior, he was able to utilize his agility and quickness to routinely create separation from defenders to lead the team in receptions and receiving yards. In 2000, Stokes led

Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...

in all-purpose yardage with 1,427 yards.

Professional career

Stokes began his pro football career in the

. In 2002, Stokes joined the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

and, in 2004, Stokes joined 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 ...

, won the

John Agro Special Teams Award The John Agro Special Teams Award is presented to the CFL's Most Outstanding Special Teams player that is voted by his peers. The award is named in honour of John Agro, co-founder (in 1965) of the Canadian Football League Players' Association, with ...

, and was named a 2004 CFL All-Star. Stokes made the '' TSN'' CFL Play of The Year on his August 13, 2005, touchdown vs. the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...

. It was a 67-yard reception TD from Blue Bombers

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

Kevin Glenn Kevin Glenn, Jr. (born June 12, 1979) is an American former professional Canadian football quarterback. He was originally signed by the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL) as an undrafted free agent in 2001. He played c ...

. On September 29, 2008, Stokes was signed to return to the Toronto Argonauts and was released in February 2009. In March 2009, Stokes was signed to the Elancourt Templiers, French team in the

Ligue Élite de Football Américain The Catholic League of France (), sometimes referred to by contemporary (and modern) Catholics as the Holy League (), was a major participant in the French Wars of Religion. The League, founded and led by Henry I, Duke of Guise, intended the erad ...

. For his first drive in EFL he scored a touchdown. The Templiers finished the French league season with a 7-3 record and lost in the playoffs semi final to the

Thonon Black Panthers The Black Panthers of Thonon, commonly referred to as Thonon Black Panthers, is a French American football club based in Thonon-les-Bains (Haute-Savoie) and founded in 1987 by Benoît Sirouet, Nicolas Schpoliansky and Frederic Mériguet. Jérô ...

. In 2011, Stokes signed and played for the

Philadelphia Soul Philadelphia soul, sometimes called Philly soul, the Philadelphia sound, Phillysound, or The Sound of Philadelphia (TSOP), is a genre of late 1960s–1970s soul music characterized by funk influences and lush string and horn arrangements. The ...

of the Indoor Football League. For the 2012 IFL season he signed to play with the

Reading Express The Reading Express were a professional indoor football team based in Reading, Pennsylvania. They were most recently a member of the United Conference of the Indoor Football League (IFL). The Express began play in 2006, as an expansion team of t ...

References

External links

Toronto Argonauts profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stokes, Keith 1978 births Living people American football wide receivers Canadian football return specialists Canadian football wide receivers BC Lions coaches Central Penn Capitals players East Carolina Pirates football players Edmonton Elks players Georgia Military Bulldogs football players Harrisburg Stampede players Lehigh Valley Steelhawks players Manchester Wolves players Montreal Alouettes players Reading Express players Philadelphia Soul players Toronto Argonauts players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Canadian Football League Rookie of the Year Award winners Sportspeople from Toms River, New Jersey Players of American football from Ocean County, New Jersey Players of Canadian football from New Jersey American expatriate players of American football American expatriate sportspeople in France